Herd’s bolus bonus (From Western Telegraph)

Herd’s bolus bonus

12:19pm Tuesday 2nd February 2010 in

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A St Clears dairy farmer says the health status of his pedigree herd has improved dramatically since he started using trace element boluses as part of his dry cow therapy.

Lloyd Picton-Davies, who runs 120 Holstein Friesians and 50 Jersey cows at Asgood Farm, says he started bolusing the stock at drying off 12 months ago at the same time as he treated them for worms and fluke.

“It’s the complete package,” says Mr Picton-Davies.

He had been using free access minerals spread onto silage in the winter but decided to change his supplementation policy after noticing the coats of many of the cows had a red tinge, a sign they were short of copper.

Every animal is given Tracesure Cu/I – the senior cows at drying off and the youngstock at turnout and again at housing.

“There is no red tinge on their coats any longer, black and white is black and white. They are getting copper as well as iodine, selenium and cobalt from the boluses and they stay in the cow’s system for six months,” says Mr Picton-Davies.

He farms 260 acres and runs an all-year-round calving system, yielding just over 9,000 litres with 4.5% butterfat and 3.6% protein.

He feeds the herd square and round bale silage in the winter. He knew there was a copper deficiency issue at Asgood Farm and had tried other methods of getting this and other minerals into the herd.

But he says there was no guarantee that the cows were having what they needed.

“When we put loose minerals on top of silage in the winter there was no guarantee that every animal was getting them,” he says. “The bolus gives us peace of mind because we know every animal is covered for six months.”

His vet from the Market Hall Veterinary Practice, St Clears, makes fortnightly visits to the farm to check on freshly calved cows and to deal with any other health issues.

Mr Picton-Davies knew his cows were in good shape when the vet commented on the improved health status of the herd.

“He asked me what I had been giving them and I told him we were using the Tracesure Cu/I bolus. He said it was obviously making a difference because the cows were so much cleaner after calving,” says Mr Picton-Davies.

He says the cows are in a much better condition after calving and cases of retained cleansings are rare.

He no longer uses minerals, apart from what is included in the dairy cake ration.

“The bolus has meant less worry on the farm and we feel happier giving it to the stock,” added Mr Picton Davies.