MYCOX REM – NUTRITIONAL SOLUTION TO FIGHT AGAINST MYCOTOXIN CONTAMINATION IN BEEF CATTLE

In recent years, we have understood that it’s very important to carry out a constant and accurate all components that feed our animals monitoring action because they can bring undesirable substances.

Due to the spring-summer meteorological trend, we are facing a mycotoxin emergency which mainly concerns the toxins generated by Fusarium widespread attacks. Although FUSARIUM is a ubiquitous mushroom, it multiplies quickly in the high humidity and cool temperatures presence.

MYCOTOXIN EMERGENCY MUST WORRY FARMERS

Mycotoxicoses represent a very serious health and economic problem in cattle beef and dairy farming.
Mycotoxins alter ruminal function, causing malabsorption in the intestine, which results in a lower essential nutrients availability for immune activity and to support adequate production performance.

The mycotoxins’ presence also promotes the reactive oxygen species’ production both locally and systemically, with consequent antioxidant reserves’ cytotoxic effects and depletion.

The symptoms manifested by the animal, or much more frequently by the herd, are also decidedly complex as they are very different in severity’s terms and very varied as regards the clinical manifestations. Different mycotoxins are often produced simultaneously by several fungal strains, giving synergies’ origin that are not yet fully defined and codified.

The negative effects caused by mycotoxicosis on dairy and beef farm are as follows:

NEGATIVE EFFECTS ON THE HEALTH STATUS (MORTALITY – MORBILITY)

 IMPAIRED RUMEN FUNCTION 

REDUCED POOR GROWTH AND BODY WEIGHT 

IMMUNE SUPPRESSION

GRANDA TEAM’s MYCOX REM program:

BIND – NEUTRALIZE – TRANSFORM

mycotoxin molecules

In particular:

A FIELD TEST

CASE 1: Beef cattle with silage-based feed ration

• 2500 French males (Limousine, Charolaise, Aubrac, Saler and crossbreeds)
• Average weight on ARRIVAL: 420 Kg
• Average Daily Weight Gain: 1.420 kg/d
• Feed on a silage-based ration
• Divided into 2 groups in the fattening stage:

1. CONTROL group treated with a generic mycotoxin inactivator (Clinoptilolite) at 100 g/head/day quantity

2. TEST group treated with a technological mycotoxin inactivator (MYCOX REM by Granda Team) at 10 g/head/day quantity

FARM SCENARIO

Confirmed mycotoxins’ precence in farm’s silage and diets:

Problems encountered on animals:

• low but constant animals’ incidence affected by tail’s necrosis
• scrotum and hind limbs’ edema 
• locomotor system problems
• meteorism with an almost weekly cadence
• reduction in fecal consistency

Below, production performance’s monthly trend and health problems encountered on the entire herd and in the two experimental groups after administration of mycotoxin inactivator’s start.

HERD GROWTH PERFORMANCE:

The GREY COLUMN indicates the month of the mycotoxin problem’s onset, the RED boxes indicate the results obtained by the CONTROL GROUP, the GREEN boxes indicate the results obtained by the TEST GROUP WITH MICOX REM.

Within two months from the treatment’s beginning, the animals treated with MYCOX REM recorded average herd’s increases equal to those before the mycotoxins’ circulation, while the animals in the control group, despite a slight improvement, never matched the performance before the problem.

96 CATTLE’S GROWTH PERFORMANCE, FEEDER INTAKE AND FEEDER CONVERSION INDEX INDIVIDUALLY MONITORED:

The RED boxes indicate the results obtained by the CONTROL GROUP, the GREEN boxes indicate the results obtained by the TEST GROUP WITH MICOX REM.

The treatment group’s animals, in the 60 days post-intervention, recorded a significant increase in weight compared to the control group’s animal. This depends on a higher feed intake and better feed conversion.

HEALTH PROBLEMS:

The GREY COLUMN indicates the month of the mycotoxin problem’s onset, the RED boxes indicate the results obtained by the CONTROL GROUP, the GREEN boxes indicate the results obtained by the TEST GROUP WITH MICOX REM.

The health problems’ incidence decreased rapidly in the test group compared to the control group.

