mineral school

[TexasBred]

You should be OK for copper with that, it's got lots... for my area we have 4x more Se though (125mg/kg), the Ca/P would be all wrong for us too.. I'll let someone else take it from here

Nesi you have a very unique situation, one I've never faced down this way. When looked at the guarantees on your mineral it looked more like what I would make as a "close up" dry cow mineal for a dairy operation. BUT as strange looking as it is on paper apparently it is exactly what you need. :nod:

 

[Nesikep]

That's why a blood test is a good place to start. As GWB would say something along the lines of "You need to know the unknown knowns, known unknowns...", etc etc

 

[BobbyLummus]

I made a Mineral Holder out of blue barrel ( tip I got from this forum - thanks ) . Works great but they don't seem to have consumed much, any ideas ? I Put two 25 lbs of free choice hi mag minerals from local farmers market

 

[Deepsouth]

I made a Mineral Holder out of blue barrel ( tip I got from this forum - thanks ) . Works great but they don't seem to have consumed much, any ideas ? I Put two 25 lbs of free choice hi mag minerals from local farmers market

Did you hang that barrel?
They don't eat a lot of minerals but I have put some out that they wouldn't eat at all. I guess it wasn't palatable to them.
How long has the minerals been in the barrel and how many cows have access to it?

 

[BobbyLummus]

I hung barrel from tree about a ft off ground . I have 55 total counting calves and doesn't look like they've touched it. Should I buy a different mineral ?

 

[BobbyLummus]

Oh and the minerals been out for 5-6 weeks

 

[botsfarmer]

An easy way is to look at your cattle and their general health. If your cattle are slow to slick their winter coats off then a lack of copper could be a culprit. Do you have retained placanta's etc? If the mineral you are using is not being consumed at or near the recommended level it would be a good idea to change brands. I make my own minerals and slowly increased the copper and selenium levels until I was happy with the cattle's coats and the incidence of retained placenta on 1800 births for the last caving season is now zero.

I make the concrete trough for the mineral. I put out one trough per 15 cows to alleviate bullying.

 

[TexasBred]

I'm assuming you also have supplemental vitamins in your mineral mix. Make sure your vitamin E is adequate as well.