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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.

Maximizing Equine Reproductive Performance: Reducing The Impact Of Summer Stress

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By Alex Austin, B.S.

While many horse owners have horses as a hobby for enjoying the occasional fun show or trail ride, there is a business side to the equine industry as well. Horse racing, polo, and competitive jumping are just a few different segments that make up the diverse economy of the horse world. According to the American Horse Council Foundation’s 2017 National Economic Impact Study, the equine industry contributes approximately $50 billion to the U.S. economy annually and helps create 988,394 jobs¹.

Progressive Dairy Magazine Features Dr. Ryan Leiterman’s “Calfhood Pneumonia” Article

Click here to view as a pdf: Calfhood pneumonia- When is it related to ventilation and when is it something different

Biosecurity in Poultry

As the days become longer and temperatures increase, we can sense that spring is upon us. Spring brings us new opportunities and experiences. Many poultry enthusiasts are starting their own backyard flocks for the first time while others are introducing new birds to an existing flock. With these events, we would like to remind our poultry raisers of the importance of a good biosecurity protocol.

The key to preventing diseases, such as Newcastle disease, and maintaining a healthy flock of your own starts with good biosecurity practices. Contact Crystal Creek® today to learn more about how you can protect your birds from common pathogens and health risks.