Down in Southland, which has its own weather challenges over spring, a farmer has achieved his goal to have hardly any stress at calving time. For the last few seasons Hannes Du Plessis used Nutritech’s Nutrimin® Springer Cow Balancer to minimise down cows. This coming spring he is calving down 620 cows, and he expects to have hardly any down cows again.
When Hannes first came to the farm at Dacre, he had around 20 down cows in his first spring. As Hannes is very focused on animal health, Hannes talked to Nutritech about their Springer Cow Balancer product options. Since implementing the program, the down cow numbers decreased from 20 to only one down cow the following spring.
“Even with the extreme wet spring we had one year, I still only had 5 down cows”, Hannes said. Hannes blamed these cases on the silage he used that year, as he expected it was too high in protein. His Nutritech Area Manager had sampled the silage and adjusted his springer diet, then choosing the best fit Nutrimin® Springer Cow Balancer. Unfortunately, the protein was higher than expected in some parts, but luckily only a few cows were affected and went down. The rest of the herd had a balanced diet and came through calving with the right Springer Cow Balancer product without any hiccups!
In the past Hannes also had some clinical ketosis cases and several dirty cows. “Since using Nutrimin® Springer Cow Balancer I have had no clinical ketosis cases and a lot less dirty cows! I only have to dust the product on the silage on the feedpad, and that was it!” he says. Hannes does not use wearables on farm, but he can see the girls are bouncing back and start eating quicker after giving birth.
“Nutritech has given me such a peace of mind over calving, that I do not check the cows in between calf pick-ups. Whenever I go out, I know that I only have to pick up calves, and the cows will be fine when they have calved” says Hannes.
It is often said that mating starts at calving time. The follicle used at mating is getting out of its dormant stage when the calf is born. If a cow goes down around calving or has any issues with eating or her recovery around this time, the follicle is not in an optimal healthy condition. This could result in lower conception rates. Hannes Du Plessis can see results in getting better 6WICR each year. The last few years Hannes managed to get around 80 to 82% of the herd in calf in the first 6 weeks without any intervention, which means that the follicles at mating time were of good quality!
This year Hannes has planned to test his silage again, and he will order the best option of Nutritech’s Nutrimin® Springer Cow Balancer for his cows and his diet. “Sprinkling this product over spring is the best farming decision I have made!” he says.
If you too would like to improve your springer transitions like Hannes did, contact your local Nutritech Area Manager. From silage testing to tailored product advice for your diet, Nutritech is here to help.