Cattle minerals/supplements/bolus’s are they worth it?

[Moss192]

When looking to get young heifers in calf, what do people use? They will be having some cake and good quality first cut to maintain growth rates.
there’s only 20 in this bunch so won’t exactly break the bank to give them whatever people reccomend. Happy to use a bolus or a lick, not a big believer in free access powder minerals.
LimxHo going to an angus in November/december.

 

[Henarar]

depends if they are short of anything

 

[Moss192]

depends if they are short of anything

Appreciate that, but on this small a number it’s cheaper to treat than to check

 

[Davy_g]

Google Search

Not sure if price reflects quality but i use the high iodine all trace.

 

[Cocomac]

When looking to get young heifers in calf, what do people use?

Generally a bull…..
….but the argimin all trace bolus seems to work well in our cows. Are you short of anything particular in the rest of your cows?

 

[Limcrazy]

Ai

Beat me to it.

Liquid gold drench is a dead cert if you read any of the NI farming papers.
Hi iodine or selenium bolus here as they are lacking. Maybe do them a couple of mths before bulling.

 

[neilo]

Appreciate that, but on this small a number it’s cheaper to treat than to check

True, but if you are on the same land all the time, it would be a good investment to find out what deficiencies/imbalances you are dealing with, if any at all. It doesn't change much from year to year, so no need to test that often.

 

[livestock 1]

DB have a easy calver bucket for this with a hormone added they aren’t cheap maybe £50/£60

 

[Jasper]

When looking to get young heifers in calf, what do people use? They will be having some cake and good quality first cut to maintain growth rates.
there’s only 20 in this bunch so won’t exactly break the bank to give them whatever people reccomend. Happy to use a bolus or a lick, not a big believer in free access powder minerals.
LimxHo going to an angus in November/december.

What’s in the cake if we give a bit of cake it’s usually enough but you need to know what’s in it

 

[Rich_ard]

Appreciate that, but on this small a number it’s cheaper to treat than to check

Not often. By the time you find out they aren't incalf.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

How bad's the situation, personally we use the bare minimum and put a wee bit of pressure on the heifers that way.

This reduces the likelihood of breeding a whole heap of animals that need minerals to perform, would rather sell them on and play "the numbers game" type of strategy.

I know you said you'd rather treat than test, we would rather the test be if they can get pregnant with a bull in a field full of grass and a water supply.
Selenium is always low anywhere in NZ so we'd jab the bottom percentile with selenised B12 and maybe treat for parasites 6 months out, that's all.

We are going to trial salt blocks this year but more to draw them around and increase utilisation, will be interesting to see if empty rate is affected.