Probiotic Use in Cattle

The health benefits of probiotics in cattle have become the subject of growing interest. Dairy farmers and cattle ranchers look to the use of probiotics as a way to increase the overall health of their animals.

  1. Probiotics

    • Probiotics refers to the beneficial microorganisms found in the intestinal tracts of animals as well as to the dietary supplementation of live bacteria added to the diet. A range of positive results have been noticed in cattle when they are fed probiotics.

    Newborn Calves

    • A study by Timmerman et al. showed that calves given probiotics grow faster and remain healthier than the calves that do not receive added probiotics. The same study also showed that calves that became ill with digestive or respiratory diseases, who did not previously receive probiotics, recovered more quickly and with fewer deaths when probiotics were added at the onset of symptoms.

    Dairy

    • Depending on the probiotics used, dairy cattle have an increased milk yield while others produce milk with a higher fat content.

    Beef

    • Beef cattle fed probiotics have less occurrences of outbreaks of infection with Escherichia coli, which reduces human exposure to the pathogen when consuming beef products.

    Prudence

    • Stanley E. Gilliland, Ph.D., of Oklahoma State University states that not all probiotics are effective for any given ailment and prudence must be exercised when considering their use. For example, an experiment he conducted showed that only four of the six strains of L. acidophilus were effective in controlling E. coli 0157:H7.