Fall is a busy time on the farm. Regardless of if you are lambing or kidding, weaning your summer-borns or preparing to market your animals, it is imperative to keep them feeling and looking their very best. The extra stress involved at various production stages along with temperature swings brought on by the fall, all make staying healthy a little extra challenging. That is why good nutrition plays such an important role.
Good nutrition plays into an animal’s health because 70% of the immune response is found in the gut – the very place where digestion and absorption of nutrients takes place. At BioZyme®, we’ve taken careful consideration in researching gut health when producing livestock supplements with the Amaferm® advantage. Amaferm is a precision prebiotic designed to support digestibility by amplifying the nutrient supply for maximum performance. It is research-proven to combat stress by increasing intake and nutrient utilization. Amaferm is found in every Vita Charge® product, specifically produced to help animals during times of stress and recovery, perfect for those diverse times of the production cycle or during temperature fluctuations.
When fall babies hit the ground, you want them to get off to the best start possible. If you do have a sick lamb or kid that need treated early on, give it a dose of Vita Charge® Gel, to help get its rumen going and help it recover during this hopefully temporary time of stress. If you do have a lamb or kid that becomes an orphan and you end up with a bottle baby, try the Vita Charge® Neonatal. This liquid supplement is specially formulated for baby livestock of all species and supports digestive health and promotes feed and water intake during those early days. It can be mixed in drenches, milk or milk replacer.
For those weaning young animals in commercial herds or flocks, the Vita Charge® Liquid Boost is an ideal product to add to the water to help promote feed and water intake at this most stressful time. In addition to Amaferm, it also contains MOS to trap bad bacteria limiting their ability to do harm.
“Liquid Boost helps alleviate signs of stress associated with weaning. It helps transition the kids off of nursing their mothers and onto their own feed. I feel like it helps the stress factor a lot,” said Alan Wrasman, Ottawa, Ohio, goat producer.
Once you’ve got the lambs and goats born, weaned and raised, it is time to market and sell them to their new homes. This transition offers another level of stress for your animals as they find their way to a new environment, but with products from the Vita Charge line, you can be proactive in making sure they make the adjustment with minimal stress.
If they have had Vita Charge Liquid Boost in their water, you might send home a small dose of that with the new buyer just to get the animal adjusted to the water taste at their new barn. A dose of Vita Charge Gel as you load them will also make their trip a little smoother. A tube of Vita Charge Gel to send with your buyer is a good investment to ensure the animals make a smooth transition and you are not dealing with unhappy customers.
Fall is in the air, and that means Vita Charge should be in your barn. Help reduce some the stress that comes with fall production practices with the Amaferm advantage found in the Vita Charge products. Keep your lambs and kids healthy. Keep them eating and keep them growing.
