MEAURING SUPPLEMENT INTAKE by Mike Mehren Ph.D.

MEAURING SUPPLEMENT INTAKE
BY MIKE MEHREN

A friend said that he heard that I preferred loose mineral to block mineral. Trapped like a rat, I confessed that I do. The reason that I prefer loose to block is that cattle can eat much more of a loose mineral with one swipe of their tongue than they can with one lick. In a perfect world every animal would have all the time it needed to eat what it wanted, when it wanted. However that isn’t the case. Other animals come along and chase each other around, or bump into each other. Maybe a bull wanders by trying to catch up to a cow in heat. Herd dominance always is a factor too. Any of these events change the time an individual animal has to drink or eat. If we’re talking about a free-choice supplement, this has the potential of reducing its effectiveness. One of the problems that loose minerals have is rain or snow damage. The mineral may turn into a soupy mess after such an event. There are compounds available to all mineral manufacturers that ‘waterproof’ minerals so that when the water or snow melt is poured off the mineral is still loose and not a solid rock.

A study conducted several years ago using free-choice liquid supplements really opened by eyes to animal behavior. The researchers identified all of the animals individually and then recorded the amount of time the animals spent licking the liquid supplement. This was a mixed group of cows; 2 year olds, 3 year olds, and mature cows. They observed that the youngest cows spent the least time, 3 year olds next, and mature cows the most. Some of the 1st and 2nd calf heifers never were allowed time to lick the supplement! They were the animals that would have received the most benefit from consuming the supplement. Despite this great difference in intake among the groups, overall supplement use was normal. I believe that this display of dominance happens in every group of animals eating any supplement, hay, or graze

A simple way to estimate the intake of any supplement, or mineral by a group of cattle is to jot down the date and amount that was delivered. Count the number of animals, and then note the date and amount when more is fed.

For example:
supplement delivered 4/15. Amount 2 tons. # of animals: 100
supplement delivered 5/15 Amount 3 tons. # of animals; 100

Note: animals out of supplement for 1 week.

Our 100 animals ate 2 tons of supplement in 23 days. Therefore we would conclude that lbs/head/day = 1.7 lbs. (4000÷100÷23).

If we were shooting for an intake of 1 to 2 lbs/head/day for this product we would conclude that we were right where we wanted to be. Let’s check a mineral or mineral/salt mix for yearlings and for cows and calves.

Yearlings: 2-50 lb bags put out for 100 head. We checked 10 days later and there was just a little bit left in one of the mineral feeders. We then calculate that 100 lbs of mineral was eaten by 100 head in 10 days (lb per head per day = 0.1 lb. (100÷100÷10) This is 1 ½ oz/head/day, which is pretty typical for yearlings day in day out.

Cows and Calves: 6-50 lb bags were put out for 100 cows plus very young calves. If the calves were several months old, we would assume that they are eating some of the supplement also. I use 1 oz/head/day for older calves. We checked in two weeks and found one half the feeders still had a little mineral while the other half was empty. We calculate that of the 300 lb. mineral put out, 100 cows have eaten 250 lb in 14 days. 250÷100÷14 = .18 lb. This is close to 3 oz/cow/day, which is certainly within a normal range of intake.

The research mentioned earlier indicated that average intake could lead to false conclusions. How could we do a better job? One way would be to group the animals by age. We might also put out more supplement holders (whether it be a tub, or liquid tank, or wooden, metal, or rubber self-feeder). We might try to spread the supplement holders to different areas of the pasture or range. None of our changes is going to be entirely satisfactory, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t attempt to give each animal a chance to get its daily supplement.

Keeping track of supplement intake (or mineral, salt, protein) will provide you with some fascinating information as well as great budget figures. You will see that supplement intake varies from week to week, pasture to pasture, group to group, and with weather changes. You can also identify the time when someone forgot to fill the feeder or put out mineral. You may note that on a particular pasture the animals won’t touch a supplement, but as soon as you move them, they’ll try to eat you out of house and home.

I ran into a situation years ago during the fall. Cows were moved to the lower desert country after spending the spring and summer in the mountains. My plan was to provide an inexpensive mineral during the first part of the fall and then change as the cows got close to calving. I could not get the cows to eat mineral. We moved the mineral feeders. The owner even bought some new feeders to replace some of the old ones that were pretty rusty. We increased the number of feeders so that there were 5 feeders for every 100 cows. I tried high salt, low salt, and no salt. Usually one of the three variations at least gives us a hint about what the cows prefer. We added dry molasses, yeast, and distillers grains...again with high salt, low salt, and no salt. Finally we tried concentrated feed flavors such as anise, apple, caramel, and strawberry. The stuff smelled good enough to sprinkle on a bowl of oatmeal. The cows wouldn’t touch the minerals (note: I use the terms ‘mineral’ and ‘salt’ interchangeably because both are a kind of mineral). The fellow who owned the cows finally gave up on me and concluded that he needed a better mineral man. That incident helped me to consider writing. You know; those who can do; those who can’t; write about it; and those who can’t do either; publish!

In many instances the only practical way to get supplemental nutrients to a group of animals is to provide it free choice. Just because we put it out doesn’t mean that all the animals will eat it, or that the animals will eat the amount recommended by the manufacturer. Every feed tag shows the amount of daily intake expected. At the very least we should attempt to check intake monthly. This can help avoid nasty surprises when the bill arrives and also may explain why the cattle did or did not perform as well as expected.

Michael J. Mehren, Ph.D. is a livestock nutritionist who rarely misses a free choice snack around Hermiston, Oregon. He can be contacted by Email at mehrens@eotnet.net.



