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Accelerated Step-Up Regimes For Feedlot Heifers Following Oral Dosing With Lactipro (Megasphaera Elsdenii Strain Ncimb 41125), K. Miller, C.L. Van Bibber, James S. Drouillard

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

Cattle entering feedlots typically are adapted to finishing diets over a period of 2 to 4 weeks by gradually replacing forages with concentrate feeds using a series of step-up diets. Without proper adaptation, naïve cattle are highly susceptible to ruminal acidosis, a disorder associated with excessive production and accumulation of organic acids within the rumen. One of the key metabolic intermediates associated with the manifestation of acidosis is lactic acid, which is derived from fermentation of readily available starches and sugars. Streptococcus bovis is a prolific, rapidly growing, and opportunistic organism that thrives in the presence of readily fermented starches …