Interim report for probiotic data project

Milestone one has been completed for our latest on-farm project: SFF # 404979 “Are there long-term advantages in giving probiotic supplements to neo-natal calves?”

The project’s aim is to revisit the data from the AgBoard’s 2012 probiotic calf trial project (SFF L12-083 - “The effects of a probiotic supplement on growth, feed conversion and general health of dairy calves.” Report here.

74% of these calves are now production cows in the three trial farms and we have collected new data on the cows. The data includes live weights, milk yield, mortality and culls, days in milk, somatic cell counts. The farmers concerned have been great with their support.

Analysis by the AgBoard is looking for any appreciable differences between the calves started on a fresh probiotic in those initial first weeks in 2012 and control groups of calves in pairs match for birth weight. It is clear that a positive start to a calf’s stomach biota and general health is most likely to lead to a healthy, well-performing production cow. We will look more closely in Milestone 2 with statistical support as to whether the fresh probiotic supplement is able to be identified statistically at all with that likely trend.

One interesting aspect noted relates to the fates of the original 306 trial calves – mortality and culling rates, and sales. The number of cows still in their respective herds from the supplement-fed calves is clearly and consistently higher than the control calves on the two farms where the fresh probiotic made a difference in the original trial. We await professional advice as to whether this is a statistically significant difference.

At the end of this project in April 2017 the new data sets will be posted here on this website and anyone will be able do their own analysis or check on our eventual conclusions.

Malcolm Deverson

Project contractor to the AgBoard
16 December 2016