Dairy Herd Health and CoseIcure Cattle Boluses – learn about one farmer’s story.

Roy McCrea farms with his two sons, Richard and Mark in Tree Tops Farm. The farm is located in picturesque Claudy in Co. Derry, Northern Ireland. Tree Tops Farm is a dairy enterprise which milks 700 cows. The cows are very high performing, with milk yields of 9000kg, and the farm supplies Stathroy Dairies.

A number of years ago, the McCreas were concerned that their herd was not preforming as well as it should be. With the aid of their vet, they embarked on a quest to find out what was holding their herd back. They ran blood tests and sent their forage for mineral analysis. The diagnosis was trace element deficiencies - namely copper, cobalt selenium and iodine.

The local vet recommended the CoseIcure cattle bolus. They explained that boluses provide an convenient, cost-effective and controlled method of trace element supplementation to help with the cows health. The CoseIcure cattle boluse are unique as they are made of soluble glass, which was news to the McCreas! As a result, boluses provide exactly the same amount of trace elements every single day for up to 6 months. This means there are no variable intakes and no guesswork. As the same amount of trace elements are supplied every day, there are no peaks and troughs of supplementation, which could impact negatively on health and performance.

The vet also highlighted that using a bolus is particularly good for animals requiring cobalt and iodine which cannot be stored in the body and therefore a daily supply is required.

Another attraction of the CoseIcure boluses was their long-lasting nature - it is very convenient to use and reduces labour costs as the cows need only be bolused twice a year.

The farm purchased the CoseIcure boluses at their local Fane Valley store and started bolusing the cows at dry-off. This has paid dividends, with cow performance and health vastly improved. Now bolusing at dry-off is an essential part of the routine on farm. They also carry out regular blood tests and forage analysis to stay on top of the deficiencies.