BRANDON, Man. (Staff) – A new project at the Brandon Research Centre will find out if the monensin controlled-release capsule works as well for cows as it does for yearling cattle.
Juanita Kopp, a University of Manitoba graduate student, is studying how the treatment affects milk production and calf weight gain in cow-calf pairs on alfalfa and grass pastures.
Monensin increases the efficiency of beneficial bugs in the rumen, helping to better digest feed.
The treatment was first used by Canadian producers last summer. Cattle swallow the capsule which provides a daily dose to help reduce gas in the rumen. Provel, the company that sells the capsule, said the treatment reduces the risk of bloat by 80 percent. Each treatment costs $13.
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Preliminary results of the study won’t be ready until fall. But Kopp told producers on a recent tour she has observed cows given the treatment are gaining a little less than a pound per day, while cows without it are gaining about a quarter pound per day.
Paul McCaughey, a forage scientist at the research centre, said it’s too early in the experiment to attach significance to the observation.
McCaughey said the centre started using monensin for bloat control last summer with excellent results.
