Feeding CPM Calving and Breeding Mineral
Jan 02, 2024
Bob Meyers
CPM Livestock Consultant
Calving season is rapidly approaching, for our purebred operations it may already be here. I want to discuss the advantages of our Calving and Breeding mineral, what separates it from other related products on the market, and how it works within the animal to achieve the desired results.
Scours has long been the one big health concern for producers. We rotate calving grounds, give ScourGuard shots, pair out religiously, and still when it hits it seems nothing works. Many producers have incorporated a MOS mineral into their operation over the past 20 years to help control scour outbreaks. I was fortunate enough to be the first person to use MOS in a bovine application over 25 years ago. I can tell you firsthand it works! Producers use it but don’t understand its mode of action.
MOS is a non-nutritive part of the yeast cell wall that targets E.coli and salmonella bacteria in the gut. E.coli and Salmonella are rod type bacteria that have an affinity for carbohydrates. When a baby calf nurses, the milk sticks in the villi of the stomach wall. E.coli comes along, locates the carbohydrates in the milk and attaches itself to it. It then replicates and colonizes, creating an irritation in the gut that left unchecked can become an ulcer. This irritation causes the calf to respond by trying to flush it away. Dehydration sets in and typically a secondary infection is what kills the calf. The physical characteristic of MOS mimics a carbohydrate. E.coli and salmonella see the MOS particle as food, attach to it and then are simply passed out of the calf where they die. MOS also helps to reduce the incidence of C & D toxoid (purple gut or over eaters’ disease for us old timers), by keeping a healthier gut. When calves overeat, the lactic acid that builds up often causes perforations of those ulcers. By limiting the E.coli damage we reduce the possibility of having ulcers present.
The most effective protocol for feeding CPM Calving and Breeding mineral is to start feeding the cow at least 30 days prior to calving. University of Kentucky trial data shows that we get about a 30% increase in IGG levels in the colostrum and that those IGG’s last about 30% longer. IGG’s are the passive immunity that the cow gives the calf. This immune response typically lasts about 7 days. The calf’s own immunity, called active immunity, won’t kick in until he is about 10 days old. That leaves us a 2–3-day window where the calf has very limited immune response. By feeding MOS to the cow, we can stretch that passive immunity out to about 9 days. Once the calf is born, he becomes our target animal. We need a mineral that is palatable enough that babies will eat it. My own experience shows that with the proper formulation we can have calves eating mineral at three days of age. This jump starts their active immunity earlier, helping to close that window of susceptibility even tighter.
CPM Calving and Breeding mineral contains Diamond V yeast, a major source of mannooligosaccharides (MOS) and beta glucans, which elevate immune response. It is specifically formulated to get intakes in young calves. Utilizing Diamond V yeast also improves the recovery time for the cow, getting her system back into condition to get her bred back. There are a lot of popular additives that we simply cannot use in this formula because they severely limit intakes.
I have seen a hundred different copycat formulas out there, and nearly every one of them has a hole in it somewhere. CPM Calving and Breeding mineral follows the initial guidelines I developed over 25 years ago to get consistent intakes in the calves without sacrificing reproduction on the cow side. This is why pre-calving nutrition is so important. Please get with your Nutrition Advisors and have them design a mineral program for you.
CPM Livestock Consultant
Calving season is rapidly approaching, for our purebred operations it may already be here. I want to discuss the advantages of our Calving and Breeding mineral, what separates it from other related products on the market, and how it works within the animal to achieve the desired results.
Scours has long been the one big health concern for producers. We rotate calving grounds, give ScourGuard shots, pair out religiously, and still when it hits it seems nothing works. Many producers have incorporated a MOS mineral into their operation over the past 20 years to help control scour outbreaks. I was fortunate enough to be the first person to use MOS in a bovine application over 25 years ago. I can tell you firsthand it works! Producers use it but don’t understand its mode of action.
MOS is a non-nutritive part of the yeast cell wall that targets E.coli and salmonella bacteria in the gut. E.coli and Salmonella are rod type bacteria that have an affinity for carbohydrates. When a baby calf nurses, the milk sticks in the villi of the stomach wall. E.coli comes along, locates the carbohydrates in the milk and attaches itself to it. It then replicates and colonizes, creating an irritation in the gut that left unchecked can become an ulcer. This irritation causes the calf to respond by trying to flush it away. Dehydration sets in and typically a secondary infection is what kills the calf. The physical characteristic of MOS mimics a carbohydrate. E.coli and salmonella see the MOS particle as food, attach to it and then are simply passed out of the calf where they die. MOS also helps to reduce the incidence of C & D toxoid (purple gut or over eaters’ disease for us old timers), by keeping a healthier gut. When calves overeat, the lactic acid that builds up often causes perforations of those ulcers. By limiting the E.coli damage we reduce the possibility of having ulcers present.
The most effective protocol for feeding CPM Calving and Breeding mineral is to start feeding the cow at least 30 days prior to calving. University of Kentucky trial data shows that we get about a 30% increase in IGG levels in the colostrum and that those IGG’s last about 30% longer. IGG’s are the passive immunity that the cow gives the calf. This immune response typically lasts about 7 days. The calf’s own immunity, called active immunity, won’t kick in until he is about 10 days old. That leaves us a 2–3-day window where the calf has very limited immune response. By feeding MOS to the cow, we can stretch that passive immunity out to about 9 days. Once the calf is born, he becomes our target animal. We need a mineral that is palatable enough that babies will eat it. My own experience shows that with the proper formulation we can have calves eating mineral at three days of age. This jump starts their active immunity earlier, helping to close that window of susceptibility even tighter.
CPM Calving and Breeding mineral contains Diamond V yeast, a major source of mannooligosaccharides (MOS) and beta glucans, which elevate immune response. It is specifically formulated to get intakes in young calves. Utilizing Diamond V yeast also improves the recovery time for the cow, getting her system back into condition to get her bred back. There are a lot of popular additives that we simply cannot use in this formula because they severely limit intakes.
I have seen a hundred different copycat formulas out there, and nearly every one of them has a hole in it somewhere. CPM Calving and Breeding mineral follows the initial guidelines I developed over 25 years ago to get consistent intakes in the calves without sacrificing reproduction on the cow side. This is why pre-calving nutrition is so important. Please get with your Nutrition Advisors and have them design a mineral program for you.