Calf & weaning

Birth and the start of life is a stressful time for calves, who will encounter factors that may affect their health due to insufficient trace minerals.

New challenges for the new born calf

Birth and the start of life is a stressful time for the calf. From his early days, he is subject to diseases and events that could affect his health, such as diarrhea, perinatal mortality, and vaccine failure, due to insufficient trace minerals (also referred to as trace elements).

We can identify 3 factors of oxidative stress in the calf:
- birth,
- vaccination
- weaning

Trace minerals support from birth to weaning

Birth

Weaning

Birth

The calf is already born with a small stock of trace minerals as provided by the cow, thanks to the umbilical cord, the afterbirth, and the amniotic fluid.
At birth, the calf can be described as immature in the face of its new environment. Oxidative stress increases at this time as the calf begins to breathe oxygen-rich air. The lack of trace minerals aggravates this stress and predisposes the calf to develop diarrhea and then respiratory diseases.

Good quality colostrum represents the first means of combating oxidative stress linked to birth and helps prevent diseases by providing immunity to the calf.

Weaning

Weaning is a stressful time for the calf, which can adversely affect the immune system as it will be exposed to new infectious agents resulting from transport, commingling and handling. Frequently, calves enter unfamiliar environments with new herd mates and drastic changes in diet.

Because of the stress, the calf tends to eat less, which will have the effect of reducing their supply of trace minerals necessary for the proper functioning of their immune system.
Despite standard dietary trace mineral supplementation, marginal deficiencies and subclinical diseases can occur.

Another stressful event: transport

Beyond the transport itself, the cattle will find themselves in a new environment, with new animals and new breeding management. These events and changes have an impact on their productivity and resilience. A supply of trace minerals after this stress, even for animals already in deficiency, allow them to perform as well as well supplemented animals.

Support calves during high demand periods

Calves' supplementation with trace minerals supplementation is critical for the immunity and well-being of animals. From birth to weaning, several events cause stress and result in increased needs for trace minerals.

Our supplementation with injectable trace minerals supports the vitality of calves during the three important-most steps of their youth and related issues.

Unique benefits

58% reduction in deaths

link to a better immunity

Source

52% reduction in disease

8% of calf diarrhea, 7% of pneumonia and otitis

Source

Improved vaccine response

and faster antibody production

Source

Better appetite

Source

DISCOVER OUR TRACE MINERAL SOLUTION

An innovative way of supplementing cattle with trace minerals

Multimin

Get your cattle ready to perform during high demand periods.

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Micronutrition and vaccination

Vaccination is the most reliable way to prevent disease and boost immunity. When cattle are under TM imbalance, the post-vaccination immune response is not optimal.

As trace minerals are involved in the development of immunity, supplementation with trace elements allows a faster vaccine response, including antibody production and cellular immunity.