Cows not eating free choice mineral

[dcara]

I'm trying a free choice mineral/rabon mix for fly control this year. Problem is that none of the cows seem interesated in it. I put out 25 lbs for 6 pairs and a bull 2 weeks ago and at least half of its still there. It was mixed to be about a 1LB/d intake. Anyone else have this problem. Is it because the grass is so lush and tasty right now. I was thinking of putting a little molasas on it to see if that helped. Other suggestions??

 

[ALACOWMAN]

Thats why they call it free choice you can bet they will eat it as they need it ive put out bags and them not touch it for weeks then you check one day and its empty as long as its there thats as good as it can get ;-)

 

[dun]

Some mineral mixtures are unpalatable to some cattle. We had that problem with ADM minerals.

dun

 

[denoginnizer]

I have read that some minerals dont require additional free choice salt and that if you have salt out eleswhere it can effect the intake of the mineral.
Also, the location of the mineral feeder seems to have a lot to do with how much mineral my cattle consume.

 

[backhoeboogie]

How far "east of Dallas" are you? That is going to make a big difference. Out here west of Cowtown there is so much mineral content in the water and soil that it makes a vast difference.

 

[dcara]

So much for phase 1 of the fly control program.

 

[milesvb]

I've got the opposite problem in one of our herds. I switched to an Altosid treated mineral and 28 head ate up 50 lbs. in 2 1/2 days. I just put out a second sack and I sure hope they fall back to the recommended consumption or I'm not going to be able to afford this stuff at $17/sack. Another herd consumes about 4 oz. per day which is the recommended intake for the IGR to be effective.

 

[rk]

I've never seen a fly control mineral formulated for one lb. intake (not saying they don't exist, just never run across one). What are the Ca, P, and salt levels? They are eating 4 ounces/hd/day, which is about right for most good "true" minerals.
Cows cannot self regulate to any significant degree. Usually non-consumption is due to an unpalatable mineral, or some other factors such as other supplements being fed, inappropriate mineral feeder location, or another salt source is competing with the mineral for consumption.
If you want fly control, get a good palatable mineral with altosid that is properly formulated for your current forage, and remove other salt sources, locate mineral close to water or loafing areas, and you'll see consumption in normal range. If you happen to be feeding a protein supplement, your mineral consumption will be lower. This is okay, since they are also getting some mineral nutrition from the other supplements.

 

[dcara]

RK - You're right. I called the guy that mixed it and he said he did formulate it for about 4oz/d. At that rate 25lbs for 6 pair is about a 16 day supply but the cows are only eating about half that. Its placed near one of two water sources and the grass is still at about 16% CP. I suspect the combination of these 2 may be limiting intake.

 

[rk]

Depending on the size of the calves, they probably are not eating much at all. Even figuring for each animal, they are still eating over 2 ounces. Depending upon the specifications of the mineral, you should be in acceptable range, given young, lush grass. I don't have experience with Rabon, but altosid minerals usually effective fly control at 2-4 ounces.

 

[Susie David]

Ours seem to go in spurts, clean the feeder and then not touch it for days. I've added minerals to the cracked corn ration ant that seemed to get them used to the product. Dmc