Livestock Nutrition
Livestock nutrition is a big business. At BioZyme® Inc., we know that good nutrition is also the cornerstone of a good health protocol.
Nutrition and health work synergistically. It’s fairly well-known that 70% of the immune response occurs in the digestive system. A healthy immune response leads to a healthy animal. That is one reason that BioZyme places such an emphasis on digestive health in its line of livestock nutrition products.
Livestock Nutrition Matters to All Animals
Whether you are running 5 cows or 500 cows, have a flock of 50 ewes or 2 show goats, livestock nutrition matters. If you have a herd of goats, a barn of show pigs or even a flock of backyard chickens, livestock nutrition matters. And we know that many of our customers have horses, dogs and cats. Those might not be considered “livestock,” but they are “lovestock.” Their nutrition matters because they depend on you to love and care for them, and they provide great companionship.
All animals require the same basic nutrition. Animals require vitamins and minerals for various essential physiological functions to support overall health, growth, reproduction and productivity. Minerals play critical roles in maintaining bodily functions, enzyme activities, hormone regulation and structural integrity.
Perhaps the most important nutrient that is often overlooked is water. All living beings require access to clean, fresh water at all times. Water is essential for digestion, nutrient absorption, temperature regulation and overall health. Ensure that water sources are clean, easily accessible and free from contaminants.
Let’s examine some of the other key components of quality livestock nutrition.
Livestock Nutrition Requirements
Adequate Forage
Forage should form the foundation of the diet for ruminants, including cattle, sheep and goats. Although they are not ruminants, horses also rely on forage. High-quality pasture, hay or silage provides essential fiber, energy, protein, vitamins and minerals. Ruminants and equine should have continuous access to forage to support their digestive health and meet their nutritional needs.
Because you can’t tell the quality of your forage from just simply looking at it, we always recommend having your hay tested. BioZyme offers complimentary hay testing services to its customers. You will need to work with your dealer to learn more about these services.
Balanced Nutrition
A livestock diet should be balanced to provide the right proportions of energy, protein, vitamins and minerals to meet the animal’s specific requirements. If the forage is deficient in certain nutrients, supplementing it with mineral mixes or protein sources may be necessary.
Once you do receive your forage test results back, we recommend consulting with a nutritionist. The nutritionist can formulate rations to ensure that your livestock diets are balanced according to the ingredients you have on hand.
Protein Supplement
Depending on the quality of the forage, animals may require supplemental protein to meet their protein requirements. This is particularly important during periods of low-quality forage or when nutrient requirements are higher, such as during late gestation or lactation.
Mineral Supplementation
Providing a balanced mineral supplement is essential to prevent mineral deficiencies or imbalances that can affect livestock health and productivity. You should include minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium and trace minerals in that diet.
Energy Sources
While forage is the primary source of energy for livestock, you may need to incorporate supplemental energy sources, especially during periods of high energy demand. Cold weather, summer heat, during lactation—these challenges require your livestock to expend more energy. Supplementing their energy intake can improve outcomes during these periods of stress.
Management of Pasture & Forage
Proper pasture and forage management practices can help optimize forage quality and availability, ensuring that livestock have access to nutritious feed year-round. Engage protocols like rotational grazing, pasture fertilization and weed control to help optimize your forage quality and quantity.
By providing a diet that meets these criteria, livestock maintain their body condition, health and productivity, contributing to overall profitability and sustainability.
Livestock Nutrition for Every Animal
BioZyme has served the agriculture industry as an innovator in fermentation and animal health for more than 70 years. What started as a small feed store in Saint Joseph, Missouri, stockyards has flourished. Today, BioZyme is a global company that makes and sells its own line of prebiotics and postbiotics, AO-Biotics®, produced from a fungus called Aspergillus oryzae.
BioZyme makes supplements and animal health products for a variety of animals, including cattle, swine, poultry, sheep, goats, horses, dogs and cats. The BioZyme family of brands includes:
- AO-Biotics® – a line of fermentation products derived from BioZyme’s innovative fermentation of Aspergillus oryzae (AO) to promote resilience.
- VitaFerm® – a line of nutritional supplements for beef cattle that maximize energy and forage utilization for successful production.
- Gain Smart® – a line of vitamin and mineral supplements for stocker cattle that promotes healthy, economical pounds.
- Sure Champ® – a line of products that support the health and well-being of show livestock.
- Vitalize® – a line of supplements for horses, dogs and cats with proven solutions to keep your animal healthy and performing.
- DuraFerm® – a line of nutritional supplements for sheep and goats that supports optimal digestion and nutrition for maximized performance at every stage of production.
- Backyard Boost® – a line of products purposefully crafted to support the well-being of birds.
At BioZyme, our motto is to provide care that comes full circle. That means we want to provide the best possible care to every animal, every day. We do that by providing safe, accurate products to the producers who raise the animals that ultimately feed us.
Our mission: undeniable positive impact on the health and wellness of your animals and your business.
