Key Nutrition

31/10/2025

16/10/2025

08/09/2025

Close Up dry cow feeding 🐮🌾

Prevent metabolic issues post calving by ensuring that close up dry cow nutrition is managed correctly.

• Forages- feeding low potassium, low DCAD forages is crucial. Ideally using straw/whole crop alongside low potassium, high fibre silage.
• Analyse forages to ensure diet is balanced for energy and protein.

Extracal Pre Calver System
• High level of anionic salts to reduce DCAD- to prevent clinical & subclinical milk fever.
• Anionic source of calcium provided- important for Muscle function, Immune function, Colostrum & milk production & ensuring that anionic salts work effectively.
• Good quality protein from soya for colostrum quantity and quality.
• Vitamin and mineral pack, including Vitamin E and Selenium, important for cow and calf health.
• Available in a mineral pack, nuts or blend.

Our nutritionists formulate dry cow diets on a farm-to-farm basis to ensure the right solution is found for each herd. Contact us for more information on pre calving rations.

14/08/2025

It’s the time of the year when many autumn calvers are focusing on their ‘close up’ dry cow group- arguably the most important group of cows on the farm! 🐮🐄🥛

Management
• Cows & heifers should be moved to a ‘close up’ group 3-4 weeks pre-calving
o Allows for suitable concentrates/minerals to be fed in preparation for calving
• Dry Matter Intakes- two weeks pre-calving DMI can decrease by up to 30%. It is therefore vital that every measure is taken to minimise any further reduction to DMI.
o Ensure cows have plenty of feed space & monitor rumen fill
o Ensure TMR is always available and palatable
• Comfort- ensure cows have plenty of lying space- important to minimise lameness, injury and stress.

Getting cows off to a good start after calving is dependent on correctly managing cows through the dry period and is crucial for milk production, health and fertility.
Follow along for more on dry cow nutrition. For more information, contact Key Nutrition on 028 8673 7209.

28/04/2025

With the sun set to shine this week there will be plenty of mowers getting the cobwebs blown off! The weather is a huge factor in making good quality grass silage, and unfortunately this is largely out of our control. 🌱☀

Key factors in making good quality grass silage:
• Ideally mowing grass in dry conditions, waiting until after the dew has lifted and if possible, in the afternoon when sugars are highest.
• Wilting- aiming for dry matter of 30%, targeting a 24-36 hour wilt. Any longer will reduce silage quality.
• Ensiling- ensuring this is done quickly and evenly- rolling to remove air and covering the clamp precisely is essential for a good fermentation.

23/04/2025

We will be at Sean Fullertons Lely open day tomorrow. Come along to what’s sure to be an informative and enjoyable day! 🐮🐮

07/02/2025

Give spring born calves a head start with REASHURE XC 🐄🌱

Benefits of feeding cows Reashure XC 3-4 weeks pre calving:
• Improved calf health- reduced fever incidence (picture 1)
• Increased calf DLWG (picture 2)- research has shown that this results in 1.8kg more milk in the heifer’s 1st lactation
• 57-85% increase in colostrum production- vital for providing calves with antibodies and immunoglobulins

Along with an increase in cow’s milk production and reduced risk of metabolic disease, Reashure XC is a must for your spring calving herds.

For more information contact Key Nutrition on 028 8673 7209.

22/01/2025

Key Nutrition would like to congratulate all who received prizes at the recent Ulster Grassland Society conference.
In particular, Hutchinsons Feeds customers Alan Hamilton from Broughshane and Robert Brown from Cookstown.
Alan received a special commendation in the UGS grassland farmer of the year competition, sponsored by Danske Bank.
Robert Brown received a special commendation in the YFCU grassland competition, sponsored by MSD Animal Health.
Great to see all the effort these farmers put into their businesses being recognised in this prestigious competition.
Well done!

17/01/2025

It’s the time of year again to give pre-lambing ewes some TLC!

75% of lamb growth occurs in the last 6 weeks before lambing. Using a good quality ewe nut at this time is essential for colostrum production + ewe and lamb health 🐑🌾

Pre lambing concentrate essentials:
• ENERGY- coming from cereal sources and from rumen protected fat, increases energy density of the diet when dry matter intake falls + reduces risk of twin lamb disease
• PROTEIN- from high quality sources such as Soya- essential for colostrum and milk production
• SAFMANNAN- yeast cell wall extract which improves ewe immunity + lambing ease
• VITAMINS+MINERALS- improve ewe + lamb health. In particular, Vitamin E + Selenium which improve lamb vigor, ewe + lamb immunity- helping to prevent white muscle disease in lambs.

14/05/2024

Improve milk butterfat % at grass with Alkacid 🥛🐄🌱

*Customer Testimonial*

Alkacid has proven to be a great asset on many farms- one of these is Matthew Irvine outside Magheralin. Matthew farms alongside his father Jackie. They are milking 200 Holstein cows which are currently averaging 10,200L (2x day milking) with 3,900L from forage using 0.31kg concentrate/L.

When Alkacid was added to the diet he noticed an improvement in butterfat % in the grazing months. From 2021 to 2023 Matthew has increased his butterfat % by an average of 0.23% from May through to August, with the use of Alkacid and the advice from Key Nutrition & his Hutchinsons Feeds technical advisor.



📸 Matthew Irvine, Amy Hamilton (Key Nutrition) + Harold Stevenson (Hutchinsons Feeds)

17/04/2024

Thanks to John and his entire team for a great day at Grovedairy Holsteins lely open day. Great to be involved with the nutrition in this fine herd, in association with Clonleigh Co-Op 🐄🐮