Animax Tracesure Boluses V Lifeline buckets?

Bodacious

I was thinking of bolusing the cows this year as opposed to the lifeline buckets, now in fairness ive had no issues with the buckets, good fertility, no retained placenta good hardy lively calves (all outwintered on haylage).

2 boluses roughly at a glance E10 per cow but would i want to do them say 6 weeks before calving (most March/April) which would ensure adequate vitamins/minerals for key time ie calving and rebreeding. Or when would you suggest the best timing for maximum results?

Any suggestions/experience much appreciated or should i stick with the buckets!

theroad

Stick with what you know works. I use the boluses (€12 per cow), and they're fine, but really, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Bodacious

theroad wrote: »

Stick with what you know works. I use the boluses (€12 per cow), and they're fine, but really, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!

Good man, do you just get them from local CO-OP or would animax do any better by buying them direct? Or any online company... farmrite (fane valley stores) are dear enough at 55stg plus vat per box of 20! Thats 16E per cow when 20% vat added and current exchange rate 0f 0.82!

Bizzum

Having never used the Bolus (Except Copper), at least with them you can be sure each cow got a dose. The buckets can be a bit hit and miss, with some cows going mad for them and others not too pushed.
I would be interested to know the rate of uptake from the bolus vs the bucket or mineral via ration. If it were a slow release the bolus would want to be in place in time to account for this.

theroad

At different times I've bought from the co-op, from the vet and suppliers like co-op animal health, all for the same price, more or less. Animax don't sell direct, so far as I'm aware. I think they went up in price this year also.

I started using them because I had big problems with held cleanings a few years ago, even though they were getting dry cow minerals for the recommended time. Blood tests showed they were short on minerals so it seemed like a fail-safe way of getting the stuff into them, as Bizzum said.

Now I'm doing a belt-and-braces approach. The cows get the bolus at drying-off and there's a salt/mineral lick for them over the winter. By doing them then they get through the winter and the breeding season. It's expensive but calving went ok last year, so I'll see how things go this year and decide whether it's worth the risk of changing.

How many cows are you calving?

Bodacious

theroad wrote: »

At different times I've bought from the co-op, from the vet and suppliers like co-op animal health, all for the same price, more or less. Animax don't sell direct, so far as I'm aware. I think they went up in price this year also.

I started using them because I had big problems with held cleanings a few years ago, even though they were getting dry cow minerals for the recommended time. Blood tests showed they were short on minerals so it seemed like a fail-safe way of getting the stuff into them, as Bizzum said.

Now I'm doing a belt-and-braces approach. The cows get the bolus at drying-off and there's a salt/mineral lick for them over the winter. By doing them then they get through the winter and the breeding season. It's expensive but calving went ok last year, so I'll see how things go this year and decide whether it's worth the risk of changing.

How many cows are you calving?

How ya,

I only doing 12 cows but would prob get a few extra boxes of them as would do a good few of the neighbours also etc if i got a deal on them otherwise, just my own, i worked out the cows last year at 1 bucket per cow at E18 so at E12 i wouldnt mind but definitely the neighbours cows were slow to come bulling so id recommend he bolus them for sure

theroad

Yeah, it's hard to know what's right. A neighbour has only ever used dry cow mineral sprinkled on the silage and he's never had problems. One thing's certain - they need the minerals, but there's plenty of ways of getting them.