Smooth dietary changes for growers
Ensure a healthy, productive future for your incoming cattle with a smooth transition programme for dietary changes and stress management. A successful receiving period is critical to the animal’s overall health, helping growers to maintain target intakes and growth rates throughout the feeding period.
How to recognise
Abrupt changes in a grower’s diet can result in reduced intake of dry matter, less rumination, altered manure and overall poor performance in the days after transition.
The impact on the farmer
Drastic changes in diet can lead to economic losses for the farmer, with more days needed on feed to reach target weights.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it important to ensure smooth dietary changes?
Sudden switches in the composition of rations can lead to changes in fermentation and acid load production and increase the likelihood of nutritional disorders in the animal. These disorders affect the animal’s overall health, risking its growth and, in severe cases, its life.
What role does mineral management play in an effective diet change?
The proper trace mineral supplementation can significantly ease an animal’s stress during the challenges of a diet transition. We recommend including IntelliBond in growing diets to provide a stable source of trace minerals. These can help with more preferential intake, improve ruminal dry matter and fiber digestibility and offer higher metal bioavailability.