Trace element drench
- Thread starter Gwyn
- Start date
CopperBeech
Member
- Location
- A Welsh man lost in England
You can make your own -
i.e Cobalt
Buy cobalt sulphate and dissolve that and administer it up to 1 mg/kg cobalt (35 mg/kg hydrated cobalt sulphate) at monthly intervals.
i.e Cobalt
Buy cobalt sulphate and dissolve that and administer it up to 1 mg/kg cobalt (35 mg/kg hydrated cobalt sulphate) at monthly intervals.
- Location
- Ceredigion, wales
Trace element services will make you a mix that you mix with water costs about 4 pence per head iirc. Never tried it though. Basically it's the same stuff as they make to put on the ground and is made up to suit your farm (following blood or soil testing)
http://www.traceelementservices.co.uk/index.html
http://www.traceelementservices.co.uk/index.html
Gwyn
Member
Thanks both
Downton_shep
Member
- Location
- Leintwardine
We use it to fire out the bolous on the drench gun. Costs less than peanut's.
Gwyn
Member
Where do you get it from?
- Location
- Ceredigion, wales
We've done all our lambs with a mayo bolus this last couple of weeks. Cost 50p and last up to six months. Any TE drench will only last a few days to a couple of weeks at best.
Downton_shep
Member
- Location
- Leintwardine
We get it from the vets
Downton_shep
Member
- Location
- Leintwardine
- Location
- Ceredigion, wales
We have been applying TE's to the ground but this year's lambs were as bad as ever.
CopperBeech
Member
- Location
- A Welsh man lost in England
Our vet is a very good sheep guy, and we were discussing this. Bolus ideal for ewes, ewe lambs and long keep lambs, but ones that you hope to kill in next few months, may not get benefit from bolus in terms of cost etc. Drench should in theory, pick levels up enough to give you 3-4 weeks of effect. So hopefully maybe only 1 - 2 doses? Would be very cheap.
Also its amazing how many dead lambs have a bolus injury when you cut them open. . . . and folk never realise. . . .
- Location
- Ceredigion, wales
Oh I know all about bolusing injuries believe me. The mayo boluses are quite small though and quite easy to apply. So far so good. I take your point about drenching being cheaper for short keep lambs which is quite correct.... but more work.
What sort of injuries?
To the throat, leading to lung infections...?
Must admit I prefer the lamb sized boluses as the ewe boluses are huge....
Nothing like that, literally days. I've bled lambs less than a week after a cobalt bolus and every single one was low.
Copper and selenium stored, but then toxicity comes into play.
I can see the use of a drench to bring levels up quickly that are maintained with boluses, but on their own they do very very little.
- Location
- Ceredigion, wales
We've lost a lot of ewes post bolusng in the past. Local lab say it's very common. Mostly holes/infections in the back of the throat.
As said tried the mayo ones on our lambs and very pleased with how it went but too soon to comment on efficacy yet. Their ewe boluses are also the same thickness but slightly longer (about 1 inch) and are claimed to last up to a year.
As said tried the mayo ones on our lambs and very pleased with how it went but too soon to comment on efficacy yet. Their ewe boluses are also the same thickness but slightly longer (about 1 inch) and are claimed to last up to a year.
Woolless
Member
- Location
- Berwickshire, Scottish Borders
To clarify, you've bled lambs a week after a cobalt bolus or drench and they were still low?
My experience is the same ---i struggle with the mineral status on several farms and have been experimenting with different approaches , i bleed animals regularly in an effort to understand what is going on
Conclusions i have are
1) Drenches are good for a few days/short term boost only
2) Boluses can be useful but as part of a long term plan
3) Once lambs get severely mineral depleted it can be a long journey to get them back to productive status
Latest approach has been a trial with a flock split 3 ways for 3 different treatments
Group A ---ewes bolused at scanning & lambs bolused at 8 weeks
B ---lambs only bolused at 8 weeks
B ----control---no one bolused
Up until 8 weeks old you couldn't see any difference in the groups but after this time it is obvious to the eye and in blood analysis;
The ''A'' group are growing like stink and have good mineral blood results
The ''B'' & ''C'' groups are way behind the ''A'' group
''B'' growing ok but higher FECs and poor bloods
''C'' terrible growth and constant high worm infections , similar bloods to group ''B''
I am monitoring the ewe weights post weaning but it's too early to tell what is going on
This coming season it looks like the best and most cost effective approach for me will be to bolus the ewes at scanning and the lambs at 8 weeks, this should keep minerals at decent levels, reduce health problems and ensure good growth rates
My belief is that low mineral availability in early life has such a detrimental effect on liver/gut/organ development that it takes ages to catch up (if it ever does)
- Location
- Devon
Interesting and logical.
Presume groups A, B & C were run together under the same conditions and challenges?
ballymacombsgrimme
Member
was wondering if you could splash a drop of cobalt over the meal in the creep feeder to keep a few suffolk store lambs a bit cleaner round the back end. Have found good results from dosing with cobalt but it a pain to have to repeat so often.