The most critical period that decides how much milk a cow will give over her lactation, when she will conceive and how healthy she will stay in the herd is the 6-week transition period, made up of the 21 days before calving and the 21 days after.
With calving, milk secretion suddenly surges, but the cow's dry matter intake cannot keep up. The resulting calorie gap is called negative energy balance (NEB). To keep producing milk, the cow starts burning her own body fat rapidly. When the liver cannot process this fat well enough, the stage is set for fatty liver syndrome and ketosis, two of the main metabolic problems in dairy farming. ReaShure®, produced with Balchem® technology and offered by MCB Vital, is a rumen-protected choline source developed to break this cycle.
How Negative Energy Balance and Fatty Liver Develop
Body fat mobilised after calving enters the blood as non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and reaches the liver. The liver has 3 ways to deal with these fatty acids:
- Complete oxidation: Fatty acids are turned into energy. But the liver's capacity is limited, and excess NEFA flow quickly fills this pathway.
- Incomplete oxidation (ketogenesis): Fatty acids that are not fully burned become ketone bodies (BHBA, acetoacetate). Blood BHBA above 1.2 mmol/L means subclinical ketosis; above 3.0 mmol/L means clinical ketosis and loss of appetite.
- Storage as triglyceride or export with VLDL: The liver converts excess fat into triglycerides. To leave the liver, they must be packed into very low density lipoprotein (VLDL) particles. The essential building block for VLDL is phosphatidylcholine, in other words choline.
The biochemical bottleneck: choline deficiency. If a transition cow lacks choline, the liver cannot make VLDL and triglycerides build up in the liver. When more than 10% of liver weight is fat, liver function is seriously impaired; immunity weakens and problems such as metritis and displaced abomasum become more frequent.
Why Encapsulated Choline Rather Than Plain Choline?
A question farmers often ask: "Can't we just add cheap choline chloride to the feed?" The answer is no. As soon as free choline chloride enters the rumen, rumen microorganisms largely break it down into trimethylamine and methane. Only a very small part of the choline the liver needs can reach the small intestine.
Balchem®'s micro-encapsulation technology coats choline molecules with a lipid matrix that resists the enzymes of the rumen microflora. ReaShure® passes through the rumen intact (rumen bypass) and is released and absorbed in the small intestine through bile and lipase enzymes.
Results Reported with ReaShure®
In Balchem® and field studies, herds using rumen-protected choline have reported the following improvements compared with control groups:
- Liver triglyceride content: Above 14% in the control group (severe fatty liver risk) and below 6% in the ReaShure® group (healthy liver tissue).
- Peak milk yield: 38.2 kg per day in the control group and 40.8 kg in the ReaShure® group, an increase of about 2.6 kg.
- Milk gain per lactation: Roughly 650-850 kg of additional milk per lactation.
- Subclinical ketosis: 32-40% in control herds and below 12% in ReaShure® herds.
- Pregnancy rate at first insemination: An increase from 31.5% to 42.8%.
- Clinical mastitis and metritis: About 35% lower incidence.
These values are examples compiled from different studies; the same rates may not be achieved on every farm.
ReaShure® Feeding Protocol
The recommended standard protocol for the best results is as follows:
- Pre-calving period (close-up): 21 days before calving, 60 grams of ReaShure® per cow per day is added to the ration (45 grams for the concentrated form, ReaShure-XC®).
- Post-calving period (fresh group): Feeding continues at 60 grams per cow per day for the first 21 days after calving.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should ReaShure be given only to problem cows or to the whole herd?
It should be given to all transition cows, because even the healthiest cows with high milk potential enter negative energy balance. ReaShure is not a medicine; it is a nutrient that supports the liver in processing fat.
When is the milk increase noticed after ReaShure?
Feed intake begins to recover in the first days. The difference in milk yield is most visible around peak lactation (days 45-60 after calving). In studies, cows receiving rumen-protected choline in the transition period produced about 2 kg more milk per day on average across the lactation.
How does ReaShure improve fertility?
When the liver works well, insulin and IGF-1 levels in the blood recover. These hormones support follicle development in the ovaries, help produce good quality egg cells and can raise the pregnancy rate at first insemination.
How is subclinical ketosis recognised?
The cow may show no obvious disease. Milk below expectations, reduced feed intake and a rising milk fat to protein ratio are clues. A blood or milk BHBA test is needed for a definite diagnosis.
