Stress. Anxiety. Tension. All of these are emotions that cattle producers deal with during their daily routines. Add pens of stressed-out bawling calves yearning for their mamas, and that tension might even escalate for a week or so at weaning time. What if there was a product that could keep your weaned calves healthier, jump-start their appetite and show you some added economic return? Would that help eliminate the stress in your life? Even for a day?
The Vita Charge® line from BioZyme® Inc. comes in various formulas, all designed to support cattle’s digestive health and promote feed and water intake during times of stress and recovery and will help you see an added economic return.
“Prevention is often times much less expensive than treatment,” said Lindsey Grimes-Hall, Nutrition and Field Sales Support for BioZyme.
The first product recommended for calves at weaning or stockers at receiving is Vita Charge Drench. This liquid comes ready to use on large groups of ruminating calves. Like all Vita Charge products, it contains Amaferm®, a precision-based prebiotic that impacts intake, feed digestibility and nutrient absorption to help combat stress and support the animal’s own immune system. In addition, the Drench contains organic trace minerals and essential vitamins to stimulate the immune system and to ensure that feed intake stays consistent. Added enzymes work with Amaferm to generate a more rapid digestive response.
The second way to give your calves the Amaferm advantage is with the Vita Charge Stress Tub. The Stress Tub contains Amaferm as well as MOS, which traps and expels pathogens, limiting their ability to do harm. It comes in 50 and 200-pound tubs and is a simple, convenient way for calves to get daily Amaferm to help combat stress and help with recovery without additional handling.
But how do your investments in these products pay? You should see returns in several ways, according to Grimes-Hall. The combination of Amaferm, MOS and trace minerals and vitamins in the Vita Charge products are the key nutrients your calves need to drive appetite, keep them eating and keep them healthy, all which will help you spend less time and money on treating sick calves while you see higher performing calves.
“From a nutrition perspective, when an animal is stressed, like at weaning time, its vitamin and trace minerals requirements increase. Stress also compromises immunity,” Grimes- Hall said. “With the Amaferm in the Stress Tubs, you are driving feed and water intake, and the MOS in there to helps combat the bad bugs and prevent sickness.”
A healthier calf will grow faster and more efficiently requiring less feed stuff and fewer supplements, therefore costing you less money on input. The Amaferm advantage is research-proven to increase digestion and absorption, therefore taking less feed for the same amount of gain. And perhaps most importantly, the health of the animal isn’t compromised. Therefore, you don’t have the added cost and expense of treating a sick calf or worrying about the pounds and performance lost while that calf was sick.
“With efficiency of gain, you will be saving money, and operating at maximum efficiency, hopefully getting more pounds of gain with less pounds of feed. When an animal gets sick, it loses weight, and then you will always have to push them to play catch up,” Grimes-Hall said.
In one research trial, a group of 120 calves were randomly split, half were given the Vita Charge Cattle Drench upon arrival, and the other have were not. The group that were given the Vita Charge Drench, gained on average, .10 pounds more per day and had fewer treated for sickness (17 vs. 28). Therefore, with added gains and fewer treatments, Vita Charge does show increased ROI.
It’s time to stop stressing and time to start paying yourself back for making good management choices. With a choice like Vita Charge products, your calves will be less stressed, healthier, more efficient gainers and you will see added returns. That’s a management practice everyone can be happy with.
