Zinc deficiency? Mineral deficiency? Looks like...?

[Ozhorse]

We have granite soils and the area is known for having major selenium deficiency problems, especially in wet years. It has been exceptionally wet the last two years and the place is a swamp at the moment.

I give the cows long acting selenium injections every year. I assume they work.

Many of the cows have a skin condition, not bad, but I notice it. They have hairless roughened, thickened skin between their back legs at the back of the udder. All of the cattle were slow to shed this year, particularly the heifers, with brown tips on the hair (anugs), but it was also a very cold wet summer.

I have also had foot abscess problems with bulls. They will go lame and one came out in the obvious abscess but the others I give a heavy dose of oxytetracycline then they get better.

Foot abscess is also a problem with the sheep.

Today I found a cow that had slipped her calf close to full term and then retained the placenta. She has a worse case of the raw, hairless, thickened, scratched up skin at the back of the udders than most of the others.

With it being so wet I was wondering if other minerals, like Zinc, might also be deficient that are usually adequate?

Has anyone here seen clinical zinc deficiency with skin conditions in cattle? What does it look like? Others minerals or elements?

Any other ideas?

I was going to use Multimin injections this year but was told by the rep that it might not be a good idea to double up on the selenium dose, while at the same time the dose of selenium in Multimin is not enough to deal with the deficiency here.

It is NOT lice. Does not respond to Ivomectin pour on.

 

[Anonymous]

Do you keep loose mineral out for them?

 

[Howdyjabo]

Give the multi-min and and either skip or alternate the selenium.
Read your bottle on the selenium- I don't think it lasts in their system as long as you think it does.

Without the other minerals balanced, the selenium will not work as well.

the shots are a booster for a good mineral supplementation- not a substitute.

 

[Banjo]

Ozhorse


Are you the man from Snowy River?

 

[regolith]

always gonna see skin conditions in a wet summer. Usually it's not worth worrying about and I've heard several different theories from vets about what it is.

As for the minerals - you should probably get a sample of your cows blood-tested to determine their status and follow a vet's advice from there, or if they're anything like the vets here they'll try and pressure you into sending them liver samples. Your rep might be being overcautious on the selenium, but you need to know what the cows' deficiency is to efectively treat. As asked above - do they have daily access to mineral?

 

[Ozhorse]

Australia has had a 20 year drought and Ive been farming for 5 years so having wet times is new for me.
The skin conditions are at their worst in winter.
The selenium injections are long acting - supposed to be 1 year in cattle and 2 years in sheep.

What do you feed your loose lick supplements in?

This might sound dumb but I have not yet worked out how to give them loose mineral in a way that is practical and financial. Mostly I have been trying to work out how to give loose mineral with urea in it in the past (drought dry feed) and I have not been prepared to have some die if (when) it got wet. So I use blocks at $25 for small and $50 for large blocks.

I have got 150 head including heifers. I have them in 5 mobs this year because there is enough grass but in drier years they would be split into mobs of 20-30. Sheep are my main business and the cows often have up to 200 to 500 sheep in the same paddock with them. There are times when there are only cows in the paddock so I could put the minerals out then and take them away when the sheep are there.

Now the sheep would like and possibly need minerals also - but it comes down to cost. If I can make just as much money without supplementation I need to do that.

I just checked my accounts and in 09-10 and in 10-11 I spent about $3000 to $5000 per year on blocks. I don't think they achieved much for me financially. I spent almost nothing last year on blocks but did feed the ewes grain instead. Sheep and wool prices have just gone way down again with the global financial mess so I can't spend too much.

I suppose it comes down to sourcing lower cost supplements and working out how to give it to them. If It was cheap enough the sheep would get it too.

Selenium deficiency is so bad that that is a no-brainer. It is very cheap for me to fix at less than $1000 per year on the injections, plus an extra needle at vaccine time.

I have asked vets and dept ag. and local suppliers about zinc and other mineral deficiencies and there is no clear answer known. In its infinite wisdom, the govt cut research on a link between zinc and foot rot in sheep when the drier times started, and now start it again when foot rot is already becoming a problem again.

If I knew zinc or some other specific thing was lacking it would be cost effective to treat that specifically too.

 

[Anonymous]

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=77902

 

[Banjo]

Australia has had a 20 year drought and Ive been farming for 5 years so having wet times is new for me.
The skin conditions are at their worst in winter.
The selenium injections are long acting - supposed to be 1 year in cattle and 2 years in sheep.

