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Crystalyx and other mineral supplements

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I'VE BEEN USING KAY DEE CLR MINERAL WITH GREAT RESULTS. I BRING MINERAL TO THE PASTURE WEEKLY WITH SOME PAIL FEED. SPRAY THE COWS AND CALVES WITH PERMECTRIN FLY SPRAY. A GOOD MINERAL PROGRAM ALONG WITH FLY CONTROL ARE TWO OF THE BIGGEST CONTRIBUTORS TO LARGER WEANING WEIGHT OF YOUR CALVES. COW'S STANDING IN THE CORNER OF THE PASTURE SWATTING FLYS WITH THEIR TAILS DONT PRODUCE MILK!!!!!!!!!1
 
Ben this is easy just build one of these and your flys drop in less than half they work better than ear tags. http://www.phwhite.com/ We built one that was as wide as a 50 gallon barrel on its side. We put it on 4x4 skids to drag as we rotated our pastures.Make sure you use a good mineral salt mix.The mineral needs to be in the salt. You can order a 4 foot long rub that works great on our outhouses as we call them. But i do switch the insecticide every year to a differant kind to prevent immunity. Works for us anyway. Oh and make sure you buy a mineral thats specific for your area not what the hot mineral is in wherever. There is a bunch of differances in differant areas.
 
The only time we have ever used salt was becasue our consumptionwas up to darn high that we wanted to slow it down a bit... I won't do that again, just switch to a higher phos mineral or something,lol...

I remember talking to some guy about the mineral he was using and how he culdn't beleive I was spending 5 or 6 more bucks a bag than he was.. Turns out the mineral he was using was 90% salt... I don't know, suppose it worked for him but all it really was was a trace mineralized loose salt.. I would just assume have as little salt as possible in my mineral, I kind of see it as a "filler" product....
 
By Findlay Pate
UF/IFAS, Range Cattle REC

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An essential need for sodium and chlorine by cattle has been demonstrated for thousands of years by a natural craving for common salt. These two mineral elements function as electrolytes in body fluids and are specifically involved at the cellular level in water metabolism, nutrient uptake, and transmission of nerve impulses. The initial sign of sodium and chlorine deficiency is a craving for salt, demonstrated by the avid licking of wood, soil, and sweat from other animals. A prolonged deficiency causes loss of appetite, decreased growth, unthrifty appearance, reduced milk production, and loss of weight.


Maybe here in the south the need for salt is greater than in the northern area's that don't have as high heat and humidity in the summer time???? The artical that I got this from was about Florida cattle.
 
Where do these ideas come from?

Do you realize cattle can build an immunity to salt
if fed too much? And just exactly what does salt do for
cattle anyway?


Well maybe i should have said pour vigortone on the ground and walk away your prayers are answered!!! Maybe i misunderstood what ben was buying i was under the impression he was feeding minerals with NO salt. Thats a no no. Cattle have to have salt as we do also. My statement was to make sure he buys a mineral in his area for his area with the salt in it. Never feed both ( loose salt seperate form the mineral or the cattle will split some will eat salt ,some mineral) Do what ever works best in your area for what your cattle need. We are very deficient in copper here some people are deficient in other things its area specific! All i know is if i dont feed salt at all in a 6 month period i have a bunch of cattle standing in knee deep grass starving to death. Maybe its just our humidity who knows here is a good article! http://www.saltinstitute.org/47d.html just my thoughts that work in my area!
 
Thanks JL.

Cattle do have a salt requirement of about 1/10 oz per hundred pounds
of body weight.
Therefore a 1200 lb. cow needs 1.2 oz of salt per day.
So why force more salt in these cattle?
Feed the salt separately and the cows will pretty much regulate themselves. If they need more salt they can get it, but you aren't forcing it in them.

Our 3V2 S has the salt needed when consumed at recommended level. When you add more salt (pour it in 3V2S and mix it yourself) you are
diluting the trace mineral package and defeating the purpose of feeding mineral.

3V4S does contain less salt and it is designed for places where consumption is a problem or where producers want to feed salt with mineral. But the salt is meant to be provided seperately, not mixed
in by hand.

Hope this helps.
 
I agree that it shouldn't be mixed with mineral you buy. How to say this.....basically if you are buying bagged mineral intended to be consumed at 3 or 4 oz's per head per day...and you dump in salt, you've just undone all the research the mineral supplier has done. The cows may not be anywhere near the level of mineral they should be if salt is bein added. We do mineral seperate from salt.

That would be the same thing as paying to have your feed analysis done.....getting it like you want for the gain you wanted, then dumpin in a bunch of somethin else....you've totally unbalanced the system.
 
the mineral I'm currently feeding DOES have salt, the salesman told me that it helps regulate the mineral intake. Sounds like there is a pretty split opinion on mixing or not mixing the salt with the minerals.

If I did continue to use my single waterer then my problems for fly control, as least application of insecticide would be solved, there are two posts they walk between that I did end up hanging a roll with face flips.
 
What i was getting at with mixing salt with mineral is doing it yourself. If it's mixed from the manufacturer, and it's a good mineral, it should be at the right levels. It's the one's that are dumpin the salt into the mineral themselves....
 
Sounds good Ben H.

The more you can do to combat flies the better.

And yes, I also meant not to hand mix salt.

Salt is put in mineral mixes at the right rate base
on comsumption recommendations and we
shouldn't dilute it further by adding more salt.
Put the extra salt beside the mineral. The cows will
take care of it as needed.

We tend to make things tooo complicated.
I have to go by the KISS system.
 

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