Environmental pathogens like Clostridia, E. coli, and Salmonella are primary drivers of digestive upset in calves. These pathogens damage the gut lining, produce toxins and infiltrate the body, leading to long-term health challenges and secondary infections like bovine respiratory disease.
Frustratingly, these pathogens are very common and difficult to avoid. Which means protecting calves from these pathogens is critical for ensuring they live long, healthy lives and safeguarding your investment in the herd.
Enter probiotic solutions. They are a cost-efficient tool that can be highly effective at supporting pathogen management on the farm. And when it comes to probiotics for calves, BaciFlex®-Calf is the only one with highly selected strains that facilitate comprehensive pathogen control to support health and immune function.
BaciFlex-Calf on the farm
To validate its efficacy in a real-world situation, BaciFlex-Calf was tested at a Wisconsin calf raising facility on 717 pre-weaning calves over the summer months in wet and muddy conditions.
Calves were sourced from multiple farms, arrived at the calf-raising facility between 1-5 days of age, and were housed on dirt in individual calf hutches. They were fed a 24-20 non-medicated milk replacer with or without BaciFlex-Calf, along with starter until weaning at about 64 days of age.
Body weight was determined upon arrival at the facility and at weaning. At less than 1 week, 4-6 weeks, and 7-8 weeks of age, calf fecal and health scores were assessed, and fecal samples were submitted for analysis of Clostridia, C. perfringens, E. coli, and Salmonella.
BaciFlex-Calf optimizes health and performance
BaciFlex-Calf started out by inducing a significant reduction in fecal E. coli levels, which resulted in 40% lower fecal scores throughout the trial.
Reducing pathogens and healing the gut supported a 45% reduction in respiratory disease in calves consuming BaciFlex-Calf – going from 14.5% to 8%. This reduction allowed calves to meet the industry gold standard of less than 10% pre-weaning respiratory incidence.
With the pathogen burden lifted, calves on BaciFlex-Calf were able to increase their average daily gain, leading to a 5.5 lb. higher body weight at weaning. This additional gain allowed calves to double their birth weight by weaning and meet industry growth recommendations, while the control calves did not.