What do you feed your loose lick supplements in?

This might sound dumb but I have not yet worked out how to give them loose mineral in a way that is practical and financial. Mostly I have been trying to work out how to give loose mineral with urea in it in the past (drought dry feed) and I have not been prepared to have some die if (when) it got wet. So I use blocks at $25 for small and $50 for large blocks.

I have got 150 head including heifers. I have them in 5 mobs this year because there is enough grass but in drier years they would be split into mobs of 20-30. Sheep are my main business and the cows often have up to 200 to 500 sheep in the same paddock with them. There are times when there are only cows in the paddock so I could put the minerals out then and take them away when the sheep are there.

Now the sheep would like and possibly need minerals also - but it comes down to cost. If I can make just as much money without supplementation I need to do that.

I just checked my accounts and in 09-10 and in 10-11 I spent about $3000 to $5000 per year on blocks. I don't think they achieved much for me financially. I spent almost nothing last year on blocks but did feed the ewes grain instead. Sheep and wool prices have just gone way down again with the global financial mess so I can't spend too much.

I suppose it comes down to sourcing lower cost supplements and working out how to give it to them. If It was cheap enough the sheep would get it too.

Selenium deficiency is so bad that that is a no-brainer. It is very cheap for me to fix at less than $1000 per year on the injections, plus an extra needle at vaccine time.

I have asked vets and dept ag. and local suppliers about zinc and other mineral deficiencies and there is no clear answer known. In its infinite wisdom, the govt cut research on a link between zinc and foot rot in sheep when the drier times started, and now start it again when foot rot is already becoming a problem again.

If I knew zinc or some other specific thing was lacking it would be cost effective to treat that specifically too.

I use a bunk feeder... light round tubing with a liner in it. 10 or 12 cows or more can partake at once. It will get wet.
Question: Why do you want to feed Urea? Not telling you what to do. I know its relatively cheap protein. I have fed it in tubs in the past and do not like it. Some cows it doesn't seem to bother and some it does.

 

[Suzie Q]

I just bought some mega min blocks with no urea in them as I didn't want to risk my cattle with urea.

Zinc 390 mg/kg Selenium 1mg/kg plus everything else but urea

 

[Ozhorse]

@ Banjo
Urea is in most of the stock blocks for sale here. It is said to help the cattle digest dry rank old grass, i.e. feed the rumen bacteria with urea and then the cows can digest the cellulose they otherwise would starve on. It also helps sheep or cattle do better on straight cereal stubbles - also in the drought a diet of straw, molasses and urea is possible to keep them alive on. At least I have been told so.

I am in a slightly higher rainfall/altitude area than most of this district and I have been advised that if there is green in the grass I probably don't need the urea.

 

[Banjo]

@ Banjo
Urea is in most of the stock blocks for sale here. It is said to help the cattle digest dry rank old grass, i.e. feed the rumen bacteria with urea and then the cows can digest the cellulose they otherwise would starve on. It also helps sheep or cattle do better on straight cereal stubbles - also in the drought a diet of straw, molasses and urea is possible to keep them alive on. At least I have been told so.

I am in a slightly higher rainfall/altitude area than most of this district and I have been advised that if there is green in the grass I probably don't need the urea.

I may be wanting to get me some in a couple of months if it doesn't rain. Best of luck to ya.

 

[TexasBred]

@ Banjo
Urea is in most of the stock blocks for sale here. It is said to help the cattle digest dry rank old grass, i.e. feed the rumen bacteria with urea and then the cows can digest the cellulose they otherwise would starve on. It also helps sheep or cattle do better on straight cereal stubbles - also in the drought a diet of straw, molasses and urea is possible to keep them alive on. At least I have been told so.

I am in a slightly higher rainfall/altitude area than most of this district and I have been advised that if there is green in the grass I probably don't need the urea.

Actually urea works better in a high energy, high starch diet. It won't help with digestion but might cause them to eat more. Nothng at all with using some urea but I don't think I'd use my mineral as the source. Cows can usually use up to 6 oz. of urea per day without any harm. They would have to eat a lot of your mineral to get more than that.

 

[Suzie Q]

We fed out round bales again today in the second big frost in two days. They haven't touched the lick blocks.