AO-Biotics Lead the Way
BioZyme uses fermentation and knowledge to enable passionate solutions that promote healthy livestock through valued partnerships. In 1968, our company founder, Larry Ehlert, purchased a patent and marketing rights to an unheard-of direct-fed microbial produced from a fungus called Aspergillus oryzae. Today, we have used that AO to create our flagship prebiotic AO-Biotics® Amaferm® and, more recently, a postbiotic for layers, AO Biotics® EQE.
Amaferm
AO-Biotics Amaferm is a prebiotic research-proven to enhance digestibility. Amaferm is the key additive in almost all of BioZyme’s products. It has more than 111 published and/or presented research studies proving its increase in digestibility and, ultimately, its impact on the animal.
“Amaferm stimulates the growth of energy-harvesting bacteria, resulting in greater volatile fatty acid production (VFA) in the rumen. Volatile fatty acids serve as the primary energy source for ruminants, and an improvement in VFA production by 16% from feeding Amaferm is nutritionally the same as feeding a pound of DDGS per head per day,” said Chris Cassady, Ph.D., BioZyme Director of Beef Technical Sales.
“Unlocking more energy from within affords the heifer additional energy available for growth, improved body condition and an earlier onset of puberty. Elevated energy levels have also been shown to improve the production of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH), which are crucial to the effective onset of ovulation in heifers. Obviously, these are essential for reproductive success, meaning that the prebiotic Amaferm can help improve breed-ups without any risks of grain-fed, overweight heifers.”
With regards to quality ruminant nutrition, you can typically substitute the word doe or ewe, anywhere Cassady said the word heifer above.
Amaferm is found in almost all BioZyme products across all species, helping with digestive support, reproductive success, feed efficiency and more.
AO-Biotics EQE
In 2023, BioZyme introduced AO-Biotics EQE, the first-and-only postbiotic developed specifically for layers. Unlike ordinary postbiotics, AO-Biotics EQE starts with BioZyme’s proprietary strain of AO, a fungus used to ferment biotics tailored to address specific animal production challenges.
AO-Biotics EQE is research-proven to:
- Produce more sellable eggs.
- Improve egg mass.
- Increase productive life span.
“Through the AO-Biotics brand, BioZyme offers a line of prebiotics and postbiotics matched to specific animal health challenges, well-being and productivity. The way we have developed these products is truly innovative and a game-changer for the industry,” said Cesar Ocasio, Ph.D., Senior Manager of Business Development and Innovation.
AO-Biotics EQE is marketed to a global and domestic market to help commercial layers. Additionally, BioZyme adds EQE to its own supplement, Backyard Boost Daily Essentials, a pelleted protein supplement for poultry designed to maximize digestibility and egg production.
BioZyme Creates Livestock Nutrition Based on Values
Not only does BioZyme offer quality livestock nutrition for all species powered by Amaferm, but it also offers more. BioZyme is keenly focused on four values that the company and its employees are committed to each and every day:
Research
Research is at the very core of what BioZyme stands for. From the humble beginnings as a feed store to buying the patent for AO, to discovering the first and only post-biotic derived from that AO, research is vital. We choose to invest in research so we can be forward-thinking and innovative while staying ahead in our commitment to care that comes full circle.
At BioZyme, we use a three-prong approach to research to ensure that every product we launch does exactly what we say it will do. Those prongs include discovery studies, mechanistic studies and validation studies.
Innovation
Innovation ensues at every level, with every employee engaging in idea campaigns asking “what if” to turn ideas and/or knowledge into successful business-taking risks to attain superior competitive advantages.
Our company can be innovative in the livestock nutrition space because many of our employees are also livestock enthusiasts and producers, just like our customers. We know the challenges that livestock and producers face, and we too, are looking for opportunities and solutions.
- Inspiration
University of Pennsylvania psychologists created the inspiration scale. This tool measures the rate a person experiences inspiration, which allows them to determine who was inspired regularly, but also the impact this inspiration had on their lives.
People who scored higher on the inspiration scale accomplished more. They had a stronger drive to master their work and were naturally more motivated, confident and creative. Inspired individuals yield more positive results because they connect the mundane to the meaningful.
Outreach
BioZyme is committed to sharing our resources to make a difference through advocacy for the sustainability of agriculture along with animal and human well-being. Some of our outreach efforts include giving back to youth through junior livestock shows and leadership experiences. We especially think it is essential to educate young people about the importance of livestock nutrition and health protocols during these events.
Enhance your Livestock Nutrition with BioZyme
BioZyme makes safe, accurate products for all species. Our products are research-proven and powered by Amaferm or AO-Biotics EQE. We provide services such as hay testing, educational blogs across all species and gestation calculators for your cattle, sheep and goats.
We want your livestock to get the best care possible, and we know that starts and ends with BioZyme.
Are you interested in purchasing from the BioZyme family of brands? You can buy products from our online store. Or, if you prefer to show local support, find a dealer closest to you on our dealer locator.
Read more about our brands by clicking on “Supplement” on the drop-down menu above, and choose the brand you want to learn more about. Once on the brand page, you can read an educational blog, use a calculator or sign up for our educational newsletter.