For over a decade Calibrin ® -Z has been shown to increase milk production. However, Feeding Calibrin-Z also improves the performance of the dairy herd by promoting the general health as indicated by decreased somatic cell count, decreased death loss and abortions, and increased conception rates.
This discussion helps to show how much Calibrin-Z to include in a ration for your herd regardless of whether you are using a Total Mixed Ration or feeding a concentrate and forages separately.
The typical suggested feeding rate for Calibrin-Z for lactating dairy cows is 20 grams/head/day, although this may increase during times of high challenges. Table 1 shows how much Calibrin-Z needs to be added to a Total Mixed Ration to ensure that the desired amount is consumed at different Calibrin-Z inclusion rates and different dry matter intakes.
If you are feeding the concentrate and forage separately, then Table 2 can be used to aid in the calculations. For inclusion in a dairy concentrate take the number you identified from the chart above based on your dry matter intake and multiply it by a factor of; 1 ÷ the percentage of dry matter coming from the concentrate.
For example: If you are using a ration where 40% of dry matter is coming from the concentrate with 60% of the dry matter coming from the forage then the multiplier for 40%, would be 2.50, while for 50% it would be 2.00, and for 60% it would be 1.67.
So, to supply 20 grams of Calibrin-Z per head per day when a cow is eating 16 kg of DM per day and the concentrate supplies 40% of the dry matter. Chart 1 tells us that 1.25 kg would be needed in the Total Mixed Ration:
Thus, we add 3.1 kg of Calibrin-Z in the concentrate when 40% of the DM is coming from concentrate and cows are averaging 16 kg of DMI per day.
Adding Calibrin-Z helps protect your herd and is easy to incorporate in your rations. Visit amlan.com to contact your local Amlan representative and learn how Calibrin-Z can work for you.