“Given the difficult situation in the transit phase and the losses incurred, we decided to address the challenges. The problems in the puerperal phase were serious and expressed themselves mainly in downer cows and in a decrease in body condition, which in some cases led to a total loss of the animal. The expectations for DairySafe, which we had ​​read about, were high and it sounded like a product to solve our problems. I can honestly say that the product far exceeded its expectations. By using DairySafe we ​​have experienced an enormous improvement in general condition, body condition and feed intake. By using DairySafe, we were able to surpass our previous best performance in the starter phase. The big difference to before is that these cows do not lose their body condition as before and suffer less from retained placentas and metritis. This ultimately leads to improved fertility.” 

The challenge

• Problems of retained placenta (35-40%) and metritis (27-35%) despite the use of commercially protected choline.
• Mycotoxins in the feed and therfore problems with liver health.
• Anionic diet in close-up-group followed by suboptimal results in fresh cow group.
• Problems with calcium metabolism after calving. Both visible in the barn and identified in blood profiles.
• Reduction of body condition (BCS) of fresh cows and starters.

The result

• The number of fresh cows with retained placentas was reduced from 33% (July 42%) to 10%.
• In August 24% of the fresh cows were still diagnosed with metritis at the veterinary puerperal control. The use of DairySafe reduced the number of metritis cases to 4%.
• The reduction of medical treatments in the fresh cow group plus the higher quantity of milk gained, result in a considerable return for the farmer. The medical costs for the treatment of retained placenta were reduced by 46%.
• Cows given DairySafe produced an average of 37.5 liters per day in the third week after calving.
• Feed intake increased by 2.5kg DM per animal/day on the 8th day after feeding DairySafe.