Mineral and Shedding Coat

[inyati13]

I started a new mineral yesterday. I am using VitaFerm Concept Aid. I watched the cows as they came in yesterday evening. They were consuming the mineral at significantly greater rate than the Ultralyx. The Vitaferm is more palatable based on these early observations.

Do minerals affect the rate of shedding? My cows seem to be retaining their winter coats to a higher degree than previous years. I wonder if this is due to the later low temperatures and more severe winter or a lack of key minerals. I purchased a shears (Premier 4000c) and have sheared three that had extreme amounts of hair remaining. One was Star, she had all her winter coat and it was about 3 inches long. She seems much relieved. Picture after shearing:

 

[branguscowgirl]

Minerals, worms, weather, metabolic conditions, can all affect shedding. Hard to say what the reason is for your particular cattle Inyati. Did you worm them good this spring? When my horses do that, worms are usually the first thing I consider.

 

[Bigfoot]

In your case, I don't think its worms, mineral, or anything to do with care. We had a weird spring in Ky. My horses all shed late. We had a lot of cool nights, and cloudy days. I feed calf manna, wormed, lights. The whole 9 yards. They just were slow shedding.

 

[TexasBred]

Sunshine and longer days. :nod:

 

[dun]

Sunshine and longer days. :nod:

And sunshine more days in a row. A couple of days in the 80 then a couple in the 40s doesn;t contribute to normal things happening.

 

[ANAZAZI]

In my opinion the cows that shed early and clean are in good shape and adapted to their environment, while those that shed late are the opposite side of the spectrum. It has to do with parasites or the lack thereof, hormonal balance, nutritional situation and so on.
That does not explain why the herd sheds early or late of course. The years are different in any case.

 

[jerry27150]

if they are not adapted to the old fescue they will not shed like they should either

 

[midtncattle]

My gerts are slowing shedding here in TN too. I just figure it is the crazy weather.

 

[Fire Sweep Ranch]

:lol: It's the show genetics!!! ;-)

 

[WalnutCrest]

A related question ... at what point in the spring do you make the decision that a particular animal isn't going to shed out?

A friend of mine used our Aubrac bull and paid me with a Galloway steer. There is no way he'll have a fun summer ... Poor guy! My wife wants to turn him into a rug with long flowing hair or something and so he isn't getting butchered until next spring (probably).

 

[dun]

A related question ... at what point in the spring do you make the decision that a particular animal isn't going to shed out?

A friend of mine used our Aubrac bull and paid me with a Galloway steer. There is no way he'll have a fun summer ... Poor guy! My wife wants to turn him into a rug with long flowing hair or something and so he isn't getting butchered until next spring (probably).

Keep in mind that that extra hairy coat doesn;t only protect from cold, it also serves a purpose as insulation from the heat.
I don;t check our cows all that closely to see if they;ve shed out or not. The only ones it's noticeable on are the few black ones that have that old dead hair that's brown and the shiney black coat to contrast. I persoanlly don;t really care about the coat shedding, it's the possible affect of them no shedding out, i.e. not adapted well to our forage base, possible worm infestation, etc. We have qa few red cows that will shed slick and shiney one year and not shed as clean another. A spring like we've had with it 80 for a week then 50 for a week with heavy frost some nights I don;t see how they;re body can adapt to the weather. Maybe they will only half shed, that way half of them is right for the weird temp ranges we're having.

 

[inyati13]

A related question ... at what point in the spring do you make the decision that a particular animal isn't going to shed out?

A friend of mine used our Aubrac bull and paid me with a Galloway steer. There is no way he'll have a fun summer ... Poor guy! My wife wants to turn him into a rug with long flowing hair or something and so he isn't getting butchered until next spring (probably).

Borrow a shears and shave him like I did mine. It is a great relief to them