Mineral Recipe

[cattle60]

wondering about the following Recipe for Minerals that I got from a Old time Neighboring farmer. Said he has used this mix for years and no trouble with pinkeye and cows always do good.

200 Lbs Dicalcium Phosphate
200 Lbs Limestone
200 Lbs Trace mineral salt
60 Lbs A-D-E

Has this mixed at local MFA and feeds free choice. Any and all comments welcome.

 

[Son of Butch]

About 29% salt and other than cheap doesn't seem like much of a mix to me.

 

[TexasBred]

wondering about the following Recipe for Minerals that I got from a Old time Neighboring farmer. Said he has used this mix for years and no trouble with pinkeye and cows always do good.

200 Lbs Dicalcium Phosphate
200 Lbs Limestone
200 Lbs Trace mineral salt
60 Lbs A-D-E

Has this mixed at local MFA and feeds free choice. Any and all comments welcome.

A waste of good money. Put the salt out (plain white salt) forget the rest and go buy you a well fortified mineral made by a reputable company.

 

[Nesikep]

If you're low on calcium I guess it's OK, but it's not good for much else, especially with out knowing what this "trace mineral salt" contains...
I'm short of phosphorus here, so it would be a recipe for disaster here... Do a blood test for minerals on your most productive cows at the beginning of the breeding season... That will tell you all you need to know about what you're lacking, and then get the right mineral from there, otherwise you're shooting in the dark

 

[pdfangus]

WAY BACK.....IN THE EARLY 70'S....

i USE TO MAKE MY OWN
1 bag Trace Mineral Salt
1 bag dicalcium phosphate
1 bag magnesium oxide
later began to add vitamins

I cured at least one severe grass tetanny problem with this mix....

found a pretty good mineral from Southern States lately that is pretty well balanced...it is a dairy mineral called Revitalize...

I am giving it to cows horses and goats...

 

[TexasBred]

If you're low on calcium I guess it's OK, but it's not good for much else, especially with out knowing what this "trace mineral salt" contains...
I'm short of phosphorus here, so it would be a recipe for disaster here... Do a blood test for minerals on your most productive cows at the beginning of the breeding season... That will tell you all you need to know about what you're lacking, and then get the right mineral from there, otherwise you're shooting in the dark

The Dical IS the phosphorus source. Jim your mix has none of the micro minerals.

 

[Nesikep]

If you're low on calcium I guess it's OK, but it's not good for much else, especially with out knowing what this "trace mineral salt" contains...
I'm short of phosphorus here, so it would be a recipe for disaster here... Do a blood test for minerals on your most productive cows at the beginning of the breeding season... That will tell you all you need to know about what you're lacking, and then get the right mineral from there, otherwise you're shooting in the dark

The Dical IS the phosphorus source. Jim your mix has none of the micro minerals.

But I need Monocalcium phosphate to even out the imbalance..

 

[pdfangus]

If you're low on calcium I guess it's OK, but it's not good for much else, especially with out knowing what this "trace mineral salt" contains...
I'm short of phosphorus here, so it would be a recipe for disaster here... Do a blood test for minerals on your most productive cows at the beginning of the breeding season... That will tell you all you need to know about what you're lacking, and then get the right mineral from there, otherwise you're shooting in the dark

The Dical IS the phosphorus source. Jim your mix has none of the micro minerals.

TB, I said this was way back...this was evolution from the days of the white salt block....
I went on to work with a nutritionist from a now defunct feed coop to develop what we called a pasture balancer that was way ahead of its time...this was decades before we knew what chelates were and all the new stuff...

it is still very difficult around here to find a good commercial mineral and I was elated to find this decent dairy mineral.
most of our dairys work with nutritionist who custom formulate the mineral mixes according to the feed needs of the dairy.

the local cattlemens association orders mineral in bulk three or four times a year and we used to buy through them but since we sold most of the cows i don't need tons of mineral at a time....

 

[TexasBred]

If you're low on calcium I guess it's OK, but it's not good for much else, especially with out knowing what this "trace mineral salt" contains...
I'm short of phosphorus here, so it would be a recipe for disaster here... Do a blood test for minerals on your most productive cows at the beginning of the breeding season... That will tell you all you need to know about what you're lacking, and then get the right mineral from there, otherwise you're shooting in the dark

The Dical IS the phosphorus source. Jim your mix has none of the micro minerals.

But I need Monocalcium phosphate to even out the imbalance..

Then buy mono-cal.

 

[TexasBred]

it is still very difficult around here to find a good commercial mineral and I was elated to find this decent dairy mineral.
most of our dairys work with nutritionist who custom formulate the mineral mixes according to the feed needs of the dairy.

the local cattlemens association orders mineral in bulk three or four times a year and we used to buy through them but since we sold most of the cows i don't need tons of mineral at a time....

I hear ya. Sometimes you have to just settle for the best available in your neck of the woods even though it may not be all that good. Feed stores and feed companies are missing out on a lot of easy money not promoting mineral.

 

[pdfangus]

frmo my observation it is mostly because the managers and or sales staff have no understanding of the topic or of the needs

 

[TexasBred]

frmo my observation it is mostly because the managers and or sales staff have no understanding of the topic or of the needs

So true.

 

[cattle60]

So I went and bought Purina Wind and Rain with fly control. That is what I will use this year. My question is it says Feeding free choice salt is not required with this mineral, Does it have enough in it? It says on the tag 15.75% min and 18.90 % max.

 

[TexasBred]

So I went and bought Purina Wind and Rain with fly control. That is what I will use this year. My question is it says Feeding free choice salt is not required with this mineral, Does it have enough in it? It says on the tag 15.75% min and 18.90 % max.

I keep out free choice loose salt all the time anyway. No need for them to eat mineral when all they want is salt.

 

[RiverHills]

TB with loose salt out do you think they eat enough mineral and igr?

 

[TexasBred]

TB with loose salt out do you think they eat enough mineral and igr?

Yeah I do. They need more salt than mineral and can't get that based on the amount in the mineral.

 

[RiverHills]

Thanks TB what do you think of these minerals?

 

[TexasBred]

Thanks TB what do you think of these minerals?

All specialty minerals it appears. #1 has much more CTC as well as the IGR and is well fortified. #2 says it's a mixing mineral. I usually take this to mean it's added to feed. Only claim it makes is the high CTC levels for anaplasmosis #3 looks like a cheap mineral with a lot of calcium and salt and very few micro minerals or vitamins. Shouldn't cost over $18 a bag most. (Label was hard to read so I may have misread some of them).

 

[RiverHills]

Sorry the pic quality they just wouldn't focus.
#1 is $30
#2 $27
$35 igr
$42 igr + endo-fighter+ 4400 ctc
#3 $20

So you think #1 is a good mineral and the price is right?

 

[sim.-ang.king]

I'd go with number one, but I would try to get it without CTC. Feeding small amounts of OTC/CTC over a long period of time is how you build resistance. If your wanting them to have CTC/OTC because of Anaplas. etc.. I would hand feed larger doses but fewer of them, or only at times of high risk(like heat of summer, or poor looking cows).
But that's just my opinion on antibiotics in mineral.