Gut Health Key To Long-Term Herd Success

Getting your livestock off to the best start is the goal of every producer.  When calves have the opportunity to start strong, they are more likely to produce at the top of their game.  And this is especially true in the dairy sector.  Olivia Genther-Schroeder, Senior Technical Innovation Manager-Calf Milk Replacer and Dairy at Purina Animal Nutrition said if you want your calves to have success, focus on gut health.

“There is a period of what we call developmental plasticity, which basically means that we have the opportunity to change the outcome long-term," she said.  "And so, the building blocks for that include nutrition; we want to build the gut; build gut integrity; build the immune system.  And that will allow the animal to grow to its best potential. So, during the very early life where we're remodeling that gut. We are developing the rumen, for example, the animal has to start building its own immune system after we've provided it at colostrum and we're developing that microbiome. It's going to go from very simple, very few microorganisms to a more complex and diverse microbiome as an adult.”

Nutrition A Key Component For Healthy Calves

Genther-Schroeder noted while gut health is critical, it’s not done so in a vacuum.

“We want our animals to develop these systems and grow at the same time, and so we're trying to make sure that we provide those things to that animal that will allow for that to happen," Genther-Schroeder added.  "So, the immune system, for example, if we're going to give a vaccination, the immune system requires energy to support antibody production and develop that animal. So making sure that you have the right nutrition and the right amount of nutrition is really important for that.”

She said when promoting gut health, sanitation is extremely important, and must be top of mind.  For more on promoting gut health in your calves, whether dairy or beef, listen to our entire conversation with Purina Animal Nutrition’s Olivia Genther-Schroeder.

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