If you farm with cattle and you want to have healthy and pretty cows and make their calving easier, then you also have to give them the necessary vitamins.

Four Lakes helps farmers with calf care, post calving, in-lactation, fertility, dry period, heat detection, artificial insemination and veterinary consumable products.

Their goal is to provide the farmers with consumable products and a vast range of genetics from one of the largest suppliers in the world, being World Wide Sires, a subsidiary of Select Sires Incorporated, a USA based company.

Meet two of their products:

Calcitop

Calcitop is a bolus designed to prevent milk fever around calving. Milk fever is a complex metabolic disease in cows that usually occurs around calving and most commonly in high-yielding dairy cows from the third calving. It is one of the most common mineral-related metabolic diseases affecting dairy cows. The average cost, including medicines, veterinary services, and estimated production loss, amounts up to R5 330 per case. Calcitop is an easy and reliable solution, and in this way Four Lakes want to change farming into stress less farming.

Optimal composition

• 52 grams of calcium,
• 15 grams of phosphorus,
• 2,5 grams of magnesium per dose to optimally prevent all different mineral deficiencies that cause milk fever.
• High dose of vitamin D3 (44 270 UI) to increase the calcium absorption in the intestines and the mobilisation from the bones.
• Two sources of calcium: Calcium formate that gets absorbed very quickly, and dicalcium phosphate for a slower absorption.

Case study

168 dairy cows received two Calcitop boluses on the day after calving and were compared to 136 cows that calved in the same period one year earlier (University of Veterinary Medicine, Budapest, 2020). Insemination, culling, mastitis, metritis and lameness were compared between the two groups within 60 days in milk. Half of the cows in the Calcitop-group got inseminated, compared to only 10% in the control group. Fewer cows that received Calcitop got culled or developed mastitis or lameness. In both groups the cases of metritis were high, confirming the need for attention to metritis.

Benefits of Calcitop:

• Healthier animals
• More production
• Fewer secondary diseases
• Lower costs

Tracetop

Tracetop is a vitamin and mineral bolus with slow-release technology that releases its nutrients over 6 months to improve the growth and well-being of adult cattle.

Deficiencies

Insufficient trace minerals and vitamins can result in losses in performance and can cause clinical deficiencies. More commonly though, sub-clinical deficiencies occur manifested as reduced pregnancy rates, rough hair coats, hoof issues, retained placenta, low libido and poor calf performance. Supplemented cows will develop a higher resistance against diseases and gain more weight. Tracetop is a practical solution that releases a daily amount of minerals and vitamins over 6 months.

Average daily supply:

• Iodine 16,9 mg
• Selenium 3,2 mg
• Vitamin E 11,7 mg
• Cobalt 2,8 mg
• Zinc 167,7 mg
• Vitamin A 3 066,7 IU
• Copper 83,5 mg
• Manganese 20,7
• Vitamin D3 600 IU

Long-term supply of trace elements and vitamins

Prevents and solves deficiencies

Better growth

Fewer health problems

6 months slow release

From plus, minus one year of age

Benefits

• Improves animal health
• Increases revenue
• Reduces medical costs

When to use

Dairy cattle: One bolus every six months. Suckler cows and young stock above 250 kg: 1 bolus when putting out to graze and 1 bolus when stabling (or 1 bolus every 6 months)

Why a bolus?

1. Easy to use
2. Cow absorbs all the nutrients she needs
3. Each cow gets the right dose
4. No need to give daily supplements
5. No need to calculate supplementary feed
6. You do not have to rely on the cow’s appetite
7. Easy storage and transportation
8. No spilling

For more information contact AC Kotze at 021-557-0606, info@fourlakes.co.za or visit their website: https://fourlakes.co.za/