With the continuous improvement of the level of cattle and sheep breeding in China, farms pay more and more attention to fine feeding, especially dairy farms. Cows mainly produce milk, compared with beef cattle, energy consumption is higher. In the daily nutritional needs of dairy cows, the demand for minerals is relatively low, so it is easy to be ignored by farmers. Although the demand for minerals is small, the function is not small. Once the cow lacks certain trace elements, it will reduce the health index of the cow (such as pica, placenta, repeated infertility, frequent abortion, mastitis, Hoof disease, etc.), affecting the healthy growth of cows.

When we talk about minerals, we usually refer to major elements and trace elements.

As can be seen from the name of the constant element, the amount required per day is relatively large (usually measured in grams).

Usually expressed as a percentage, such elements include:

Sodium (Na)

Phosphorus (P)

Calcium (Ca)

Magnesium (Mg)

Other minerals are already present in the usual feed, but potassium and sulfur can be added to meet special needs if needed.

trace elementThe amount required is small and is usually expressed in milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg) in livestock feeding.

Such elements are:

Cobalt (Co)

Copper (Cu)

Iron (Fe)

Manganese (Mn)

Iodine (I)

Selenium (Se)

Zinc (Zn)

Main Minerals

Salt (NaCl)

Salt is the cornerstone of all mineral feeds and is essential to life.

Animals must have salt to survive, and if the food does not contain this mineral, animals cannot get it from other sources.

Although often referred to as "common salt," it is the only mineral that needs to be added to the food of all livestock.

Although salt is generally found underground or on the beach, nutritionists agree that a certain amount of salt is necessary to add to food.

Salt is indispensable to life, and its value has long been recognized. Salt was used as currency in its early days and has become the source of some modern words and expressions.

Salt has two important components, sodium (Na) and chlorine (Cl), which together make up sodium chloride (NaCl), which roughly contains 40% sodium (Na) and 60% chlorine (Cl).

In many cases, only the sodium (Na) content is marked in the formula or ingredient, so multiply it by 2.5 to calculate the total salt content.

Rocky Lick Brick

1: Solve the problem of maternal reproduction (for example, long interbirth time, repeated mating infertility, frequent abortion)

2: extend the peak period of lactation; improve milk production.

3: Extend the life of the mother; (an 8,000-litre cow loses 60kg of minerals in its milk)

4: Improve the comprehensive health index of dairy cows and reduce the incidence of dairy cows (e. g. mastitis, hoof disease).

5: Cow pica disappears (gnawing wood, licking hair, licking urine, gnawing plastic) and the fur is smooth.

6: to promote food digestion, improve feed utilization, saving concentrate.

Why do cattle need salt?

Salt can stimulate the appetite and encourage the herd to eat more, thus growing faster and bringing higher economic benefits.

Animals have an innate sense that prompts them to go out in search of salt, which is the only mineral that cattle can automatically adjust their intake according to their own conditions.

Salt also plays an important role in maintaining water and is an important factor in controlling the body's metabolism. In other words, it determines the utilization rate of feed.

Salt encourages animals to drink more water, and milk is about 88% water and 12% solids. If cows are expected to produce between 6,000 and 8,000 litres per year, it's easy to see why they should be urged to drink more water.

Salt can stimulate saliva secretion. In addition to helping the absorption of dry food, the enzymes contained in saliva can also ensure the normal digestion of food and maximize the absorption of nutrients from food.

Chlorine (Cl) in salt can promote the secretion of hydrochloric acid in animals, forming gastric juice in the digestive stomach. Similarly, sodium can also promote the secretion of bile, which is a substance to help digestion. Sodium is alkaline and maintains the acid balance in the body in a special way. Salt is alkaline and has a pH of about 10.

The role of salt

Salt-deficient herds eat less, as their appetite decreases and their feed becomes unpalatable. Their digestive capacity is weakened, pushing food aside or using feed as a "toy". When this happens, growth slows and usually stops completely, leading to weight loss.

Lactating cows will reduce milk production and cannot meet the nursing needs of young calves, which means that the growth and weight gain of calves will be seriously affected. The same can happen in sheep.

If the animal cannot take in salt, it will become listless and troublesome. Appetites are generally reduced and eagerly seeking alternatives to salt, they chew foreign objects, lick walls and even drink the urine of other animals.

phosphorus and calcium

In addition to salt, the growth of animals may be affected by the lack of phosphorus (P) and calcium (Ca).

Phosphorus

This mass element performs many functions in the body, such:

* Energy utilization

* Construction of muscle tissue

* Transport fat in the body

Without phosphorus, livestock will not be able to normally ruminate food from the first stomach back to the saliva circulation chain. Therefore, phosphorus plays a vital role in the chewing of ruminant food and the secretion of saliva. Simply put, phosphorus-deficient livestock cannot digest food normally, and cannot achieve maximum weight gain and increase milk production.

Phosphorus is contained in every living cell, which controls inheritance and growth, and is very important at every stage of production and reproduction. Without this important mass element, farm returns and efficiency are bound to suffer.

