Digestion Support

Digestion Support

As a dairy farmer, you understand that the health of your herd means everything and with feed costs, efficiently turning feed into milk is key to driving profitability. Maintaining normal digestive health and supporting overall wellness also contributes to your cow’s ability to meet their genetic potential for milk production.  This applies to beef, goat, alpaca and llamas as well.

When microbial populations in the rumen change and normal rumen function is altered, the following issues and challenges can occur:

• Shifts in ruminal pH; rapid at times.
• Increase in oxygen concentration in the rumen.
• Poor fiber digestion.
• Changes in volatile fatty acid (VFA) production.
• Variations in microbial protein synthesis.
• Reduced milk production and component yield.

How Do I Get More Out Of Feedstuffs To Help Produce More Milk

Although dairy rations are formulated to meet the requirements to hit milk production targets, variations in feedstuffs, nutrient accessibility, daily stressors and exposure to pathogens can make hitting those targets challenging. 

One way to help is to focus on proper digestion, maintaining normal digestive health and supporting the animal’s immune system. 

By establishing a healthy, robust, normal digestive system, you provide the support for the cow to properly digest feed, especially harder to digest ingredients or when high quality feedstuffs may not be readily available.  And a healthy gut is more efficient at absorbing and utilizing the nutrients needed to produce more milk.

Are There Specific Ingredients That Should Be Added To My Cow’s Feed

While there are a lot of products that can be considered, it is well researched and well known that the following ingredients play an important role in proper digestion in ruminants when fed daily.

Probiotics – By nourishing the natural microbiome, they help maintain normal gut health and support healthy immune function.  They also produce lactic acid that helps to maintain an environment that good bacteria thrive in.  Creating this homeostasis can also help overall digestive system function and efficiency.

Yeasts – There are multiple types of yeasts, including active dry yeast and yeast culture. Each has their own strengths.  Active dry yeast has a positive impact in the rumen that helps rumen efficiency in digesting fiber and maintaining a normal pH by altering the environment of lactic-acid producing bacteria.  Yeast cultures and extracts provide help with fiber digestion and microbial protein synthesis but also can provide prebiotic support from their cell walls.  Mannan-oligosaccharides is a common cell wall component that supports a healthy, efficient digestive system.

Enzymes – Another important additive for digestive efficiency are enzymes that are added to the feed and work primarily in the rumen.  In addition to proteins, fats and starches, there are specific components of ruminant diets that are high in digestible and indigestible fibers.  Adding enzymes can provide added support that improves rumen efficiency, quicker release of nutrients and supports maximizing milk production in the herd.

Why Choose LIRA GOLD^® DFM Supplements?

As with any product you look to use in helping meet your productivity and health goals, there are differences that should guide your choice of DFM’s.  LIRA GOLD^® Direct Fed Microbial supplements are formulated with the highest quality, research proven ingredients and have the following characteristics that are key to delivering top performance that LIRA GOLD customers have enjoyed for years.

1. Our probiotics are microencapsulated to preserve their viability in the bag during storage and to help protect them from stomach acid and bile so they reach the small intestine where they are needed most.
2. We utilize the highest quality active dry yeast and yeast culture to ensure they deliver the rumen and intestinal support that your cows need.
3. Only defined enzyme extracts are included in our supplements.  Defined enzymes are the specific extract that we formulate to the specific amount of enzyme that is targeting the nutrients that need to be turned into fuel to drive milk production.  We include each enzyme and the amount guaranteed right on the label.  If your enzyme product does not list a guarantee for their enzymes, they are likely crude enzymes with unknown activity in the rumen. 
4. Another ingredient that is in select LIRA GOLD DFM’s is a novel appetite stimulant.  It acts not only on taste but also through smell and helps to trigger in the brain the desire to eat.  Products containing our appetite stimulant are excellent for when you are looking to increase dry matter intake (DMI) or to help your show animal really bloom in the ring.
5. We also manufacture LIRA GOLD OC-DFM with ingredients that are approved for use in organic and natural certified herds.  Ask your certifier to let you use OC-DFM today.

Choose LIRA GOLD DFM’s to help improve rumen health, digestive efficiency and support overall health while doing so with a return on investment that can really help your bottom line.

Which LIRA GOLD DFM’s Contain The Above Ingredients That Deliver Results

The LIRA GOLD DFM Supplements on this page, LIRA GOLD E-X-T, contain many of the ingredients to help maintain normal digestive health, proper digestion, support a healthy immune system and drive healthy milk production.  These products are added to your animal’s daily ration to provide the extra kick you need to meet your farm’s productivity and profitability goals down the road.