[Do cows drink calcium?]

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate how well cows drink the Propeller calcium drink, and it's effect on blood calcium concentration. Drinking was tested in 120 cows right after calving, before cows drank anything else. 60 cows each were offered 20 liters of Propeller calcium drink or 20 liters of water. Cows drank the Propeller as good as water. 72% of all cows drank all 20 liters, 18% drank on average 8.2 liters and 10% drank less than 1 liter. Blood calcium concentration was studied in 16 cows right after calving. Eight cows each were offered 20 liters of Propeller calcium drink or no calcium drink. Blood calcium significantly increased ten minutes after Propeller intake and stayed significantly elevated for 24 hours. Without calcium drink blood calcium levels decreased significantly. Advantages of the new Propeller calcium drink over calcium gels or boli could be that cows now drink calcium themselves and that the Propeller increases blood calcium concentration rapidly and long lasting.