Copper level in mineral

[bhooper]

How much copper is in the mineral your are feeding? Mine has 1950 ppm. I don't think my cows are getting enough copper because some of the black cows have red tinted hair around their shoulders. I know copper levels are regional so its probably a question for people in my area.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[TexasBred]

The one I'm using now has 1100 ppm. What kind of soil do you have in your area? Any iron ore?? Iron will bind up copper and the cow will not absorb it. Check the tag to see what the copper source is. Most use copper sulfate but if you can find one with some chelated copper they'll utilize much more of the copper. It will be disclosed on the tag as Copper Amino Acid Complex or Copper Chelate.

 

[kenny thomas]

I am on a totally different soil but the one I use is 2600ppm.

 

[bhooper]

TB to be honest I don't know much about the soil. It is land that just came out of the crp program. The tag has copper amino acid complex, copper sulfate and copper lysine as sources of copper.

 

[Lucky_P]

Those are all good. The one you don't want is copper oxide - if they're using that to meet the copper analysis, you're not getting much for the $$ you're spending. Depending on whose numbers you look at, CuO is between 0 and 15% absorbed - most of it just passes right through 'em.
CuSO4, chelated Cu compounds, copper proteinates/aminates are all pretty close to 100% bioavailable.
For most purposes, CuSO4 is adequate and most cost-effective, but for stressed animals, or those severely Cu-deficient the chelated/proteinated/aminated forms seem to bump serum/liver levels up more rapidly.

 

[Howdyjabo]

Give them Multi-min.
That will tell you right off if its a copper problem. You should see a change in a few weeks.

Fescue fungus(being in TN I assume you are grazing fescue) binds copper so it may be beneficial to give the cows Multimin before breeding every year, if you are having problems.Along with a good mineral.

 

[bhooper]

What is Multi-min?

 

[Howdyjabo]

Injectable mineral supplement.
Do a web search - you can find lots of info on it.

 

[Nesikep]

I use a trace mineral that has 2600mg/kg Cu.. The blocks I got only had about 600 and that wasn't nearly enough... One line of cows I have seem to be particularly deficient... My heaviest producer is the only one I've actually anted up and gotten blood work done on, but she was about 25% of minimum levels, and her mother died suddenly, which can be caused by low copper (heart failure), but that was way back and no one will know for sure... We're really low in Selenium as well, and that same mix has 150mg/kg Se. If you dig though my old posts you'll come across a thread where I posted a BIG writeup on mineral deficiencies

 

[TexasBred]

TB to be honest I don't know much about the soil. It is land that just came out of the crp program. The tag has copper amino acid complex, copper sulfate and copper lysine as sources of copper.

Great!!!! That's what you want. They will utilize about 90% of the copper in that mix compared to about 35% of the sulfates and 10% of the oxides.

 

[tom4018]

Those are all good. The one you don't want is copper oxide - if they're using that to meet the copper analysis, you're not getting much for the $$ you're spending. Depending on whose numbers you look at, CuO is between 0 and 15% absorbed - most of it just passes right through 'em.
CuSO4, chelated Cu compounds, copper proteinates/aminates are all pretty close to 100% bioavailable.
For most purposes, CuSO4 is adequate and most cost-effective, but for stressed animals, or those severely Cu-deficient the chelated/proteinated/aminated forms seem to bump serum/liver levels up more rapidly.

Mine is copper sulfate.

What is CuSO4?

 

[bhooper]

Those are all good. The one you don't want is copper oxide - if they're using that to meet the copper analysis, you're not getting much for the $$ you're spending. Depending on whose numbers you look at, CuO is between 0 and 15% absorbed - most of it just passes right through 'em.
CuSO4, chelated Cu compounds, copper proteinates/aminates are all pretty close to 100% bioavailable.
For most purposes, CuSO4 is adequate and most cost-effective, but for stressed animals, or those severely Cu-deficient the chelated/proteinated/aminated forms seem to bump serum/liver levels up more rapidly.

Mine is copper sulfate.

What is CuSO4?

CuSO4 is the chemical formula for copper sulfate.

 

[bhooper]

Lucky_p and tom4018 do yall know what level ppm is in your mineral? Just thought since yall are pretty close to me that might give me a better idea.

 

[tom4018]

Lucky_p and tom4018 do yall know what level ppm is in your mineral? Just thought since yall are pretty close to me that might give me a better idea.

Sorry for the delay in getting back with you. Mine is 2000 ppm, some of my black cows show the red tint and others don't. I wonder sometimes if they get enough, sometimes they eat mineral like crazy and then others almost nothing.

 

[bhooper]

Thanks for the info. Our cows are the same way the amount of mineral they eat is definitely seasonal.

 

[shaz]

My best mineral is 1300ppm. Worst is around 500