a salt question

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jt

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i want to see what it thought of this statement..

you do not have to put out free choice salt, cattle will get all they need in the free choice minerals.

has anyone ever heard this before?


jt
 
well now that is the biggest bunch of crapp i ever heard yes cattle needs salt more than any other mineral so yes they need salt scott
 
bigbull338":2gatzbbn said:
well now that is the biggest bunch of crapp i ever heard yes cattle needs salt more than any other mineral so yes they need salt scott

sorry about the confusion,
i agree that cattle need salt, and maybe i didnt phrase what the man said correctly...

he said, they will get all the salt they need in the free choice minerals and that extra salt blocks or loose salt is not required..

that is the part i was wondering if anyone had heard of before.


jt
 
Pure salt blocks out 24/7/365

Mineral blocks or tubs out 24/7/365.

Cattle take only what they need (Law of Homeostasis). If its not out, you don't know if they need it or not (but probably do).

A well-balanced mineral program facilitates utilization of grazing, hay, and/or other forages. Prevents numerous negative conditions found when people don't provide free access minerals.

Minerals aren't an expense... they're an investment and insurance policy.
 
jt --- That's always been my understanding but, of course, it depends on what is included in your free choice minerals. I'm looking at the tag on a bag of "Purina Wind and Rain Texas All Season 12 Complete" and the guaranteed analysis, per the tag, is that it includes between 21% and 26% NaCl (Salt). The tag further provides "The feeding of additional salt is not required". Nevertheless, even when using Wind and Rain I sometimes put out the yellow salt blocks.
 
AZ... at a recent cattlemans meeting we had a representative of one the feed companies speak on minerals and the different products they offered. he made that statement about not needing extra salt, and at first i thought he was way off base, and is just trying to sell more of his product.

but the more i thought about it, i began to think he might be right on. :?: some of the thoughts that i have had on this is that there are times when my cattle will not eat near about as much mineral as i am told they should, but they will eat the salt. if they wanted salt bad enough, and none was available except for what is in the minerals, they might consume more minerals.

he said that we give our cows way too much salt over what is required.

this has been kind of interesting to me, and i just wanted to hear what some of you thought about this.

thanks

jt
 
:oops:

also, AZ... i didnt read the bag... i need to go home and look at mine.

thanks

jt
 
well now i maybe a little slow but ive never heard cattle only need mineral blocks for salt an no salt blocks they need saltlicks more than minerals in my book
scott
 
bigbull, i am not talking about mineral blocks... they are about 97% salt. i am talking about freechoice, loose minerals.
i dont rank either above the other.. salt and minerals are both very important.

jt
 
I mix my minerals and stock salt 50/50; because my daddy did, and his daddy did, and ...

Anyone else do this?
 
I do not like to use "trace mineral blocks", because that is all they get....a trace.The salt is a limiter,and I was always afraid they would not get enough mineral. I prefer to use loose mineral,and a salt block.They can lick the block and get all the salt they need. I have always had reservations also about the practice of using salt as a "limiter" in free-choice feed as well. :cboy:
 
I was to a mineral meeting this spring.(He was not a saleman.)
This guy was a nutristionist and he said cows do not know what they need. He said you have to make sure they get minerals for their immune system and reproduction system. In our
area we have to make sure we have a high seleium and copper
mineral. In the summer the cows want to eat to much so for here I mix 1 bag mineral to a half a bag of a mineral salt per 30 pairs every week.
 
My loose mineral bag said that no additional salt was needed. I follow the instructions but I will admit that I questioned the wisdom of not having any other source of salt. However,
I was concerned that if I provided additional salt the cattle would not consume adequate amounts of the mineral.
 
There always seems to be a lot of confusion about the subject of mineral supplements. Find a mineral that is recommended for your area and forage base, then always read the tags to check for ingredients and recommended consumption. Some complete mineral mixes contain salt. Others don't. I prefer one that does contain salt. Trace minerals are included in most complete mixes, but are not a substitute for a complete mix. Where salt is included in the complete mix, additional salt is not required, but certainly lowers your costs at certain times of the year.

I know a lot of people keep out salt blocks in addition to a complete mineral mix that contains salt. I never understood that. When you do that, you are giving the cow a choice she is better off not having, in my opinion. Some will lick the blocks and never touch the minerals. I never did believe in the garbage about a cow knowing what she needs and eating it. Most cows are like kids---they'll go for the ice cream first, followed by something that is less desirable. And then there's the ones that have different tastes altogether. You just can't ever figure out what they're gonna eat and why. That's why I don't believe in giving cows a choice with something as important as minerals.

It's really hard to figure out mineral consumption if some cows are just licking the salt blocks and others are eating twice as much mineral as they need. Your average is right, but you're not really delivering every cow what she needs. In my opinion, the only way to be absolutely certain that every cow is getting her minerals is to make her lick the mix to get her salt. Also, in my opinion, a loose mix is the only way to go.

I use Evergreen Triple 12 minerals. Contains around 12% each of calcium, phosphorous and salt plus trace minerals, vitamins, etc. As with most minerals, recommended consumption is two to four ounces per head per day. I try to keep the average somewhere in that range beginning about a month prior to calving and continuing through breeding season. At other times of the year, I don't worry about it if consumption falls off some. Not saying this is correct, just what works economically for me.

I have to mix salt with it to keep consumption in that range of two to four ounces per head per day when the weather starts heating up and salt craving increases. Minerals are just too expensive for me to allow overconsumption. When I mix salt, I just use the cheap white stock salt. Not only is it cheaper than trace-mineralized salt, but it is the right texture to blend easily with the mineral I use. The cows are already receiving trace minerals from the mix, anyway. To me, the most important thing in mineral supplementation is not to give cows a choice. You decide what they lick.
 
Texan, cows do like the "candy." That's why a butcher steer prefers sweet feed to plain corn, and I have trouble getting them to clean plain corn up when I am trying to finish them. I have found that my cattle like the Tindle RA-ANNA-MAG mineral better than most, and will lick it copiously. It contains traces of corn in it, which I think has something to do with the way they like it. I put out a limited amount two or three times a week, plus have a trace mineral block.
 
was proved years ago that cows do not know what they need for minerals. some minerals have as much as 40% salt & others have very little. i try to adjust salt to mineral so they eat about as much mineral as required per cow
 
jerry27150":13goxas7 said:
was proved years ago that cows do not know what they need for minerals. some minerals have as much as 40% salt & others have very little. i try to adjust salt to mineral so they eat about as much mineral as required per cow

I thought you kept it at 30% salt????
 
We keep loose Minerals out year round, and in the Summer keep a few Sulfur Salt blocks out as well. They hardly ever lick the blocks, they concentrate on the loose Mineral. says right on the bag, no other Salt is needed. I don't see any harm by putting out plain salt along with your good mineral, I just don't mix the two in the Mineral feeders.
 
read my bag this morning and it said no other salt needed... i guess when all else fails read the instructions.. :roll:

anyway, i have been wondering about this since i heard it and have noticed that my cows are killing the plain salt lately and not touching the minerals.. i am going to just put out minerals for a while and see what happens.

jt
 
We also keep out free choice mineral and salt blocks. I haven't ever noticed a time that they backed off the mineral and just ate the salt. I always suspected the reason they suggested you don't need any other salt supply is because the mineral companies wanted to sell more mineral.

But them, I'm pretty cynical.
 

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