Lack of phosphorus, livestock appetite will be significantly reduced, in severe cases, will lead to the wrong appetite. They gnaw on bones, wood and other foreign matter to replenish what is missing in their bodies.

The livestock will become weaker and weaker, and even a noticeable depression can be seen at the waist.

Phosphorus deficiency disrupts the reproductive cycle of dairy cows, mainly in the form of a lack of estrus intensity, which is less detectable by bulls and ranchers. At this time, the cow pregnancy rate will be sharply reduced, resulting in economic losses to farmers.

Ideally, farmers expect to conceive calves every 12-13 months. The calving period is prolonged, and the average milk production is bound to decrease year by year. Because cows produce a lot during the low lactation period. This will inevitably lead to feed can not be used effectively, the income will be reduced. In addition, you will miss the opportunity to use seasonal cheap pasture, such as summer pasture. The opportunity to increase the stock by introducing replacement young cows will also be missed.

It is also important to choose the right raw materials to provide phosphorus. In Taibang, we guarantee that the lodge contains monocalcium phosphate or magnesium phosphate, both of which can effectively absorb phosphorus. Taibang only uses natural mineral phosphate, does not extract minerals from animal carcasses (which is illegal in Europe), and has not considered using low-grade rock phosphate.

Calcium

Although livestock demand more calcium than phosphorus, if the livestock feed supply is normal, the possibility of calcium deficiency is less. Because cattle and sheep consume a lot of roughage, such as grass, straw, hay, and feed, which contains high calcium.

Calcium is needed for strong bones and teeth. Calcium deficiency in food may lead to rickets. Milk is an excellent calcium supplement, which is why it is widely accepted that young children, developing children and pregnant women should drink more milk.

Livestock's ability to absorb and store minerals declines with age. It is therefore important to ensure that there is an adequate additional supply of older livestock at a particular stage of the production cycle.

calcium and phosphorus

The ratio of calcium to phosphorus in the human body is generally 1.2:1 (Ca:P).

It is very important to maintain this ratio, and the feeding schedule should not be too far from this ratio. Excess of any one of these will result in the other not being used, so that livestock cannot make full use of the minerals needed during the critical period of production and reproduction.

Generally speaking, cows give birth to calves weighing about 40-50kg. Keep in mind that calves are made up of flesh, bone, blood and water, and are high in minerals. This means that, in practice, a cow loses 50kg of mineral reserves without giving birth. 90% of the growth and development of calves is completed in the last two months of pregnancy. Therefore, it is essential to maintain the mineral balance in the cow's body and compensate for the mineral loss in the uterus.

Milk fever occurs during the calving period, when the calcium-phosphorus ratio in high-yielding cows is out of balance. This is due to the inability of cow bones to release sufficient calcium to meet the additional calcium demand during the peak postpartum lactation period. If the cow's own calcium content is low and the calcium reserves in the bone have been exhausted, the situation will be even worse.

To avoid this, we recommend that pregnant cows be given adequate calcium and phosphorus. But stopping the supply of extra calcium to the cow in the weeks before calving naturally encourages the cow to release calcium from its own bone reserves.

Many inexpensive mineral additives for breeding cattle are high in calcium and low in phosphorus. Because calcium is much cheaper than phosphorus. However, unless recommended by a veterinarian, this feed additive is not used, where the ratio of calcium to phosphorus reaches 4:1 or 8:1, which does more harm than good to the livestock.

Magnesium

In general, this element does not need to be fed in large amounts for a long time, because excessive magnesium interferes with and prevents the intake and absorption of trace elements.

In general, dairy cows have a greater demand for magnesium than other livestock. The reason is that magnesium is usually replaced in milk water, and it is difficult for cows to call up magnesium from bone reserves. Juvenile calf production is lower, but the situation is the same.

At certain times of the year, when pasture is growing vigorously (e. g., in spring and autumn), low magnesium blood may occur, a condition sometimes called "pasture rigidity" or "pasture spasm", which is often fatal.

At these times, the magnesium content in the serum drops sharply to abnormal levels. Often gait instability, persistent excitement, foaming at the mouth, spasms and other symptoms. If not treated, it can be fatal. This problem is most likely to affect high-yielding, older herds. The disease is especially common on pastures where high potassium and high nitrate fertilizers are applied. But emotional stress can also be a key factor.

Another problem is that the magnesium content in feed is low, for example, the magnesium in pasture is only about 15%. In addition, livestock cannot store large amounts of magnesium in the body because most magnesium is excreted in the body with urine. Therefore, it is necessary to supplement this mineral element every day during periods of emotional stress in livestock.

There is a direct link between magnesium and calcium, so supplementing with extra magnesium before calving can encourage livestock to release calcium from their body reserves, which can prevent milk-producing fever.

