When to remove Crystalyx?

[boondocks]

Hi all,
We gave the cows a Crystalyx tub for the winter. (They went through a few of the pricey things; we gave it to them because we didn't get our hay tested and weren't sure if it was sufficient. They just get hay in winter). We are just putting them on full pasture now; should we take away the tub immediately?
Thanks!

 

[dun]

Depends. How is the grass, plentiful is it washy from excess rain, what stage of production are the cows in and what is their BCS?

 

[boondocks]

Depends. How is the grass, plentiful is it washy from excess rain, what stage of production are the cows in and what is their BCS?

Hi Dun,
Thanks for the speedy response! Grass we turned them out onto today was high. Our weather is just turning warm. Grass is not wet per se but it's new growth for sure, and it's supposed to rain tonight and tomorrow. 2 cows gave birth 6 weeks ago; 3 are due in 2 weeks and two are due in July. Also have a ~2 yo steer we will be butchering in July, and 4 yearlings.

I'm not real experienced yet in formal BCS, but they are in good condition (not thin, not fat). I would judge them at around 6. based on the descriptions here: http://beef.unl.edu/learning/condition1b.shtml (One or two may be on the lower end of 6 and another one or two pushing a 7, but there's not a huge variation). A couple are carrying some lice we are watching to see if it clears up with the warmer weather. They have had vaccinations and are in good shape, knock wood...

 

[dun]

I would pour them for lice and just stop the supplement other than a good quality mineral.

 

[Son of Butch]

Ultra Boss will take care of the lice and give some fly control too.

 

[John SD]

I would pour them for lice and just stop the supplement other than a good quality mineral.

+1. Flies will be coming on soon and a pour-on will help with that for a short time. Cows should have a good quality mineral available to them year round. They might hit it harder at different times during the year.

I like to feed Crystalyx with added mag for grass tetany when grass starts to green up. That would be the main reason to feed it this time of year.

But you could just make sure your mineral has mag in it and not have to pay extra for the candy. You can buy a bag of mag and mix it with loose salt or mineral. Don't get too carried away or they won't eat it :idea:

 

[dun]

But you could just make sure your mineral has mag in it and not have to pay extra for the candy. You can buy a bag of mag and mix it with loose salt or mineral. Don't get too carried away or they won't eat it :idea:

The bag of mag will tell how much to mix per 50 lbs of mineral. At least my bag did. Or you can get it with mag and not IGR and get a bag of IGR and mix it. I use an old concrete mixer to mix the stuff together. For some reason you can;t get mag and IGR in the same mix. It's one or the other. Mineral guy doesn;t understand and the state vet tried to explain the reasoning behind it but he doesn;t understand the reasoning either.

 

[TexasBred]

But you could just make sure your mineral has mag in it and not have to pay extra for the candy. You can buy a bag of mag and mix it with loose salt or mineral. Don't get too carried away or they won't eat it :idea:

The bag of mag will tell how much to mix per 50 lbs of mineral. At least my bag did. Or you can get it with mag and not IGR and get a bag of IGR and mix it. I use an old concrete mixer to mix the stuff together. For some reason you can;t get mag and IGR in the same mix. It's one or the other. Mineral guy doesn;t understand and the state vet tried to explain the reasoning behind it but he doesn;t understand the reasoning either.

No regs about mixing the two here in Texas. I imagine the mill just doesn't want to make another mineral even though it is simple and would be a money maker.

 

[John SD]

But you could just make sure your mineral has mag in it and not have to pay extra for the candy. You can buy a bag of mag and mix it with loose salt or mineral. Don't get too carried away or they won't eat it :idea:

The bag of mag will tell how much to mix per 50 lbs of mineral. At least my bag did. Or you can get it with mag and not IGR and get a bag of IGR and mix it. I use an old concrete mixer to mix the stuff together. For some reason you can;t get mag and IGR in the same mix. It's one or the other. Mineral guy doesn;t understand and the state vet tried to explain the reasoning behind it but he doesn;t understand the reasoning either.

No regs about mixing the two here in Texas. I imagine the mill just doesn't want to make another mineral even though it is simple and would be a money maker.

