Crop Circles: Good Stuff!

Have you ever wondered what kinds of minerals you should have out for the season you’re in, the age of your cattle heard, or for the drought/ wet period. There are many different types of minerals you can put out so many I won’t mention them all, but I will mention the minerals that we keep out on our operation. During the summer we usually keep out high magnesium loose mineral. This mineral helps protect from nitrate poisoning. Nitrate poisoning is cause from the animal consuming too much nitrogen from the soil. We had a bad case of nitrate poisoning go through our herd this summer. We lost six head of cattle in two days. Not Good. We lost an estimated $7200. That was a big boo boo for us! At first we didn’t know exactly what was happening, we got with our local vet we use, he had us draw fluid from behind the retina. The reason for us drawing fluid from that location was because if the animal has died of nitrogen poisoning the only trace of the sickness will be found in the fluid. It came back positive for nitrate poisoning [1], so we put out high magnesium mineral quick fast and in a hurry!

[2]

There are many ways you can provide cattle with mineral. Feeds you buy, mineral blocks, loose mineral, and the grass you have them on. For our operation we use loose mineral, salt blocks and 20% protein cake.

[3]

We like to make sure the nutrition is there when the animal needs it. This brings me back to the point that animals rely on us to survive, and if we fall short on the job then the profit will not be what it could be. Be sure to pay attention to farm sources out there to find what is best for you and the animal you’re feeding. We stay on top of drover’s journal and Texas monthly to get what we need. Also pay attention to the weather [4] it plays a big part in your animals’ lives!