TRANSITION™ Bolus’ Ease of Administration Wins Over Pulaski Wis. Dairy

Synergy Dairy of Pulaski, Wis. is a forward-thinking operation that has never shied away from trying new approaches to improve herd efficiency. With a 285-cow operation and a rolling herd average over 31,000 pounds, the high-producing dairy had tried several supplemental calcium methods over the years, but struggled to find a tool that was both effective and easy to administer.

In the Spring of 2015, Synergy Dairy finally found that tool in TRANSITION™ Calcium Boluses. 

According to Heather Jauquet – part owner and transition cow manager at Synergy Dairy – the dairy’s transition protocol was to administer a calcium bolus along with a bottle of subcutaneous calcium for all cows 2nd or greater lactation. “The original calcium boluses we used worked well, but we found that our cows would have difficulty swallowing at first administration.”

After discussing with her embryo transfer veterinarian, Jauquet decided to give TRANSITION™ Calcium Boluses a try. Over time, Jauquet found that the TRANSITION™ Calcium Boluses were much easier to administer than others. “TRANSITION boluses do seem to slide down the cow easier than what we were using. We rarely have to re-administer,” says Jauquet. 

Jauquet says that over 150 of Synergy Dairy’s cows have received TRANSITION™ Calcium Boluses. Her protocol is to give one bolus immediately after calving, then a second bolus 12 hours later. 

While there may be many other supplemental calcium products available, Jauquet says TRANSITION™ is a product that will stay in her transition cow toolbox. “I would like to tell other dairy producers, especially those that are using different products and are afraid to make a switch, that they can be confident knowing that TRANSITION™ will work as well or better than whatever they are using right now. And for people that aren’t using boluses at all – wow, I can’t imagine not using a tool like this!”