South Island ProCalf user commentary
August 2009
Hurunui dairy farmer Tania Jones is fairly well known around her local community. Recently her profile received a boost on a national scale as the face of the new ProCalf probiotic formulation developed by AgResearch for Donaghys.
Tania and her husband Raymond farm Westhaven near Culverden and have used ProCalf for years. It was because of her experience with the product that Donaghys approached her to front the advertising campaign for the new improved ProCalf for this calving season.
The 38 year-old says her initial response was no! “However, I thought about it and realised I wasn’t setting a good example to my children. It’s good to challenge yourself by doing things outside your comfort zone.”
The Jones have three children, a 14 year-old at Christ’s College and a 12 year-old and an eight year-old at Amuri Area School. “They laughed when they first saw the ads,” says Tania, “and I got a bit of a hard-time from the locals but it’s all good fun.”
“People come up to me and ask if I really did use ProCalf and if it’s really true that only one of the 525 calves I raised last year got the scours. I was happy to say what I said because they were my words. It’s all true, and it was absolutely bloody amazing that we only had one calf with scours!”
Tania says it’s the rennet in the ProCalf that helps to clot the milk. “It doesn’t go through the calves as quick, allowing the calf more time to absorb the nutrients which helps protect them from scours.”
However, Tania admits there was a little bit of poetic licence in the advert. “My hair doesn’t normally look like that good when I’m out in the paddock with the calves!”
The secrets behind raising healthy calves
August 2009
With 15 years of calf rearing under her belt Donna Watson knows a thing or to about growing healthy happy calves. Using probiotics to ensure the calves’ welfare is now standard routine on Parekarangi, a 1600 acre farm five minutes from Rotorua.
Every year Donna raises about 250 calves and in the last 15 years her calves have never been infected by rotavirus, and only once has there been a case of the scours – 12 years ago!
“I’m very particular about who I let in my shed,” says Donna. “I only let the vet in once I’ve washed his boots down with detergent. They go from farm shed to farm shed and you never know how clean the previous shed was.
“In general I don’t let men in the shed either. They don’t have the patience necessary for rearing calves, they aren’t conscientious about keeping things clean and if a calf is sick there’s no way they’d visit it two or three times a day.”
Three years ago Donna started using the probiotic when the local Donaghys territory manager gave her a sample. “I used it when we dehorned the calves. They were stressed when we put them under and again when they woke up so I put a few mls of ProCalf in their milk and they calmed down. After that I was hooked.”
Since then Donna has used ProCalf to keep her calves healthy and stress free. “The healthier they are the less likely it is they’ll need antibiotics, which is always a good thing.
“Yes, ProCalf costs. My husband, Steve, moans about it but I just tell him one season’s worth of ProCalf is cheaper than a vet callout for one of his ailing cows. These are our replacement stock! They need to be as healthy as possible before I hand them over to my husband.”
When the calves first arrive in the shed after being born Donna puts a couple of mls of ProCalf in their milk. “It gives them a bit of a boost. I also do this with those that have been transported from other farms as they’re usually quite stressed.”
Throughout the season if a calf looks like it is ailing Donna gives them a few mls in their milk to help them out and again when they are being dehorned.
“Last year I had the calves out in the paddock way earlier than normal – we’re talking weeks ahead of schedule!”
