Supplements???

[3 M L & C]

I have heard of guys thinking that heifers close to calving that tanked up on the tub aborted calves from to much urea, is there anything to this?

 

[Mike]

I have heard of guys thinking that heifers close to calving that tanked up on the tub aborted calves from to much urea, is there anything to this?

There is a such thing as "Urea Poisoning":

http://homepage.eircom.net/~progers/ureanitr.htm


http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/index.jsp?cfile=htm/bc/212400.htm

 

[loomixguy]

I have heard of guys thinking that heifers close to calving that tanked up on the tub aborted calves from to much urea, is there anything to this?

Most supplements don't contain enough urea to make a critter turn toes up. I know that with our LOOMIX, a critter would have to consume over 100 pounds in a day to even begin to get enough urea to cause a problem. Pretty much physically impossible.

When critters have problems, it's always the fault of the feed, when the actual cause of the problem is usually looking back at them in the mirror.

 

[Mike]

Prevention and Control:
Urea should not be fed at a rate exceeding 2-3% of the concentrate or grain portion of ruminant diets and should be limited to ≤1% of the total diet. Additionally, NPN should constitute no more than one-third of the total nitrogen in the ruminant diet. Once the decision is made to feed NPN, animals must be slowly adapted to, and maintained on, a consistent dietary NPN content with no significant deviation. Temporary absences of NPN from the diet should be avoided at all costs. While properly adapted adult cattle can tolerate up to 1 g urea/kg body wt/day, a safer feeding rate is no more than half that amount.

 

[John SD]

It is my understanding that urea is a big no-no around horses and perhaps other non-ruminant animals. T or F?

 

[Big Muddy rancher]

It is my understanding that urea is a big no-no around horses and perhaps other non-ruminant animals. T or F?

True

 

[loomixguy]

The last I heard was since horses are simple gutted critters, like humans, they can't break urea down, and it just passes right through them, so.....supposedly safe. I know plenty of horses that are pastured with cows and consume LOOMIX on a daily basis with no adverse effects, but LOOMIX only contains 3% urea.

 

[Nicky]

I agree that urea doesn't hurt horses.

 

[Faster horses]

Urea in a small dose doesn't hurt horses. Larger doses can be toxic.
A friend of ours lost a horse because he licked the bottom of a tank that contained liquid feed. The small amount left in the tank must have contained
high doses of urea. According to what we heard, that is what was the cause of death. I would say that was the odd case, but it is best to be careful
with it where horses are concerned.

 

[George]

Even if it does not hurt horses why would you want to wast money allowing them to consume something that will not do them good?

 

[Faster horses]

Even if it does not hurt horses why would you want to wast money allowing them to consume something that will not do them good?

Some people run horses with their cows, so if the feed containing urea is there, the horses have access to it.

The incident I mentioned was accidental. The tank was left out after the cows were moved and was thought to be empty and the horse was in the pasture...it was winter and he was hungry, hence the incident happened.

 

[loomixguy]

Even if it does not hurt horses why would you want to wast money allowing them to consume something that will not do them good?

Consuming a product that contains vitamins, trace minerals, and protein would do most critters, including horses, some good...IMO. I've seen deer at the troughs before, even.