Ed DeGroot
DeGroot Dairy
Mountain Home, Idaho
- 1,300 cow dairy in three locations
- Drenching with Drench-Mate II since 2004
- Started drenching regularly to reduce incidence of DA’s in fresh cows.
We believe in Drench-Mate. I know I have fewer DA’s now because my vet bills have gone down, and we’ve also been amazed how quickly drenching can clean up a dirty uterus.
If I have to cull a fresh cow that’s sick, I’ll get $300 to $400 for it, but the same cow would fetch me $1000 if it was healthy. The cost to replace the cow is $2000. If I save one cow, I’ve paid for the Drench-Mate machine.
As a dairy gets bigger, it gets harder to manage cows individually. Drenching with Drench-Mate is like insurance for us.
Todd Hendrickson
Roadside Dairy
Preston , Minnesota
- 140 cow dairy
- Uses Drench-Mate I
- Drenches all fresh cows within 12 hours of calving and sick cows as needed
I started drenching with Drench-Mate because I was having DA problems – probably 15-20% of my fresh cows and heifers were having DA’s. Now, the problem has been virtually eliminated and my vet bills are down significantly.
Since I started using Drench-Mate , I’ve found that the cows’ peak milk is 10-12 pounds higher than it was before, and they seem to reach the peak a lot faster than they used to. They also stay on feed better after calving.
Don Niles
Green Valley Dairy
Green Valley , Wisconsin
- 2,100-cow dairy
- Acquired Drench-Mate II in 2004.
- Uses Drench-Mate between 10 and 20 times daily, drenching sick cows as well as fresh cows that don’t voluntarily drink
Drench-Mate is convenient, accurate and quick to use. Before we used Drench-Mate, we were carrying one treatment at a time in a bucket, which is hard work and time consuming. Drench-Mate’s 55 gallon tank is easy to pull and we have treatment for five animals right there.
Our fresh cow health improved dramatically when we started drenching regularly. With Drench-Mate, drenching became much more convenient for us, which means we get it done more often and we save more cows.
Drenching used to take one and a half hours every day and now it takes just half an hour. That gives the person who does our treatments an extra hour every day to do other important tasks.
David Van Weerdhuizen
VeenHuizen Dairy
Lynden , Washington
- 700-cow dairy
- Uses Drench-Mate I
- Drenches every fresh cow within four hours of calving and sick or fevered cows as required.
We drench to prevent DA’s and to stimulate the cow’s appetite. I believe drenching has increased our milk production and decreased our DA’s. I also think it’s helping our cows reach their peak milk production more quickly.
I like the Drench-Mate . We used a different pump and a bucket before, but Drench-Mate is friendlier to use and more convenient.
Jake Bosma
Bosma Milk Co.
Tipton , California
- 3,000-cow dairy
- Uses Drench-Mate III Mega.
- Drenches sick cows and all fresh cows showing a fever in the first 10 days of lactation.
I became interested in drenching as a time saver. Our veterinarian often recommended an IV treatment as part of our sick cow treatment program, but we found drenching very effective and much faster at perking up a sluggish cow.
The Drench-Mate III Mega, 300 gallon unit has made drenching much more convenient for us. It’s possible to mix one batch each morning and then deliver it to each treatment area (sick, fresh, fever) very easily.
Tom Blevins
Cornerstone Dairy Co.
Laveen , Arizona
- 500-cow dairy
- Drenching for three years. Started with a 5-gallon bucket and hand pump, but switched to Drench-Mate II in summer of 2003.
- Drenches 1st calf heifers with 10 gallons, cows up to 15 gallons.
- Uses Drench-Mate to fill bottles for 100 calves, two times daily.
We drench based on how a cow is looking. If she’s not looking great, we’ll drench her. In Arizona , especially in the summer, getting electrolytes into cows is critical. Fresh cows in particular lose a lot of fluids and those have to be replaced.
When we used a bucket and hand-pump, we wore ourselves out and often the drenching wouldn’t get done. I love Drench-Mate because it’s easy to use, it’s quick and it really does a good job.
We haven’t had one minute’s trouble with Drench-Mate’s pump and motor since we started using it, and we use it heavily. We put 80-100 gallons of milk replacement through it twice a day for the calves, plus any cow drenching we do. It’s important enough to us that I even bought an extra pump and motor in case of breakdown, but I’ve never had a single problem.
Travis Love, dairy manager
Willow Creek Dairy
Boardman , Oregon
- 5,800-cow dairy
- All fresh cows and heifers (20-40 per day) are drenched using Drench-Mate III Mega. During summer months, Drench-Mate is used to re-hydrate dehydrated and off-feed cows.
Since we started using Drench-Mate our DA’s are less than 3 percent and recovery is very good.
The time we have saved by using Drench-Mate has made us a more efficient dairy operation. We drench more than 100 cows a day in the summer and an average of 50 during the rest of the year. We can drench two cows at once with the Drench-Mate III Mega. We’re very happy with it.
