Help for stressed cows

Cows pushed to produce high quantities of milk are therefore exposed to many different kinds of field stresses -- environmental, nutritional and psychological.

However, professor Peter Surai, UK, and Dr Kevin Liu, Singapore, says these field stresses are associated with oxidative stress -- an imbalance between the production of free radicals and the ability of the body to counteract or detoxify their harmful effects.

Surai and Liu recently visited New Zealand, on behalf of BEC Feed Solutions, talking at a seminar about a new form of organic selenium (Se) that fights free radicals in dairy, pig and poultry animals.

Surai spoke about antioxidant requirements for NZ dairy cows; Liu talked about Selisseo, BEC’s new organic source of selenium.

Surai says stressful conditions in animals can lead to over-production of free radicals, or reactive oxygen species (ROS).

“Under normal conditions, these ROS are naturally produced by cellular respiration and are neutralised by antioxidants; under stress conditions the balance of ROS/antioxidants is no longer efficient. As a consequence, oxidative stress negatively impacts productive and reproductive dairy cow performances.”

Surai referred to a survey of 303 farmers in Europe on problems affecting profitability, chiefly mastitis, fertility issues and high somatic cell count.

Selenium is a mineral that protects cows against damage by acting as an anti-oxidant, regulating blood pressure and keeping the immune system healthy.

Surai says selenium has a major role in the immune system, in particular inflammation control.

“A deficiency in Se decreases the capacity to fight against the infection, as Se is involved in the defense mechanism of the udder.

“It has been demonstrated that a direct correlation exists between the selenium status of the cows and the level of SCC.”

Selenium also helps animal fertility; cows need an adequate Se for better reproduction performances, such as better spermatozoids motility in bulls and fewer ovarian cysts, less placenta retention and less metritis in cows.

Liu spoke about why farmers need organic selenium, such as Selisseo, to help fight oxidative stress.

While inorganic Se is commonly used for feed supplements, recent research has confirmed that organic Se, specifically seleno-methionine (Se-Met) or seleno hydroxy-methionine (Se-OH-Met), is more easily integrated into body metabolism.

Liu says Selisseo is an organic Se source that generates more deposition than inorganic Se sources, because of its high bioavailability. On the other hand, selenite gets reduced by ruminal microorganisms to insoluble and unavailable elemental Se, which is poorly absorbed and excreted in faeces.

Selisseo is distributed in NZ by BEC Feed Solutions. The company’s country manager NZ, Trina Parker, says the seminar was a New Zealand-first, allowing farmers and nutritionists to learn firsthand about selenium supplementation.

“It’s well known that NZ has low-selenium soils, and because it’s not essential for plant growth, this vital mineral is often overlooked.

“We’re keen to raise awareness that selenium is vital to animal health and production and therefore supplementation is essential. The link to human nutrition of optimised selenium in animal products is an area waiting to be explored,” says Parker.

Selisseo characteristics

- 100% active selenium molecule

- Stable even in drastic feed preparation conditions

- Boosts Se status and antioxidative capacity in cows

- Safe and easy to use.