INCREASES MILK PRODUCTION

In their most recent (published Nov 2024) trial¹ Anchor Life Sciences & Veterinarians from University College, Dublin, tested Cow Start Complete on a subset of 26 cows from a 280-cow, pasture-fed, Irish herd with a previous seasonal production of ~6,600kg (21L/cow/day). The herd had Allflex collars and individual cow daily milk weight recording capability. What this study was able to show is that Cow Start Complete maintained serum calcium levels above the generally accepted subclinical hypocalcaemia/milk fever risk threshold for the first 48 hours post calving and that in turn this led to a significant improvement in rumination and a significant increase in milk production of 1.8kg/cow/day during the first 12 weeks of the lactation.

As farmers know, the faster the cows can get to peak milk, combined with the best peak possible sets up the rest of the season. It’s in those first 48-hours post calving that milk fever and subclinical hypocalcaemia rob most cows of their ability to get to that peak.

The latest trial corroborates numerous other studies Anchor Life Sciences have conducted which also show that supplementation with Cow Start significantly increases milk production when compared to a) un-supplemented Control Cows (+1.3kg/day, P<0.05) and b) also when compared to cows supplemented with a short acting calcium bolus (+0.8kg/day, P<0.10).

A meta-analytical review² of Cow Start research shows that no matter what the production system (from 6,000kg grass based, 9,000kg mixed and up to 12,000kg intensive indoor production) Cow Start consistently increases milk production by ~ 4.6 % over the full lactation.

References

1. Lawlor, J. et al. “Can supplementation with the Cow Start Complete Bolus result in elevated blood calcium status in a group of at risk dairy cows during the first 4 days of lactation” Animal & Veterinary Sciences Vol. 12, (6), pp 154-160. 2024

2. Fahey, A., Lawlor. J., Cow Start Research Meta-analysis, 2022

3. J. Lawlor, A. Fahey, E. Neville, A. Stack, and F. Mulligan, “On-farm Safety and Efficacy Trial of Cow Start Calcium Bolus,” Anim. Vet. Sci., vol. 7, no. 6, pp. 121–126, 2019.

4. Lawlor, J., Fahey, A., Neville, E., Stack, A., and Mulligan, F. “Effect of Cow Start Calcium Bolus on Metabolic Status and Milk Production in Early Lactation”, Anim Vet Sci., vol. 8, no. 6, pp. 124-132, 2020.