Perhaps no factory mix is available simply because you're really dealing with 2 seperate unrelated issues that happen over a different time frame :?:

Magnesium is needed for grass tetany prevention in early spring long before fly season and the need for IGR starts. The time for grass tetany really should be past now but fly season will be starting shortly :idea:

 

[dun]

The bag of mag will tell how much to mix per 50 lbs of mineral. At least my bag did. Or you can get it with mag and not IGR and get a bag of IGR and mix it. I use an old concrete mixer to mix the stuff together. For some reason you can;t get mag and IGR in the same mix. It's one or the other. Mineral guy doesn;t understand and the state vet tried to explain the reasoning behind it but he doesn;t understand the reasoning either.

No regs about mixing the two here in Texas. I imagine the mill just doesn't want to make another mineral even though it is simple and would be a money maker.

Perhaps no factory mix is available simply because you're really dealing with 2 seperate unrelated issues that happen over a different time frame :?:

Magnesium is needed for grass tetany prevention in early spring long before fly season and the need for IGR starts. The time for grass tetany really should be past now but fly season will be starting shortly :idea:

In MO the reason they can;t mix it is a state reg. Like I said, the state vet tried to explain the reasoning but it doesn;t make sense to him either.

 

[TexasBred]

Perhaps no factory mix is available simply because you're really dealing with 2 seperate unrelated issues that happen over a different time frame :?:

Magnesium is needed for grass tetany prevention in early spring long before fly season and the need for IGR starts. The time for grass tetany really should be past now but fly season will be starting shortly :idea:

Might be true in your country John but we have flies year round and they really get bad beginning around February so yes it's two different issues but the certainly overlap. Grass tetany is more of a autumn/winter problem here as stockers are placed on wheat and oats. Spring pasture may cause some bloat but seldom grass tetany.

 

[TexasBred]

In MO the reason they can;t mix it is a state reg. Like I said, the state vet tried to explain the reasoning but it doesn;t make sense to him either.

Sometimes I think some of their restrictions are done just to make life miserable for everyone else. A lot of htem make no sense.

 

[boondocks]

Thanks all! We took out the tub today and they have good loose minerals. Happy campers (knock wood).

 

[John SD]

Was the tub empty? If it was me I would just put the mineral on top of whatever Crystalyx is left in the tub. Nothing encourages cattle to eat mineral any easier than to hide the candy under it

Or just let them finish the Crystalyx and take the tub back for the deposit. @ $9 apiece, if you've got a pickup load of empty tubs that's some pretty serious beer money :lol2:

 

[Brute 23]

I leave tubs out year round. When they don't need it the will back off on consumption.

It's a lot easier for them to tell me what they need than for me to guess. Same thing with hay when we get in to winter months. I put a bale out in a hay ring. When they finally eat it I know it's time to start feeding.

 

[boondocks]

JohnSD-Didn't know there was a deposit--thanks!
And Brute, I like your approach!

 

[dun]

I leave tubs out year round. When they don't need it the will back off on consumption.

It's a lot easier for them to tell me what they need than for me to guess. Same thing with hay when we get in to winter months. I put a bale out in a hay ring. When they finally eat it I know it's time to start feeding.

You obviously don;t have any cows like my wife's old pig/pet Hereford. She would stand at a tube all day and it it down the the bottom in the middle then start braeking off chunks. 250 lb tub lasted about 3 days with her around.

 

[John SD]

JohnSD-Didn't know there was a deposit--thanks!
And Brute, I like your approach!

You should have paid a deposit on the tub when you bought it, if it's still the conventional steel half-barrel. I haven't bought any since they starting making the edible "Bio-Barrels". I really don't think those have caught on well here.

How far are you from the nearest plant that makes Crystalyx :?: I'm 80 miles from the Whitewood SD Crystalyx plant. 100 from the Belle Fourche SD SmartLic plant. I have gotten a purchase order from the local dealer and like Johnny Cash "gone right up to the factory to pick them, it's cheaper that way"

After SmartLic came on the scene, Crystalyx started stamping their name in the side of their barrels. I assume that was to discourage SmartLic from paying a bounty on Crystalyx barrels :lol:

 

[Brute 23]

Sure dont. It's pretty clear when they are hitting the tubs or not. Plus it seems like if you pull them when you put them back out they hit them twice as hard.