davisba67":10kgb9kw said:I am looking for the pros and cons of feeding minerals by block or loose. Have always feed by block, but wondering why people would feed loose.
dun":2cvvwby5 said:The main reason for feeding loose is so they don;t have to spend 10 hours a day licking the block to get the minerals they need. With loose, 5 minutes and their off and doing other cowey things.
I tried those blocks once. Got the 100 pound ones and the cows fought over who was going to bite off the biggest chunks. Last less then a week for the 20 cows in that pastureTexasBred":2vemacqe said:Angus the only "complete" mineral blocks I've seen were pressed blocks made by Stockade I believe. They would be soft and the cow could actually eat as much as she needed. The harder trace mineral blocks that most retail stores sell are very low consumption blocks and contain very little mineral. I too feed my mineral in a tub simply because if it gets rained on, once dry I can stir it up and it's all still there.
dun":1yv8zuzw said:I tried those blocks once. Got the 100 pound ones and the cows fought over who was going to bite off the biggest chunks. Last less then a week for the 20 cows in that pastureTexasBred":1yv8zuzw said:Angus the only "complete" mineral blocks I've seen were pressed blocks made by Stockade I believe. They would be soft and the cow could actually eat as much as she needed. The harder trace mineral blocks that most retail stores sell are very low consumption blocks and contain very little mineral. I too feed my mineral in a tub simply because if it gets rained on, once dry I can stir it up and it's all still there.
yep a basic mineral block, might not have enough of one mineral your area is defecient of.. plus have too stand there and lick it all,,, that work and still not enough........ ive heard it will wear their tongue smooth and make them unable to grazeTexasBred":25inld2v said:davisba67":25inld2v said:I am looking for the pros and cons of feeding minerals by block or loose. Have always feed by block, but wondering why people would feed loose.
Is this a "complete" mineral block with high levels of all necessary minerals and vitamins or just a salt block with trace minerals ??
If you're feeding cubes most are fortified with vitamins and minerals and sometimes cattle simple do not need any additional mineral. Most will eat it IF they need it. A few seem to literally get addicted to it and eat much more than they need as well. If you want to encourage them to eat the mineral you can add some dried molasses, cottonseed meal, distillers grain etc to the mineral but it doesn't take a lot.hooknline":3u0offdg said:My cows don't or won't eat any loose mineral. Tried a few different brands. They rarely touch the mineral block I have out also. Could be the range cubes have all they need. A few of the cubes in the bag are the same color as the loose and block. Go figure
TexasBred":18t8edaf said:Angus the only "complete" mineral blocks I've seen were pressed blocks made by Stockade I believe. They would be soft and the cow could actually eat as much as she needed. The harder trace mineral blocks that most retail stores sell are very low consumption blocks and contain very little mineral. I too feed my mineral in a tub simply because if it gets rained on, once dry I can stir it up and it's all still there.
I second that. These minerals are much more bioavailable so even though they are more expensive they do pay for themselves.TexasBred":9gemvevf said:Didn't check out any guarantees on the tubs but do know that Crystalix makes quality products. Sometimes a little pricey but you can compare the recommended consumption rate to that of dry mineral and compare nutrient densities and cost per head per day. Good thing about the tubs is the molasses which is a good attractant and hopefully are formulated in the proper way to limit the consumption which I'm sure Crystalix has done. If the didn't they wouldn't still be around. A would like to see more people use organic minerals instead of the old oxides and sulfates.
Jeanne - Simme Valley":1ikas43c said:Very well state PDF
We use loose mineral with chealated & organic - ours is custom mixed for our herd. Not everyone has that ability, but hubbies place of employment custom blends minerals.