John Ellis reared 150 calves on a combination of Nutritech DanCalf® Gold and Gusto© V-Gold Calf Milk Replacer (CMR) last season. His first experience with DanCalf Gold was positive in every way: it was simple to use and the calves were healthier than in past seasons.

John and his wife Lucy are Farm Owners at Springwood Farm, near Ashburton. On approximately 240 ha of flat country they grow a range of seed crops and cereals year-round. They also rear around 150 beef calves and 2,500 store lambs.

As long-time customers of PGG Wrightson they get most of their inputs through the Ashburton Rural Supplies store. They also work closely with PGG Wrightson Seeds on the cropping side of their business.

“I used to work for PGG Wrightson,” says John, “so I know that they know their stuff. I find the team excellent to deal with. Our milk powder is delivered, our ag-chem is delivered and pricing is competitive. I can’t fault the service.”

John and Lucy have reared calves for the last seven years. “Rearing clean and healthy calves has always been our main objective,” says John. “Last year, I was looking for a product that would help with gut health and came across DanCalf Gold at the Ashburton PGG Wrightson store.

“Based on the advice we got from the team, it appeared good, simple to implement and cost-effective in the long term, so we gave it a go.”

DanCalf Gold is a well-rounded supplement offering calves superior gut and immune development to help them reach their full genetic potential. It contains probiotics, a prebiotic, essential vitamins and trace minerals and a coccidiostat.

A key ingredient is Levucell® SB live yeast, a probiotic with the capacity to bind pathogens, neutralise toxins, stimulate beneficial bacteria and immune response, all of which improve calf growth.

Nutritech Area Manager, Catherine Sharpin recommends DanCalf Gold to every calf rearer. “Calves are born with little immunity,” she explains. “DanCalf Gold flushes the digestive tract with many good bacteria that out-compete the bad bacteria.

“Anyone feeding whole milk or milk powder that doesn’t contain a coccidiostat should use DanCalf Gold,” Catherine continues. “It will provide substantial savings in feed costs and other costs arising from ill health as it contains Bovatec®, which has proven anticoccidial action.

“It also provides calves with all the vitamins and minerals they need especially in the first four weeks of life which is the crucial time for shaping future growth and productivity of these animals.”

John fed his calves DanCalf Gold with every milk feed, mixing in 5 g per litre, from the time they arrive on the farm (at about four days old) right through to weaning at 100 kg.

“Our calves were altogether healthier,” says John. “They were a lot cleaner and we had no scouring at all. It’s so easy to add DanCalf Gold when we’re mixing the milk, there’s no wastage because the calves drink every drop. We will definitely use DanCalf Gold again this season, it makes good sense.”

Contact your local PGG Wrightson store to find out more about DanCalf® Gold or discuss your calf rearing feeding programme.

Sponsored by Nutritech