Optimal Resistance – OmniGen Experiences

02 July 2018
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4 minutes

OmniGen supports the resistance of a cow in a natural way. A cow's immune system is regularly under fire by a host of organisms, including bacteria and viruses. In addition, stress has a negative effect on the operation of the immune system. Changes in the daily rhythm of a cow cause the cow to be under stress, which produces the stress hormone cortisol. This hormone suppresses the immune system.

Looking after their cattle with pleasure

Wim and Henk van Will milk some 85 dairy cows in the Netherlands. The brothers Wim and Henk van Will administer OmniGen to every animal on their farm. And have done so since they introduced OmniGen in November 2015. OmniGen is administered to calves through their milk powder. Once the calves are weaned, they are given Kaliber Junior, in addition to grass and a small amount of corn. OmniGen is added to this as a standard component.

The dry cows (and the older young livestock) each day receive 150 grams of Bestermine OmniVit. The milk cows are administered Bestermine Custom-made. In addition to OmniGen, these custom minerals contain the proper minerals with sodium bicarbonate as a standard component. The brothers Van Will are focused on job satisfaction.

The positive improvements observed among the calves are that the changeovers (moments of stress) in particular progress much more smoothly. This includes the weaning, hoof trimming and the vaccination. Among dairy cows the number of retained placentas has been reduced to virtually zero. The cows clean well and are energetic after calving. They feed easily as a result of which the start-up proceeds smoothly. Their quick recovery after vaccination is also noticeable.

The brothers Van Will: "Last August and September during the heat wave, some of our colleagues experienced drops of 5 litres per cow, while our loss was only 0.5 litres!" OmniGen is bringing the brothers closer to their goal; looking after their cattle with pleasure!

Veterinarian costs halved within 1 year

The family Van Puijenbroek milks some 170 dairy cows in Moergestel in the Netherlands. They started to administer OmniGen in 2013. At the time they were milking 100 dairy cows in relatively new accommodations in Hilvarenbeek. The relatively high veterinarian costs prompted them to investigate whether they could do anything to improve the resistance of their cows. Elevated somatic cell counts over an extended period of time and too much, poorly healing, mastitis in particular were the reasons for starting to administer OmniGen. Van Puijenbroek: "Following the use of OmniGen, veterinarian costs declined from approximately 2 cents per litre to 1 cent per litre within one year. This figure has since further declined to 0.7 cents at the new location in 2017."

 

In April 2015, the family Van Puijenbroek moved into new accommodations in Moergestel that are optimised on the basis of light, air and space. "During the hot summer of 2016, we delivered an average of 32-34 kg of fat and protein-corrected milk (FPCM) based on the bulk tank milk. In addition, E. coli mastitis is a thing of the past."

 

OmniGen helps us generate return from a healthy livestock herd! "In addition, it is easy to feed OmniGen through means of customer-specific minerals. OmniGen currently is administered in the form of a customer-specific mineral mix optimised on the basis of an extensive silage analysis. In addition to the basic minerals and OmniGen, this mix contains chalk, salt and sodium bicarbonate." "Our dairy cows need these custom minerals, particularly during the first 100 days of lactation. Due to the high milk yield, a great deal of vitamins and minerals are withdrawn from our dairy cows."