how much loose mineral

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kenojoe

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I have 8 cows that were bred back in June. They have been on trace mineral blocks all summer. I finished putting up a loose mineral box last week and started them on the mix that is for my area. They have been emptying the box every night (about 10 lbs.per day). My question is, can too much mineral hurt them? Are they taking so much because they are deficient? Will they eventually get thier fill and slack off? I now realize that a trace block is just what the name says. The mineral I am feeding contains molassess. I mixed some salt with the mineral last night per a neighbors suggestion and they barely touched it. At $12.80 a bag I'm concered this is going to get expensive quick. Should I limit how much they get or just let them get thier fill? Thanks for any help. Joe
 
Trace mineral blocks are not as good as loose mineral. They are eating it so fast because they are deficient and, I suspect, because there is molasses mixed in as well. We routinely mix our mineral with salt (1 bag mineral with 1/2 bag of salt) and have never had a problem with them eating it, but our's does not contain molasses. I don't know if that could be a part of it or not. Once their need for the mineral is satisfied, they will slack off.
 
TennCattleMan57":2zw7lztq said:
Not real sure what kind of minerals you are using. The minerals that I use (I have 40 cows.) they eat between 2-8 ounces per day which is about the norm. I would personally think that they are eating to much. To much copper is not good. To much selenium is poisonous. If you are afraid they are eating to much get a lick instead. You can buy chrystalix from the coop for about 80 dollars a tub. Get one that has at least 1500 ppm of copper in it and put this out with them. They will lick it but not get to much as they can only lick it.



Just a thought i could be wrong
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You might be surprised at how much a cow can lick if she is deficient for mineral.
 
We have loose mineral ration developed for our selenium deficient soil available to the bred cows in their last trimester and to the lactating cows before they go out to grass ( mixed 1:1 with loose salt).

The cows seem to eat what they require, however a word of caution:you might want to keep out of reach of young calves as it can lead to gray scours. Might be that their gut is not developed enough to digest it, but they sure can get sick on it.

Take care.
 
To the best of my knowledge, which isnt much, salt is the only mineral their body craves. You get the rest of the minerals in them by feeding salt. I would cut the molasses and feed mineral and salt mixed or buy the mineral already containing salt.
 
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kenojoe,

I've never seen a cow eat over a lb. of mineral in a night! But from my experience, cattle will only eat what they need, not like a horse eating corn.

If you have a local county agent, you might want to think about getting a soil test. Or perhaps a forage test. Both of them can tell you what, if any, minerals you might be defficient in.

Are you sure that someone from your local feed mill isn't emptying it out at night???
 
I had the same basic question, I asked the feed store in my town and he asked me several questions about what I had for them to eat (hay, lush green graze) I have them on hay and letting them graze on whats left of the green grass.

He said I should give them free choice on VMS Kowpoke-4 ( a mineral/vitamin mix) I only have 5 heifers on it and they eat very little of it each day (3-4 ounces each)
 
I would think after a few big eatings of it they will level off and quit eating very much, just probably really craving it right now once system levels out so will there desire for it.
 
C HOLLAND":3igtuzns said:
I had the same basic question, I asked the feed store in my town and he asked me several questions about what I had for them to eat (hay, lush green graze) I have them on hay and letting them graze on whats left of the green grass.

He said I should give them free choice on VMS Kowpoke-4 ( a mineral/vitamin mix) I only have 5 heifers on it and they eat very little of it each day (3-4 ounces each)
Click to expand...

At certain times of the year when the forage is inadequately furnishing minerals (I suppose) my cows eat much more mineral than they do at other times.

I would think that they cannot eat too much unless the mineral itself is not being absorbed in the gut. This is why I use the Vigortone, as it seems to satisfy them better with less pounds.
 
I think they take what they need when they need it. Two yrs ago, when we first put loose mineral out, it went like hot cakes. At the time we had 6 cows and in about 10 days they finished the bag. Since then it has gone very very sloooow. Although we've noticied that at certain times during the yr it is consumed a little faster than other.
 
When I first started puttin out mineral, yes they lapped it up rather quick like. But it didnt take long for them to slack off to the normal amount. Even to the point that sometimes I dont think they are getting enough. But it's there, and I see them eatin it. So I guess they get what they need when they need it, but I"m only puttin out 1 - 50# bag ever couple weeks now, and that's with roughly 120 head of mama's plus all the replacement heifers we held back.
 

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