Bag-Bottle-Boost

Words in association with Elanco

Help prevent milk fever relapse with a three-step treatment regime.

You can’t always prevent a cow going down, but with the right treatment plan, the risk of relapse and associated costs of labour, time and reduced milk production can be minimised. To help give down cows the best chance of returning to health and production, consider a 3-step regime. Initial milk fever treatment with an injectable calcium solution is typically fast and immediately effective; however, the chance of relapse remains a risk, extending recovery time, increasing labour, and reducing milk in the vat. Relapse affects at least 30-35 percent of cows offered only 1st line treatment¹.  

Once the cow is up and walking following initial treatment, and has gained enough muscle control to swallow normally, orally administered calcium (Oral-Cal) or oral calcium with added energy (Oral-max) provides a continued level of support. Studies have shown that using oral calcium in this way can help to prevent relapse by up to 60 percent¹. Lastly, provide an energy boost. Administer propylene glycol (Ketol) for that essential energy boost for a quicker metabolic recovery, and a positive influence on the post-calving energy gap. Administer 240ml twice daily as a drench, or Ketol can be mixed into drinking water or feed. Always read the label before use.

A New Solution for Metabolic Bag Recycling

Every year thousands of bags of metabolic solutions are used in the treatment of conditions in dairy cows such as milk fever, grass staggers and ketosis, these metabolic bags were then disposed of as waste but that’s about to change. Elanco have been working alongside Agrecovery to seek a sustainable end-of-life option for the Metabolic Solutions bags, and these empty bags can now be returned to your participating store for recycling, including over 70 Farmlands stores. However, it is crucial that bags are returned in a recyclable condition, so we ask to you follow the recycle 1,2,3 before dropping your bags instore:

1. Remove sharps (needles should be disposed of in an appropriate sharps container).

2. Cut off and dispose of the attached tubes.

3. Keep it clean. Ensure the bags are free of any contamination such as blood or mud, if contaminated please rinse and dry before returning to store.

Once collected from store, the metabolic bags are sent to a sorting facility before being processed and recycled, right here in New Zealand. Let’s leave it better for the next generation.