BLOOD PARAMETERS:

The RED boxes indicate the results obtained by the CONTROL GROUP, the GREEN boxes indicate the results obtained by the TEST GROUP WITH MICOX REM.

60 days after the nutritional intervention, the animals in the control group still have an immune, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant status that is more at risk than the animals in the treatment group, an aspect that makes them more susceptible to the monitored health problems’ incidence.

CASE 2: Beef cattle with dry feed ration

• Blonde d’Aquitaine
• Average weight on ARRIVAL: 210 Kg
• Average Daily Weight Gain: 1.540 kg/d
• Feed on a dry feed ration
• Divided into 2 groups in the fattening stage:

1. CONTROL group treated with a generic mycotoxin inactivator (Clinoptilolite) at 100 g/head/day quantity

2. TEST group treated with a technological mycotoxin inactivator (MYCOX REM by Granda Team) at 10 g/head/day quantity

FARM SCENARIO

Confirmed mycotoxins’ precence in farm’s diets:

Problems encountered on animals:

• Intense generalized nervousness’ phenomena in the herd throughout the day
• Significant reduction in average daily weight gain
• Meteorism
• Podal problems
• Hind limbs’ inflammation

Below, the production performance’s monthly trend and health problems encountered on the entire herd and in the two experimental groups after mycotoxin inactivators’ administration start.

HERD GROWTH PERFORMANCE:

The GREY COLUMN indicates the month of the mycotoxin problem’s onset, the RED boxes indicate the results obtained by the CONTROL GROUP, the GREEN boxes indicate the results obtained by the TEST GROUP WITH MICOX REM.

The average daily weight gain in the test group, already after the first month from the MYCOX REM’s administration start, stabilized on the values typically present before the  problem’s onset.

However, this satisfactory normal conditions’  recovery did not occur in the control group.

GROWTH PERFORMANCE, FEEDER INTAKE AND FEEDER CONVERSION INDEX INDIVIDUALLY MONITORED:

The RED boxes indicate the results obtained by the CONTROL GROUP, the GREEN boxes indicate the results obtained by the TEST GROUP WITH MICOX REM.

The individually weighed animals’ increases in growth, confirmed and highlighted clear and highly significant differences between the two experimental groups, the beef cattle in the MYCOX REM’s treatment group are characterized by an average daily weight increase of 180 g higher than in those of the control group in the 60 days of monitoring.

HEALTH PROBLEMS:

The GREY COLUMN indicates the month of the mycotoxin problem’s onset, the RED boxes indicate the results obtained by the CONTROL GROUP, the GREEN boxes indicate the results obtained by the TEST GROUP WITH MICOX REM.

The diet’s integration with MYCOX REM has led to a rapid reduction, within a couple of weeks, of nervousness phenomena until their complete disappearance and the progressive health problems’ reduction.

BLOOD PARAMETERS:

The RED boxes indicate the results obtained by the CONTROL GROUP, the GREEN boxes indicate the results obtained by the TEST GROUP WITH MICOX REM.

The data relating to the blood parameters highlighted a overall alteration’s picture of the animals’ homeostasis  before mycotoxin inactivators’ administration start which then effectively stabilized in the group treated with MYCOX REM until reaching normal values, while remained precarious in subjects of the control group.

Mycotoxicosis is a serious problem in cattle farming.

The problem’s perception varies greatly among livestock realities, not only due to different sensitivity and management attention but also, and above all, due to the symptoms that are often variable and not constant over time, especially in  prolonged exposure’s cases to low toxins’ levels.

These variability in manifestation and perception influence the time between the problem’s onset and the nutritional intervention with serious repercussions for the farm’s profitability.

Mycotoxins cause not only the herd’s health status deterioration due to their specific toxicity but also the defensive capacities’ reduction in apparently healthy animals, also increasing the incurring pathological phenomena’s risk in them.

By negatively interfering with rumen fermentations, in addition to further increasing this risk, they significantly and strikingly reduce production and reproductive performance.

In this regard, it must be remembered that mycotoxicosis can also occur only with a reduction in zootechnical performance.

The MYCOX REM’s use in the mycotoxicosis’ management represents a valid strategy able to quickly achieve the herd’s normal conditions restoration as regards:

• health status
• productive and reproductive performance
• immune status
• inflammatory state
• antioxidant status.