PasturChlor DCAD Management

calcium light. DCAD right.

Industry professionals agree that successful DCAD management is an effective tool for the prevention of milk fever and subclinical hypocalcemia. But there are two schools of thought when it comes to the right approach to lowering DCAD and maximizing the mobilization of useable calcium into the blood.

The low-calcium approach to DCAD management arose from the discovery that feeding very low amounts of absorbable calcium can actually increase the utilization of calcium from the bones. Achieving absorbable calcium intakes low enough to stimulate bone calcium utilization is often difficult in pasture-based systems, due to the high levels of potassium, a cation, found in traditional forages. Dietary cations alkalize a cow's blood and inhibit the utilization of dietary calcium as well as calcium stored in bones. PasturChlor® is the solution to this problem.

Feeding PasturChlor to lower DCAD as part of a low-calcium pre-freshening diet creates the necessary metabolic conditions for the mobilization of bone calcium into the blood. By combining the scientifically proven concepts of reduced DCAD, low dietary calcium, and supplemental magnesium, blood calcium levels can be maintained in dairy cows at calving.

Since grazing cows generally consume less forage dry matter than cows fed in confinement, the chances of success with the "low calcium approach" may be better with pasture-fed cows. However, there are nutritionists and dairymen who advocate the low calcium approach with confinement-fed cows too.

As many as one-half of the cows in your herd could be susceptible to milk fever or subclinical hypocalcemia during freshening. Add PasturChlor to the typical pre-fresh diet, and prevent up to 75% of the incidences of milk fever in your herd.