Zilmax

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OH Breeder

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Zilmax has a withdrawal period of 3 days prior to harvest. Not for use in animals intended for breeding purposes. Do not allow horses or other equines access to feed containing zilpaterol. Do not use in veal calves. For complete information refer to product label.


http://www.merck-animal-health-usa.com/products/zilmax/overview.aspx

http://www.zilmax.com/studies.aspx

http://animalscience.tamu.edu/images/pdf/beef/beef-zilmax.pdf

Can I feed my breeding heifer or bull Zilmax™? NO.  The product is not approved for use in breeding animals.  Studies have not been conducted to determine the effect Zilmax™ may have on reproduction.  Additionally, this would be off label use and illegal
 

JSchroeder

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Seriously AJ, did you really not know what Zilmax was until now?  I really did think you were trolling in the other thread.
 

ds

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Do "NOT" feed to breeding animals! It's great stuff to increase muscle mass but they better be real sound when you start them on it and have alot of finish. Also better be real deep bodied as it will really strip the gut out of them.
 

aj

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Thanks.....what does it do to breeding animals. Or maybe it just hasn't been approved yet for them?
 

frostback

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.• Can I feed my breeding heifer or bull Zilmax™? NO.  The product is not approved for use in breeding animals.  Studies have not been conducted to determine the effect Zilmax™ may have on reproduction.  Additionally, this would be off label use and illegal

 

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JSchroeder

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Come on AJ, pretty simple question.

Does mr. real world cattleman not know about the biggest innovation in feedlot technology of the past decade or are you just trolling?
 

aj

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Why is it some packers won't buy Zilmax cattle and some will? Can you feed it to feedlot heifers? How can you be sure of no cross contamination in a mixer truck.
 

aj

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I guess I'm just stupid people trolling but is the concern about ovulation? Or longevity in the cows skeleton or abortion? Does it burn out the rumen?
 

Mill Iron A

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The real question is why would you need to feed it to breeding heifers?  More of this type of muscle would make me look at the heifer and ship her down the road because terminal looking females don't typically make it for the long haul and if they do you will regret seeing her everytime you work cows and weigh her 300 lb calf.
 

aj

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What about a showbull then.....wouldn't this help ultrasounding measurements like the pen bull shows in Denver?
 

bk2005

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the only people that can get Zilmax are large feedlots, and they can only get it from state vets. the only form of it that anyone else can get is in the feed supplement showmaxx. and even then it is only meant to be fed the last 20-40 days.

if you have a show bull or breeding heifer, why would you want to feed something that is meant for terminal animals that is so hard on their structure because of the tremendous muscle development, that you have to cut their heads off before you can breed anything with them?
 

frostback

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He wants to start saying that all show animals are being fed it. He wants to start accusing people of wrong doing when no proof is available. His usual stuff.
 

Bradenh

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bk2005 said:
the only people that can get Zilmax are large feedlots, and they can only get it from state vets. the only form of it that anyone else can get is in the feed supplement showmaxx. and even then it is only meant to be fed the last 20-40 days.

you can buy it at the feed store..........
 

bk2005

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Show stopper 95 said:
bk2005 said:
the only people that can get Zilmax are large feedlots, and they can only get it from state vets. the only form of it that anyone else can get is in the feed supplement showmaxx. and even then it is only meant to be fed the last 20-40 days.

you can buy it at the feed store..........

you cant buy just zilmax.
 

OH Breeder

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ZILMAX PRICING

The January 2012 Intervet Suggested Retail Price for Zilmax® feed additive is $8,294.50 per 10 kg bag based on the select carcass price of $165.89.

The price of Zilmax is determined using the Select USDA Beef Carcass price-equivalent index value for 600 to 900 pound carcasses, multiplied by the pre-determined constant factor of 50.

Intervet utilizes the Select USDA Beef Carcass price-equivalent index reported at the close of business on the 23rd of each month (or first business day following the 23rd) from the USDA NW_LS410 Report to establish the monthly price for Zilmax
 

aj

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Is there any goverment or R and D data on feeding a steer zilmax for 100 days I wonder? There surely is somewhere.
 

OH Breeder

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aj said:
Is there any goverment or R and D data on feeding a steer zilmax for 100 days I wonder? There surely is somewhere.


Its pretty simple to find this information.

1 go to google.com
2 enter the phrase Zilmax for 100 days
3 100's of search results on Zilmax
4 even found a Zilmax vs Opti Flexx feeding on carcass and lbs gain
 

SheilAnneDavis

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Why hasn't anyone chimed in with what Zilmax is, what it does and why it does it, on a cellular and biological level?

We had a pretty specific conversation about Zilmax both in the classroom and in the feedlot this past spring. I'm amazed that no one has talked about what it really does when you feed it.

The active ingredient in Zilmax is Zilpaterol hydrochloride, which we were told acted as a repartitioning agent which put a biological preference on the growth of muscle instead of the deposition of fat. One thing that was stressed that the animals body isn't converting fat into muscle, rather using the nutrients it would have put into fat, into muscle instead.

The Zilmax is a way to trigger a synthetic catecholamine hormone response, in other words it mimics hormones like adrenaline and epinephrine, which regulate the cattle's flight or fight response, which is important of course, since cattle are prey animals. That response triggers the body to respond to the animals need to get stronger to avoid predators and builds the muscle. Essentially the Zilmax has the effect of running a wolf through the feedlot and stirring up the cattle's fight or flight response several times a day.(I'm sure the Zilmax is a bit easier on producers and feedlot managers blood pressure though! ha!)

They were also referred to as Beta Antagonists in the conversation, and below are the last two points of information that were given to us about the mode of action.

-β-agonists increase protein synthesis but more importantly they decrease protein turnover thus greater protein accretion.

-Rather than repartition energy they alter the partitioning of substrates towards lean tissues rather than fat tissues (more nutrients to muscle less to fat)

We also talked to a feedlot about feeding Zilmax, however, the details from that conversation are fuzzy as we didn't have the opportunities to take notes. I know that some slaughter plants and customers are very much against using it, where as others feel it's advantageous. They said their customers who visited often referred to the pens being fed Zilmax as "Schwarzenegger cattle" due to the very obvious additional muscle as compared to the other lots. I believe they said they could see results in a few days to a week in the cattle.

Using it you're going to increase your Yield grade because of a high proportion of lean to fat in the body composition, but from what I've been told, you don't want to use it until you've got that animal finished completely because you aren't going to add anymore fat at that point. I believe one topic we discussed was that you're going to compromise on your quality grade when feeding it, but if the spread in pay between choice and select steers isn't very big, the better Yield Grade can make up for that.

There is also a slightly less aggressive product in Optaflexx, which unlike Zilmax, has no withdraw period.

I believe what I have put above is correct, according to the notes I have from my beef production class. If I screwed anything up and someone knows better, let me know what I misunderstand! Thanks :)
 
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