		MEAURING SUPPLEMENT INTAKE BY MIKE MEHREN A friend said that he heard that I preferred loose mineral to block mineral. Trapped like a rat, I confessed that I do. The reason that I prefer loose to block is that cattle can eat much more of a loose mineral with one swipe of their tongue than they can with one lick. In a perfect world every animal would have all the time it needed to eat what it wanted, when it wanted. However that isn’t the case. Other animals come along and chase each other around, or bump into each other. Maybe a bull wanders by trying to catch up to a cow in heat. Herd dominance always is a factor too. Any of these events change the time an individual animal has to drink or eat. If we’re talking about a free-choice supplement, this has the potential of reducing its effectiveness. One of the problems that loose minerals have is rain or snow damage. The mineral may turn into a soupy mess after such an event. There are compounds available to all mineral manufacturers that ‘waterproof’ minerals so that when the water or snow melt is poured off the mineral is still loose and not a solid rock. A study conducted several years ago using free-choice liquid supplements really opened by eyes to animal behavior. The researchers identified all of the animals individually and then recorded the amount of time the animals spent licking the liquid supplement. This was a mixed group of cows; 2 year olds, 3 year olds, and mature cows. They observed that the youngest cows spent the least time, 3 year olds next, and mature cows the most. Some of the 1st and 2nd calf heifers never were allowed time to lick the supplement! They were the animals that would have received the most benefit from consuming the supplement. Despite this great difference in intake among the groups, overall supplement use was normal. I believe that this display of dominance happens in every group of animals eating any supplement, hay, or graze A simple way to estimate the intake of any supplement, or mineral by a group of cattle is to jot down the date and amount that was delivered. Count the number of animals, and then note the date and amount when more is fed. For example: supplement delivered 4/15. Amount 2 tons. # of animals: 100 supplement delivered 5/15 Amount 3 tons. # of animals; 100 Note: animals out of supplement for 1 week. Our 100 animals ate 2 tons of supplement in 23 days. Therefore we would conclude that lbs/head/day = 1.7 lbs. (4000÷100÷23). If we were shooting for an intake of 1 to 2 lbs/head/day for this product we would conclude that we were right where we wanted to be. Let’s check a mineral or mineral/salt mix for yearlings and for cows and calves. Yearlings: 2-50 lb bags put out for 100 head. We checked 10 days later and there was just a little bit left in one of the mineral feeders. We then calculate that 100 lbs of mineral was eaten by 100 head in 10 days (lb per head per day = 0.1 lb. (100÷100÷10) This is 1 ½ oz/head/day, which is pretty typical for yearlings day in day out. Cows and Calves: 6-50 lb bags were put out for 100 cows plus very young calves. If the calves were several months old, we would assume that they are eating some of the supplement also. I use 1 oz/head/day for older calves. We checked in two weeks and found one half the feeders still had a little mineral while the other half was empty. We calculate that of the 300 lb. mineral put out, 100 cows have eaten 250 lb in 14 days. 250÷100÷14 = .18 lb. This is close to 3 oz/cow/day, which is certainly within a normal range of intake. The research mentioned earlier indicated that average intake could lead to false conclusions. How could we do a better job? One way would be to group the animals by age. We might also put out more supplement holders (whether it be a tub, or liquid tank, or wooden, metal, or rubber self-feeder). We might try to spread the supplement holders to different areas of the pasture or range. None of our changes is going to be entirely satisfactory, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t attempt to give each animal a chance to get its daily supplement. Keeping track of supplement intake (or mineral, salt, protein) will provide you with some fascinating information as well as great budget figures. You will see that supplement intake varies from week to week, pasture to pasture, group to group, and with weather changes. You can also identify the time when someone forgot to fill the feeder or put out mineral. You may note that on a particular pasture the animals won’t touch a supplement, but as soon as you move them, they’ll try to eat you out of house and home. I ran into a situation years ago during the fall. Cows were moved to the lower desert country after spending the spring and summer in the mountains. My plan was to provide an inexpensive mineral during the first part of the fall and then change as the cows got close to calving. I could not get the cows to eat mineral. We moved the mineral feeders. The owner even bought some new feeders to replace some of the old ones that were pretty rusty. We increased the number of feeders so that there were 5 feeders for every 100 cows. I tried high salt, low salt, and no salt. Usually one of the three variations at least gives us a hint about what the cows prefer. We added dry molasses, yeast, and distillers grains...again with high salt, low salt, and no salt. Finally we tried concentrated feed flavors such as anise, apple, caramel, and strawberry. The stuff smelled good enough to sprinkle on a bowl of oatmeal. The cows wouldn’t touch the minerals (note: I use the terms ‘mineral’ and ‘salt’ interchangeably because both are a kind of mineral). The fellow who owned the cows finally gave up on me and concluded that he needed a better mineral man. That incident helped me to consider writing. You know; those who can do; those who can’t; write about it; and those who can’t do either; publish! In many instances the only practical way to get supplemental nutrients to a group of animals is to provide it free choice. Just because we put it out doesn’t mean that all the animals will eat it, or that the animals will eat the amount recommended by the manufacturer. Every feed tag shows the amount of daily intake expected. At the very least we should attempt to check intake monthly. This can help avoid nasty surprises when the bill arrives and also may explain why the cattle did or did not perform as well as expected. Michael J. Mehren, Ph.D. is a livestock nutritionist who rarely misses a free choice snack around Hermiston, Oregon. He can be contacted by Email at mehrens@eotnet.net.		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