The Importance of a Good Mineral Program

4/25/2022

A good mineral program is essential to the health of your cattle. Just like your own body, when your vitamin and mineral intake is out of balance, your overall health can be affected.

Many cattle feeds have additional minerals added to provide a more balanced nutritional package. However, with grass and hay fed herds, a good mineral program is essential. Even if you are feeding or supplementing with grain that has added minerals, it is still very important to feed additional minerals.

Offering free choice minerals to your herd allows them to intake when and how much their body is craving.

Minerals are found in the ground, which in turn are absorbed in the grass, but if your ground does not contain sufficient amounts of minerals, these will not be available in the foliage to your animals.

For instance, Ohio does not have Selenium. Selenium deficiencies can cause heart tissue and skeletal muscle damage, as well as compromise the immune system that in turn welcomes a host of other problems within your herd. Selenium is also essential for fertility, growth, milk production and in the prevention of mastitis and calf scours.

Magnesium is essential in the aid of absorbing calcium as well as for proper function of the rumen. The high presence of other minerals, such as nitrogen and pot ash can affect the cows ability to absorb natural levels of magnesium found in the pastures. Spring grasses and older age can cause cows to have reduced magnesium absorption. Quickly growing lush spring grasses can also cause grass tetany that can be prevented by increasing magnesium levels. The easiest way to combat the ever changing level and need of magnesium is to supplement in your mineral program.

Vitamin A aids in boosting the immune system of your herd. A deficiency in Vitamin A can have the most substantial effect on your cows immune system through damage to the digestive tract and respiratory membranes. Some symptoms of Vitamin A deficiencies are the loss of vision, rough coat, loss of appetite dull eyes and reduced feed efficiency.

There are many other vitamins and trace minerals essential to the health of your herd. A supplemental mineral is an easy way to make sure your cattle are receiving what they need without having to monitor each and every trace mineral separately.

On our farm, we use By-O-reg+ minerals developed by Advanced Ag Products. We have seen a huge difference in our herd, including a 100% A.I. conception rate last year. We have also seen improvement in feed conversion and weight gain due to healthier gut function and reduced stress in our show animals.

One of our favorite aspects of this all natural mineral is the addition of the essential oil oregano. Oregano helps to aid in digestion and gut health. Along with helping to boost the immune system, many have reported benefits in reduction of bacteria and parasites, including pink eye and hoof rot. While oregano will probably not cure existing bacteria and parasite issues, consistent intake can create an immune system that fights off new occurrences of bacteria and parasitic ailments.

By-O-reg+ mineral helps to

Improve performance
Strengthen immune function
Supports fertility
Sustains gut integrity
Reduce stress

We feed By-O-reg+ to our herd free choice. This means that we provide a feeder (whether a covered mineral feeder, feed trough or gate feeder) with a constant supply of mineral. As the animals feel the need, they are able to eat as much or as little of the mineral as they want.

We also provided a constant source of plain salt (without trace minerals) along side the mineral.

The By-O-reg+ mineral does have a all natural weather protectant coating that preserves the integrity of the mineral and essential oils, but we prefer to go the extra step of placing our mineral in a weather protected mineral feeder when it is outside, or placing the open trough and gate feeder within the protection of a barn.

The By-O-reg+ mineral is formulated for multi-species use, so whether you have beef cattle, dairy cattle, pigs or poultry, you do not have to source a different mineral for each type of animal.

If you would like more information about By-O-reg+ mineral or how it has benefited our farm, feel free to reach out to us for our personal success story. We can also help you get a supply of By-O-reg+ mineral for your own farm.

And one of our favorite parts...it smells amazing...and makes me hungry for Italian food.

Oh...and the amazing smell of oregano also has the cows coming back for their tasty and healthy mineral supplement.

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