Mineral Panel

[midtncattle]

I have read post with people mentioning pulling blood to do a mineral panel as a way to make sure your minerals are getting the job done. Who has done this and did it seem worth while? What percentage of the herd do you do and what is the cost?

 

[kjonesel]

I had never heard of this. I would suggest speaking with a reputable feed company which has a nutritionist on staff or an extension agent specializing in nutrition ans discuss it with them.

 

[branguscowgirl]

I now do it on a regular basis. Just one or two cows that I have had terrible deficiencies in. My vet considers that adequate for the herd. (Selenium and Copper are the big concerns here.) I wrote about the whole story in the thread "Mystery illness solved". Or something to that effect. I will look it up and post it here. Selenium deficiency nearly killed one of my best females, crippled up others, and possibly killed another that was not tested. It took a year and several dollars to find out that it was simply a Selenium deficiency, that no one suspected because they were on a mineral program.

 

[branguscowgirl]

Ok here it is.
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=95345&hilit=Mystery+solved

 

[redcowsrule33]

As it happens selenium is really the only trace mineral that is accurate from a blood sample. For most others you need a vet out to do liver biopsies of the herd to get an accurate idea about what your minerals such as copper and zinc are like.

 

[Nesikep]

redcows.. that is not entirely true.. The liver is a great storehouse of minerals, but that doesn't mean a mineral panel done on blood is worthless.. I did ONE mineral panel on a cow.. the heaviest producer of the herd that had troubles breeding back.. her blood phosphorus, selenium, and copper levels were all rather low.. So I would say because the liver stores minerals, just because the blood levels of (say copper) are within tolerance, doesn't mean the liver stores aren't depleted... however, if the blood levels are low, you can be CERTAIN you have a deficiency

I would HIGHLY recommend a blood panel done on a heavy producing cow a couple months after calving.. that should give you a good idea of what's going on.. mineral levels in the soil can change in 50 miles quite drasticaly (we have a molybdenum mine 10 miles away, and a copper mine 50 miles away, but we're terribly low on copper) A nutritionist isn't going to be of much help without knowing YOUR cows, and the only way he's going to be able to give you sound advice is from a blood test. Butchering a steer and doing a liver analysis on him isn't going to yield you good results because he's not producing milk.

You can start by paying close attention to physiological signs in your cows.. black cows go red with low copper, red cows get a 'netted' look on their hide, and white cows don't show anything at all, though perhaps you'd notice their immune system not working as good as it could.... Selenium is *usually* first seen as weak calves and retained placenta, but for Branguscowgirl it was a paralysis. Phosphorus will usually show as the cows chewing on wood, bones, and rocks. I put a LOT of work into researching mineral deficiencies, and compiled what you may call a brochure.. anyone who wants a copy of it can PM me their email and I'll send them a copy.. I have it on google docs as well but it isn't nicely formatted

 

[redcowsrule33]

You are correct Nesi that a low serum test indicates deficiency, but in some cases it must be quite advanced to show up in the serum and other factors such as stress can falsely elevate serum trace minerals. If I have a low test I know I have a problem but a normal one gets me no farther than I was before. I didn't mean to say that blood testing is worthless; in fact, it is useful as a screening tool for things other than selenium. But it may give one a false sense of security if one doesn't understand that they may give one a true positive answer but false negatives. With blood testing it has the chance of delaying my answer by weeks to a month if I have to resort secondarily to liver testing to confirm the negative status. Blood testing is easier, less expensive to collect, and has less risk to the animal it is being collected from, but may not give you the answer. It is all based on your comfort level and willingness to accept it may take longer to reach a verdict and you may end up having to do two tests to get your answer.

 

[Nesikep]

On many minerals you can observe physiological sign of the deficiency as well, especially once you really start looking for them, and a blood test can help back you up.

That's also why I recommend doing the blood test on the best producing cows after they've been lactating a while, as they're the most likely to show the deficiencies.