Mineral Blocks Help Stock On Their Journey
SOUTH ISLAND - A mineral block developed by a Mid Canterbury scientist is taking the market by storm. The lick, designed to offset undernourishment in dairy cows through the winter, was trialled last year and has recently been launched South Island-wide.
9 May 2007
2 minute read
Winslow Feeds animal nutritionist Dr Rob Derrick said the mineral lick provided essential nutrients. With milking almost over and farmers preparing for calving, it paid to maximise the health of dry cows, Dr Derrick said.
Poorly-fed dry dairy cows are more likely to become next season’s empty cows. With improved payouts forecast, better feeding pre-calving may be handsomely rewarded in improved production and fertility next season, he said.
Ideally cows should be dried off in optimum condition for calving, dependent on the breed and age of the animal. Energy, protein and fibre requirements of dry cows are relatively easy to meet with pasture, fodder crops and straw.
However, farmers may unwittingly run their dry cows short of vital nutrients, setting them up for a difficult season, Dr Derrick warns. Many problems at calving and post-calving stem from poor mineral nutrition in late pregnancy. Valuable minerals are preferentially donated to the unborn calf to increase its chances of survival. This can leave the cow’s reserves depleted at calving when she really needs to be on an all-time high.
“Brassica crops are popular for wintering dry cows but do contain goitrogens which lock up iodine and can induce deficiencies. Iodine plays a critical role in the regulation of metabolism. Brassica crops lack structural fibre so it is also important to provide some straw or at least mature baleage to help the cow maintain correct rumen acidity,” he said.
Trace elements and minerals, such as calcium, selenium and copper, play an important role in muscle function and vigour and deficiencies can cause calving problems. Cows with low blood calcium can go down with milk fever.
