• Lactobalance

  whole milk has an osmolality of about 330 mOsm/L. Many calf milk replacers have an osmolality that is much higher. As a result of feeding such a calf milk replacer, water may move into the GI tract, leading to a reduction of faeces consistency and an increased risk to develop diarrhoea.

• Dehydration caused by diarrhoea

  Dehydration in calves often results from diarrhoea, which is usually accompanied by sodium depletion. This requires a different approach compared to dehydration due to transport. LifeStart trials have provided the information to correctly formulate hydration products for calves suffering from diarrhoea in order to meet the following three criteria:

  • Low osmolality
  • Correct amount and ratio between sodium and sugars to ensure efficient water transport
  • Correct Strong Ion Difference (SID)

• Dehydration as a result of transport

  If transport, heat stress or water deprivation cause dehydration, potassium is mostly depleted. Products formulated for dealing with these problems should have the correct balance between potassium and sodium.

Articles about lactobalance, osmoregulation and hydration

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  The ability of two different oral electrolyte solutions to correct dehydration and acidosis

  A hypotonic OES resulted in a better correction of base excess and lower faecal water and sodium losses compared to a hypertonic OES.

  Read more about hypotonic oral electrolyte solutions
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  Post transport supplementation of calves increases water intake and rumination activity

  An OES with potassium and glycerol increases the water intake and rumination activity of cattle, resulting in rapid recovery after transport.

  Read more post transport supplementation of calves
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  A faecal scoring system can be used to assess the dry matter percentage of faecal samples

  Faecal scores of 640 faecal samples from dairy calves correlated well with faecal dry matter

  Read more about faecal scoring system
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  An electrolyte solution with potassium and glycerol increases water intake of feed deprived calves

  Feed deprivation decreases water intake. Treatment with an electrolyte solution with potassium and glycerol increases water intake, reducing the risk of calf dehydration.

  Read more about electrolyte solution with potassium and glycerol
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  Post transport supplementation with potassium and glycerol reduces mortality

  Transport stress results in dehydration. Treatment with an OES containing potassium and glycerol increases water intake, improves growth and reduces mortality after transport.

  Read more about post transport supplementation with potassium
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  Pre transport supplement containing potassium and glycerol improves the growth of beef calves

  Replenishing potassium and glycerol levels of beef calves with transport stress improves growth.

  Read more about pre transport supplement containing potassium
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  An electrolyte solution with glycerol prevents dehydration of calves after a period of feed deprivation

  Treatment of bull calves with a hypotonic electrolyte solution containing potassium and glycerol reduces dehydration and weight loss and increases carcass weight.

  Read more about electrolyte solution with glycerol effects
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  Hypernatraemia in calves fed hypertonic oral electrolyte solutions (OES)

  Calves with diarrhoea that are fed OES with high osmolality should have access to water otherwise they develop hypernatraemia and do not recover from diarrhoea.

  Read more about Hypernatraemia in calves fed OES
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  Effect of osmolality on the ability of oral electrolyte solutions to correct dehydration

  OES commonly used for treatment often has a high osmolality, leading to poor treatment results.

  Read more about effect of osmolality on the ability of OES