Sea Salt.

[katrina]

Some around here are feeding sea salt and no mineral.. They test their hay and they say that the phos and minerals are high enough in the forage to not feed mineral. The say that it has helped stop pinkeye and hoof rot. Has anyone done this and what does everyone think..... Fasters please comment on this.. I know you will have very good facts...

 

[burnt]

Well in my experience, I know that if I eat a whole bag of sea salt potato chips along with a Pepsi, I sure don't need anything else to go with it! FWIW!

 

[Faster horses]

Salt is just that........salt. And cattle need salt but how could salt help
the immune system? What about copper, zinc, Vit. E, manganese,
yeast culture?

I knew a lady who tried this on an old horse, having been told it was
a cure-all. The horse died...not from being fed the sea salt, but
because he was old and needed mineral supplement badly. And calcium.
And phosphorus.

The sea salt thing has been around for years. And the calcium and phos
in the hay isn't all that available to a cow. That's why mineral has been
studied and recommended for the last 15-20 years and found
to be necessary in a balanced diet. It wasn't all that long ago that
hay and salt was all that was fed and look at the problems that
ensued as a result.

As expensive as cattle are now, I sure wouldn't be trying it.

Katrina, ask the people that are talking about this for some
research on the subject.

Hope this helps!

 

[John SD]

My cows have been nuts all winter for salt and mineral. I've fed them a little bit of everything. \

TM loose salt and blocks and Ranch Hand 8% mineral tubs. Even fed a few bags of Payback Ultramin 12-6 Plus and KayDee 8.2 blocks when the dealer was out of 3V2S.

The cows just keep inhaling all of it. Not feeding hay or anything else. The cows are grazing on a pasture with a couple years worth of old grass on it.

 

[Faster horses]

My cows have been nuts all winter for salt and mineral. I've fed them a little bit of everything. \

TM loose salt and blocks and Ranch Hand 8% mineral tubs. Even fed a few bags of Payback Ultramin 12-6 Plus and KayDee 8.2 blocks when the dealer was out of 3V2S.

The cows just keep inhaling all of it. Not feeding hay or anything else. The cows are grazing on a pasture with a couple years worth of old grass on it.

I can shed some light on that for you, Justin.
The cows are seeking dry matter. That old grass has a very high
ADF and the higher that number is, the less digestible the grass is.
We have taken grass samples several times this winter and the grass
is low in protein (2.5-4%) and very high in ADF. The seed heads
on the grass came out early and that makes the grass not as nutritious.
That also is why most of the calves and yearlings were lighter in our
area this year.

Hope this helps. You give those cows a little hay and they'll back
off that mineral. If you have some alfalfa, it wouldn't take much
and it would be a lot cheaper than molasses blocks.
Not as handy tho, but the cows are telling you the grass just isn't
cutting it. Those ole cows are pretty smart at times.

 

[John SD]

I figured the old grass doesn't have much punch to it. But the gals do seem content to go out and graze after they tank up on salt and mineral.

Even with the low protein the cow pies are more pancake style instead of a big meadow muffin. Probably because they drink a lot of water with all the salt intake.

If I started feeding hay, the gals would be lined up waiting to hear the tractor fire up every day. At least this way they keep on hustling instead of waiting for a handout. :wink:

This is pretty much the opposite of last winter here. Last year the cows camped out in one place near the water tank and I kept a trail cleared to feed them in the same area for most of the winter. If this is global warming, I like it! 8)

 

[Buyer]

Guys, It,s not the salt thats so good it,s the fish poop.

 

[loomixguy]

Even with the low protein the cow pies are more pancake style instead of a big meadow muffin. Probably because they drink a lot of water with all the salt intake.

The pie configuration has more to do with the critter's ability to digest their groceries than water intake. Nice flat pies = fiber digestion. Meadow muffins = reduced fiber digestion.

 

[Denny]

Mine have'nt went thru 4 bags in 6 weeks I quit feeding Vigortone the freight was a bit overbored. I am buying the same mixture from consolidated nutrition for $5 a bag less. Our cows are getting 30#s of corn silage per day and all the hay they want. They have nice loose cowpies so I think they are getting enough from their forage.Ordered seed corn the other day $141 per bag x 100 bags ouch.

 

[John SD]

Mine have'nt went thru 4 bags in 6 weeks I quit feeding Vigortone the freight was a bit overbored. I am buying the same mixture from consolidated nutrition for $5 a bag less. Our cows are getting 30#s of corn silage per day and all the hay they want. They have nice loose cowpies so I think they are getting enough from their forage.Ordered seed corn the other day $141 per bag x 100 bags ouch.

Although the guy here sells Vigortone, Payback, KayDee, and Purina, I think he sells more Vigortone than the rest put together. I've fed them all at one time or another but Vigortone is still my first choice. :wink:

Last week a fresh shipment of 3V2S @ $29.50 was a couple bucks higher than 3V4S even though it has more salt in it. I've never figured out why the bag with more salt/less mineral in it costs more than the bag with less salt/more mineral in it.

Salt should be the cheapest ingredient in any bag of mineral.

 

[Larrry]

Salt and Calcium are about the two cheapest ingredients