Pineywoods230
Well-known member
There are literally thousands of supplements available in North America. Curious as what you offer to your beef cattle herds beyond grass/hay forage and why you choose to use said product.
What do you consider a top notch mineral program?For me, it depends on age of animal. I use the KISS program.
Cows - hay & grass with top notch mineral program.
Pregnant replacement heifers - same as mature cows, but fed separate with pregnant 3 yr olds during winter so they don't have to fight for hay.
Weaned replacement heifers (Sept - April) hay, mineral and 5# whole shell corn/hd/day until bred and turned out with herd on grass. Also, some protein pellets with corn - more in beginning - less near end and up the corn to maybe 6#/hd/day prior to breeding end March.
Show string - well totally different ball game. They get WSC and whole oats and BioZyme Sure Champ and Purina PreCon/Depth Charge. More whole oats if they are getting fat - more corn if they need to get fatter. Never let them get FAT.
And they all get the best health program.
I did soil testing and found magnesium lacking so I put out a lick tub and salt blocks but that's as far as I've gone thus far. I'll have to dig a little deeper it seems, hadn't considered testing their hay, I just cube 1-2lbs a day in winter out of habit as I watched my grandfather do the samePineywoods, the answer is it depends. I forage test my hay to know what the nutritional value is. This year I am having to supplement the hay because it will not meet the nutritional requirements of the cows (6.7 % CP, 48% TDN). I am using a 28% cube that has 8% fat (has ddg's in it) . I am also limit grazing some ryegrass 3 to 4 hours every other or every third day as a protein supplement (No cubes on the days they get ryegrass). I keep out a good loose mineral year round. You have to know what your forage is providing and go from there.
You can of course get hi-mag mineral depending on how lacking it is in that regard. I would recommend loose trace mineral, loose as opposed to blocks. Seems the cows grow tired of licking before getting enough. I definitely see a consumption increase with loose.I did soil testing and found magnesium lacking so I put out a lick tub and salt blocks but that's as far as I've gone thus far. I'll have to dig a little deeper it seems, hadn't considered testing their hay, I just cube 1-2lbs a day in winter out of habit as I watched my grandfather do the same
The cheapest thing you can do is test your hay. If you were buying protein supplements it could save you a LOT of money. In my opinion, retail feed stores have made a lot of money over-selling protein. Protein requirements are easily met. But if your hay is under 10% protein, you need to know that and adjust accordingly. TDN is important and so is ADF (digestibility).I did soil testing and found magnesium lacking so I put out a lick tub and salt blocks but that's as far as I've gone thus far. I'll have to dig a little deeper it seems, hadn't considered testing their hay, I just cube 1-2lbs a day in winter out of habit as I watched my grandfather do the same
It sounds like you are talking about supplements for humans?????Supplements can only be counterproductive if you don't take them in the right amount. Before you start taking supplements, you should read the instructions. There will describe in detail when and in what amount you need to take supplements. Today supplements have become very popular.
It looks like a "Bot" slipped through the defenses Ken.It sounds like you are talking about supplements for humans?????
Ken
We are not talking about OUR supplements. This is a CATTLE BOARD.Supplements can only be counterproductive if you don't take them in the right amount. Before you start taking supplements, you should read the instructions. There will describe in detail when and in what amount you need to take supplements. Today supplements have become very popular.