Did you know zinc (Zn) is the second most abundant trace mineral in the body and is involved with over 300 enzyme systems, playing a key role in hoof, skin and gut health, the immune system and optimizing productivity?
When considering nutrition, zinc isn’t necessarily the first nutrient that comes into your head. However, research in recent years has shown that including a more metabolically available source of zinc, as in Availa®Zn, can have significant impacts on your herd’s health and performance, ultimately leading to increases in profitability.
Traditionally, dairy diets have been supplemented with basic inorganic sources of zinc, which can alleviate signs of deficiency. However, with the increase in genetic improvement and higher yields, traditional inorganic sources are unlikely to support this higher level of metabolism, limiting the achievement of your cattle’s genetic potential. The uptake of simple inorganic sources is limited through antagonism and the route of absorption into the animal through the gut wall, so we can’t simply feed more inorganic sources to meet this untapped potential.
Zinpro Performance Minerals® are the only trace minerals where the metal is structurally bonded to certain amino acids that allow the metal to be efficiently absorbed. This 1:1 complex is water-soluble, stable and not affected by antagonists, and is uniquely absorbed through the ‘amino acid pathway’. Then, once in circulation, these performance minerals are metabolized differently than other metal sources.
Absorption of minerals
The unique way these minerals are absorbed, combined with the fact they are not degraded in the stomach in the way that inorganic minerals and other organic chelated minerals are, means less is excreted in the urine and more of the mineral is available to the animal.
This makes Zinpro Performance Minerals such as Availa®Zn much more effective as sources of trace minerals and helps support the untapped potential of modern dairy cows. Availa®Zn is transported around the body to key tissues to optimise the metabolism, boost the immune system and help mitigate the impacts of excessive inflammation caused by sickness, trauma and stress.
Inflammation is the body’s response to injury. It signals the immune system to heal and repair tissues, as well as prevent infections. Glucose is a crucial energy source for all functions in the cow. In early lactation any inflammation causes glucose to be diverted from production as the cow will always look after herself first. The greater the inflammation, the more production will be affected. While a low level of inflammation is healthy, the key is to keep the incidence as low as possible to free glucose for production. Feeding Availa®Zn is scientifically proven to help reduce the severity of inflammation and keep glucose flowing.
The key role of Availa®Zn
Availa®Zn plays a key role in defending the mammary gland from infection. Zinc is involved with keratin formation, including teat keratin — the mammary gland’s first line of defence from the outside. It is also critical for the integrity of the epithelial tissue on the inside so that if the pathogens do get through the keratin, the epithelial barrier can minimize the damage.
Zinpro has over 250 published trials in total, of which 70 are in dairy cattle. A 12-trial meta-analysis has shown an average reduction of 33% in SCC and 1.3kg milk yield response when cattle were supplemented with Availa®Zn. Additional research has shown that feeding Availa®Zn can help reduce the incidence and severity of claw horn lesions by improving the quality of the hoof horn wall.
This winter Wynnstay core dairy compounds will contain Availa®Zn to support cow health and therefore herd profitability.
