Do mineral buckets / Supliments make a difference?

[Coximus]

As it says? Ive never bothered but this year had a few issues with poor lambs - they were grazing land deficient in everything (was arable for 45 years non stop, just NPK) on my normal pp and improved pp Ive never had the need as everything has been fine and growth rates good - I know my soils are lowish in most TE but at the same time Ive selected hard on performance so my stock do well on that ground- Has anyone ever noticed or recorded an improvement with mineral licks etc? Would I beneift from them? ie faster growth rates etc.

 

[Frank-the-Wool]

As it says? Ive never bothered but this year had a few issues with poor lambs - they were grazing land deficient in everything (was arable for 45 years non stop, just NPK) on my normal pp and improved pp Ive never had the need as everything has been fine and growth rates good - I know my soils are lowish in most TE but at the same time Ive selected hard on performance so my stock do well on that ground- Has anyone ever noticed or recorded an improvement with mineral licks etc? Would I beneift from them? ie faster growth rates etc.

Yes, but you need to know what your problem might be. It is a complete waste of time and money going down your local supplier and just buying a bucket of stuff that claims to do everything.
Do a blood test on the sheep that are not thriving and also get a forage test done. You can then get a product that works for you and supplies the lacking elements. I would bet that it is a copper imbalance that is causing reduced Cobalt and Selenium but blood test to be sure.

 

[Norfolk Hill Farmer]

We also have land that is deficient in certain things and some elements that are potential locked up by others. We use cheleated mineral drenches several times a year, and put out mag buckets during the summer months and mineralised salt licks are available all year round.
Not saying this is the correct way to do things , and certainly expensive,but hopefully most things are covered.
Will explore TE Boluses going forward, unfortunately any mag Boluses I can find don't last long enough.

 

[livestock 1]

TE has made a difference here. We are short of copper mainly but also short of other things too. We were using a chilated drench for ewes and cattle and a cheaper more frequent drench for lambs mainly cobalt and selinium. We now bolus all cattle with a general purpose copper,cobalt selinium,iodine bolus and same for the ewes. Lambs have just been getting a cheaper drench then a chilated one when they look as if they aren’t doing right usually about now. It does make a difference
We were buying Cornish Calcified Seaweed fertiliser in bulk and putting it on 5cwt acre or more as it is full of TE the stock does better on the land it’s been put on. I can’t get it now

 

[Al R]

TE has made a difference here. We are short of copper mainly but also short of other things too. We were using a chilated drench for ewes and cattle and a cheaper more frequent drench for lambs mainly cobalt and selinium. We now bolus all cattle with a general purpose copper,cobalt selinium,iodine bolus and same for the ewes. Lambs have just been getting a cheaper drench then a chilated one when they look as if they aren’t doing right usually about now. It does make a difference
We were buying Cornish Calcified Seaweed fertiliser in bulk and putting it on 5cwt acre or more as it is full of TE the stock does better on the land it’s been put on. I can’t get it now

We also used to use calcified seaweed and stopped 10 years ago or so as they stopped dredging it?
We use bolus’s, if we don’t bolus a lamb by 10 weeks it’s ears will start to fall off, seriously low in cobalt in my area...

 

[livestock 1]

We also used to use calcified seaweed and stopped 10 years ago or so as they stopped dredging it?
We use bolus’s, if we don’t bolus a lamb by 10 weeks it’s ears will start to fall off, seriously low in cobalt in my area...

So is the crusty ears cobalt deficiency?
Did you find Cornish Calcified Seaweed good? We couldn’t get it either because of that same reason

 

[Al R]

So is the crusty ears cobalt deficiency?
Did you find Cornish Calcified Seaweed good? We couldn’t get it either because of that same reason

Yeah it is.
I can’t remember to much about it but it must’ve been good as we kept getting it. Probably made a bigger difference to us as we’re organic so it had a liming element to it too.

 

[livestock 1]

Yeah it is.
I can’t remember to much about it but it must’ve been good as we kept getting it. Probably made a bigger difference to us as we’re organic so it had a liming element to it too.

I always have some big lambs that go lean at this time of year as if they’ve outgrown themselves we give them a vitamin drench and they improve dramatically does that sound similar?

 

[exmoor dave]

As it says? Ive never bothered but this year had a few issues with poor lambs - they were grazing land deficient in everything (was arable for 45 years non stop, just NPK) on my normal pp and improved pp Ive never had the need as everything has been fine and growth rates good - I know my soils are lowish in most TE but at the same time Ive selected hard on performance so my stock do well on that ground- Has anyone ever noticed or recorded an improvement with mineral licks etc? Would I beneift from them? ie faster growth rates etc.

