Testimonials

Trevor McNeilly, Banview Farms.

Trevor farms alongside his wife Linda at Banview Farms, Toomebridge.  They run an autumn calving herd of high yielding Holstein cows covering them with Genus ABS sexed semen for top quality calves.

Linda looks after rearing the calves rearing unit and had ordered CalfDry boluses through Matrix Animal Health when she was having trouble with digestive trouble in her calves.

Linda commented "The Crypto scour we were having in our young calf pen really hit them hard, I had heard about a black charcoal type bolus that was effective from a friend and was very keen to give them a try because we find that calves that get off the a bad start struggle to meet their growth target right into mature cows.  It must be 3 years ago now since I ordered my first tub of  ‘Matrix CalfDry’ boluses and we have never looked back.  At the first signs of a wet tail, I give the calf 1x bolus, then another about 8 hours later.  That normally does the trick.  It’s easy to use, inexpensive and doesn’t involve antibiotics..... what’s not to like?"

 

 

Ian Caldwell, Lowtown Farm, Killagan. 

I farm along with my brother Wesley, just outside Ballymena, Co.Antrim.  

We run 150 Fleckveigh x Montbéliarde cows with around 120 currently milking through 2 Lely robots. 

“We had been having a few issues with our Somatic Cell Count figures starting to creep up, it was nothing major, but we had just been noticing a few figures higher that we would like. 

I was talking to a friend who had been having similar problems and had used the new Healthy Udder Bolus from Matrix Animal Health with good success.  So we thought we would select some of the worst offenders and give them a go.  The convenience of using a bolus was also something that attracted us to the product, as we are milking through robots the idea of a bolus would fit into our system well.

Within a short time the SCC started to reduce and incidences of mastitis were far fewer.

Another massive advance for us in using the Healthy Udder Bolus was the economical side as they are non-antibiotic and no milk withdrawal, allowing us to sell all the milk that we produce.  The Healthy Udder Bolus has also helped us with our overall aim of reducing antibiotic usage right across the farm, which is something we have been very conscious about.  To this end we are always interested in researching, sourcing and trying alternative products rather than just relying on antibiotics all the time. 

As part of our farm health plan any cows with a SCC of over 200,000 are getting the Healthy Udder Bolus and we are finding far fewer problems. 

 

 

Steven & Janice Millar, Ballycowan.

We run a beef enterprise with cross bred maternal cows rotating between a Blonde and Angus bulls.  We also buy in young grazing heifers and bullocks around 250kg to 300kg to graze for a season and then finish out of the house.

Over the past few years profit margins in the beef industry have been very tight so it is of up most importance that we are understand and meet the nutritional requirements of our stock to maximise efficiencies.

Our breeding cows get 100mls of ‘Matrix Cattle Thrive 4 weeks before the bull goes in and then again 4 weeks before calving.  We find conception rates higher and a tangible increase in cows coming into calf in the 1^st cycle. Cows have a better general appearance and when they calf down, the calves have more spring in their step.

Our bought in young ‘lumps’ get 40mls of ‘Matrix Cattle Thrive’ on arrival and then 40mls every 6 to 8 weeks. It really makes them thrive and shine. 

For us ‘Matrix Cattle Thrive’ ticks all the boxes.