August 2020 Newsletter
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How Heifers On The Crystal Creek® Swift Start®Calf & Heifer Program Perform When Entering The Milking Herd
Click here to view as a pdf: Swift Start Calf Feeding Trial Update
By Teresa Marker, B.S.
The goal of any dairy calf raiser is to have a healthy, productive, replacement heifer that is a profitable addition to their milking line. The Crystal Creek® Swift Start® Calf & Heifer program consists of a line of milk replacers, texturized calf feeds, calf pellets and mineral formulated with industry-leading technology and manufactured with the highest quality ingredients available. University research has proven time and time again that the way calves are fed and raised during the pre-wean period will affect their performance later in life. In the “Swift Start® Calf Feeding Challenge” newsletter article published in April of 2017, Crystal Creek® provided documentation of superior performance results in pre-weaned calves that were on the Swift Start® Calf & Heifer program. This data showed higher body weight gains, improved feed conversion rates, improved nutrient digestibility, less veterinary intervention and smoother transitions into weaning. The calves on the Swift Start® calf feeding program not only outperformed the calves on the competitor’s program but also saved the calf raiser money. This article will take topics highlighted in the initial trial a step further and evaluate the performance of heifer calves as they transition into post-weaned heifers and ultimately, progress into the lactating herd.
Nutrition For Whitetail Does: The Key To Larger Bucks
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By Erik Brettingen, B.S.
Whitetail deer hunters across the nation are becoming keyed into the nutritional needs of their local deer population with hopes of producing larger, healthier bucks on their hunting properties. While mineral licks and food plots are popular suggested techniques for supporting antler development, there is little proof of their effectiveness. Recent University research has expanded on an exciting new approach to growing bigger bucks and contrary to conventional methods, it has nothing to do with the bucks at all. The secret involves one word: epigenetics.
Calfhood Pneumonia: When Is It Related To Ventilation And When Is It Something Different?
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Dr. Ryan Leiterman holds degrees in both Agricultural Engineering and Veterinary Medicine
By Ryan Leiterman, D.V.M
Calfhood pneumonia can be frustrating to deal with. Understanding where the problem originates is the first step in creating a plan to combat it. Most cases of calfhood pneumonia can be placed into one of two broad categories: environmental causes vs. contagious causes.
Another way to look at these categories would be pneumonia cases caused by poor air quality vs. pneumonia cases caused by something other than air quality/ventilation.
Maximizing Equine Reproductive Performance: The Impact Of Nutrition
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By Alex Austin, B.S.
A successful equine reproduction program depends on many factors. Supplying high-quality nutrition is one major area where horse owners can provide effective solutions to optimize reproductive performance. The average foaling rate of a hand-bred mare is only 60% ¹. This means there is much work to be done to ensure that a mare becomes pregnant and then carries that pregnancy to term. This article will discuss the important roles that body condition and nutrition play in reproductive performance.
April 2020 Newsletter
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Egg Yolk Color And How To Manage It
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By Dan Leiterman
Food color and presentation matter. Color is an important sensory factor that helps consumers determine food quality and its potential health benefits. Richly colored egg yolks, for example, can only come from healthy layers that have been fed a well-balanced, nutrient-rich diet. Hens need to be healthy enough to convert their diet properly in order to pass critical nutrients into the egg (primarily the yolk). Egg yolks are an excellent source of key nutrient-dense compounds such as proteins, fats, minerals, vitamins, antioxidants and trace minerals that are essential to our good health. Consumers associate a strong yolk color with a healthy, nutrient-rich food. There is a growing market demand for eggs with rich yolk coloring.
Reducing Feed Shrink Can Increase Your Profitability
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By Teresa Marker, B.S.
Feed costs, both farm-raised and purchased, are usually the largest expenses on a dairy farm. In today’s economy, finding areas of opportunity for extra profit has become more critical than ever before. Evaluating a farm’s feed waste/loss, commonly referred to as shrink, is an area that should be scrutinized. Shrink can have a significant impact on feed quality, quantity, and profit. Silage shrink can range from 7-48% depending on a variety of factors, with 10-20% being typical. Reducing shrink on your farm will not only improve the inventory volume of feed but it will also help retain nutrients resulting in better nutrition and higher milk production and profit.
Forage Digestibility: How It Affects Your Bottom Line
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By Erik Brettingen, B.S.
Forages have traditionally been tested for Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF) and Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF). While these values determine how much of each type of fiber there is, they do not give any information as to how digestible, or actually useable, the fiber is to the cow. A more accurate measurement in predicting how well cows will perform on a particular forage crop would be Neutral Detergent Fiber Digestibility (NDFd) and Undigestible Neutral Detergent Fiber (uNDF). The digestibility of NDF is a critical piece of information for balancing rations to maximize cow performance, improve cow health, and minimize ration costs by relying on as much home-grown forages as possible.