Started growing cattle on powdered minerals last year (previously nothing), seemed to be doing a job, its interesting how they go through phases of eating alot then nothing for a while, very much inline with how the grass is growing.

This year decided to go for powdered minerals for the ewes rather than bolusing, what has been really interesting is the amount of mineral the ewes will take on different ground.
We've got a 80ac block, half is over gret clay and half is over a heavy red soil.

The ewes on the clay are hoovering up minerals, while the ones on the red soil barely touch the minerals.

Another big difference is the amount of minerals (alot!) that shearling ewes take compared to mature ewes (not much) on the same ground.

 

[Timbo]

Thoughts on buckets for ewes at tupping?

 

[primmiemoo]

There is a noticeable difference in the amount of loose mins that stock will take field by field here, too. They know what they need, and I'm thinking that ad lib is the way - in this system, at least.

Buckets have been used in the past, but I found the odd tooth where an old ewe had become frustrated with it - or maybe there had been a bit of barging from another - which led to the changeover.

Calcified Seaweed was a versatile product, and we spread lots in ignorance of the impact that over-dredging was having on the marine environment at its source. Powdered Mendip when tests say it's needed, and loose minerals are a good alternative, imv.

 

[livestock 1]

There is a noticeable difference in the amount of loose mins that stock will take field by field here, too. They know what they need, and I'm thinking that ad lib is the way - in this system, at least.

Buckets have been used in the past, but I found the odd tooth where an old ewe had become frustrated with it - or maybe there had been a bit of barging from another - which led to the changeover.

Calcified Seaweed was a versatile product, and we spread lots in ignorance of the impact that over-dredging was having on the marine environment at its source. Powdered Mendip when tests say it's needed, and loose minerals are a good alternative, imv.

I still use bagged minerals as I feel they are 100% better value than buckets which seem expensive to me. The trouble was that the last few years the bagged stuff was getting wet and turning to shyte it’s still the best in the end

 

[AvonValleyFarmer]

Silly question, but how do you all go about feeding bagged mins? I assume just mixed with grains?

 

[hilux]

Silly question, but how do you all go about feeding bagged mins? I assume just mixed with grains?

Get a 20l or 25l drum. Cut a hole in the middle of it so they can put their heads in and drill some 1mm holes in the bottom to allow the water to run out. Tie it with the farmers friend to a gate post .

 

[livestock 1]

Silly question, but how do you all go about feeding bagged mins? I assume just mixed with grains?

Ad lib in a trough

 

[neilo]

Has anyone ever noticed or recorded an improvement with mineral licks etc? Would I beneift from them? ie faster growth rates etc.

Having high molybdenum locking copper up, when I started supplementing the sheep, they stopped dieing of copper deficiency. I found that had a significant effect on growth rates and performance. Also seen massive changes in performance from Iodine supplementation in recent years, but why that has suddenly become an issue locally, I have no idea.

As @Frank-the-Wool posted, soil/blood/forage tests first to find out what you're dealing with, then supplement with what you need, rather than what the salesman tells you.

 

[AvonValleyFarmer]

Thanks both. Do they not gorge on it offered ad-lib?

 

[Nithsdale]

Silly question, but how do you all go about feeding bagged mins? I assume just mixed with grains?

You know all them fireclay troughs you see at farm sales...


Ever wondered what they were for?

 

[neilo]

Thanks both. Do they not gorge on it offered ad-lib?

Initially yes, while it’s something ‘different’, then intakes will ease off. The mineral salesmen will tell you that’s an indication of those animals ‘knowing what they need’ and limiting intake once they’ve satisfied that need. Iirc there is no trial evidence for that being the case.

 

[Coximus]

Thanks for the input guys. I think on this block ill take a few blood samples.
I know the status of my own land and have bred acordingly as well as improving it. If this ground can be secured longer term I will arrange for a good lathering of Pig muck (straw bedded) and lime on it - which from experience tends to result in huge performance gains and correct me if im wrong, but seems to help massively with the TE.
I will be putting general buckets out tomorrow as a stop gap anyway until I can get a more specific answer.

A thought crossed my mind - Could the fact most of my pastures have been overseeded with cocksfoot have helped with its deep routs bringing mins to the surface, and making them available to other grasses via the dung after being eaten? Im keen to be grass grass grass and fix soil issues where possible so the ground and animals compliment each other.