Magnesium acts as a "buffer" in the rumen, aiding digestion and maintaining milk fat content. Magnesium is necessary for the normal secretion of the enzyme and aids the nervous system and muscle control.

trace element

As mentioned earlier, the demand for such elements is very small, so they are called trace elements. However, the small demand for them does not allow us to overlook the critical role they play in livestock nutrition. In some cases, even 1 mg/kg (parts per million) can have a significant impact on the health of livestock and even prevent livestock death.

For example, Yellow Lodge contains 30 mg/kg of selenium (Se). If a sheep eats an average of 10 grams of yellow lodge a day, including 9800 milligrams of sodium chloride (salt), but only 0.3 milligrams of pure selenium, both levels are appropriate, but there is a world of difference in demand.

We can think of trace elements as an "insurance". The cost of using mineral elements can be considered low relative to the benefits that can be achieved. Trace elements can prevent problems in the first place, which is often a wise choice.

Iron (Fe) and Copper (Cu)

Both iron and copper can promote the formation of hemoglobin in the blood, so that it has the function of carrying oxygen.

The proportional coordination of iron and copper must be maintained, and an excess of either will interfere with or prevent the absorption of other mineral elements.

The lack of these elements leads:

* Worsening appetite

* Physical decline

* Coarse fur

* Hair color variation

* Diarrhea

* Anemia

Copper (Cu)

Formation of hemoglobin, enzyme function and pigment. Lack of easily lead to poor development of anemia, bone metabolic disorders, hair depigmentation, dystocia, difficult recovery of the placenta, low estrus rate.

Cobalt (Co)

Lack of this element in ruminant feed can lead to vitamin B12 deficiency. Because the bacteria in the rumen need cobalt for vitamins.

Cobalt deficiency can lead to decreased appetite, decreased physical fitness, and is also associated with a sharp decline in reproduction and milk production rates.

These symptoms are called "wasting" or "weakness" and are similar to malnutrition in cattle and flocks.

Zinc (Zn)

Zinc and enzymes work together to ensure the normal functioning of feed and protein. If there is a severe zinc deficiency in feeding, livestock will eat less, resulting in slower growth and lower production levels.

Zinc plays a major role in maintaining the health of the fur and hooves. The symptoms of zinc deficiency are hoof fragmentation, swelling, poor hair growth, skin diseases, and hair removal diseases.

Recent studies have shown that feeding high zinc content can reduce the number of somatic cells in milk, thereby reducing the incidence of mastitis and increasing the price of milk. In addition, there is evidence that increasing zinc levels can improve live weight and feed conversion in meat animals.

Zinc also has a positive effect on breeding bulls. Experiments have shown that zinc can increase the size of the testicles of bulls and improve the number and vitality of sperm.

Iodine (I)

Iodine is essential for thyroxine formation. Thyroxine is formed in the thyroid gland and has an important effect on regulating growth, body temperature and lactation. Almost all of the iodine in the body is found in the thyroid gland.

The consequences of iodine deficiency are:

* Thyroid enlargement

* Cold resistance and pressure resistance are reduced

* Small tire

* Abortion

Often stillbirth, accompanied by fetal malformations, such as goiter and brain mutilation. Sometimes, the cow will in turn absorb iodine from the fetus to replace its own iodine loss, resulting in stillbirth.

Many soils are low in iodine, and crops such as brassica, kale, rape, and radish contain thyroid, which contains iodine for particles. It is now generally accepted that mineral salt licking bricks must contain this element, which is the most basic requirement.

Selenium (Se)

Selenium deficiency is most likely to occur in areas with high precipitation and acidic soils. Selenium deficiency is severe in some countries, but not in some countries. Selenium was once considered toxic, but its important role in the prevention of white myopathy is now recognized. White myopathy can also be written as W.M.D. or muscular dystrophy. In calves and lambs, the disease can be fatal.

Selenium-deficient livestock grow slowly and lack vitality, and selenium-deficient calves and lambs are born weak and unable to stand on their own feet.

Nursing cows and ewes, on time to intake of selenium, because this trace element and vitamin E work together to assist reproduction. Typical symptoms of selenium deficiency in cows are an increased chance of postpartum afterbirth retention and an increased likelihood of calves being born with white myopathy.

Manganese (Mn)

Manganese is an essential trace element in nutritional formula. Its name comes from the Greek word for "magic. The name is very apt because it has a variety of roles.

Manganese is an antidote, which plays an important role in the decomposition of amino acid and the production of energy. It is essential for the metabolism of vitamin B1 and E, and can activate a variety of enzymes, so it is very important for feed digestion.

It is also a catalyst for the breakdown of fat and cholesterol, helping to provide nutrients to the brain and nervous system. It is also associated with the secretion of sex hormones.

Although most feeds contain appropriate amounts of manganese. However, the ability of livestock to absorb and digest is low, so another supplement should be considered.

Manganese deficiency, can appear the following symptoms:

* Born deformity, with joint enlargement, young animals abnormal growth, slow growth, leg stiffness deformity

* Slow estrus, reduced reproduction rate

* Low conception rate

* Impaired sperm production, testicular degeneration, resulting in sterilization