Winter News 2008
Bio-Minerale supplements for the winter (June - mid-September)
Cater for the shortages in your herd's diet with Bio-Minerale winter supplements and licks
The Highveld has had its first bout of frost, and while the veld's roughage content is still very good at this stage, you should start planning to supplement for shortages in your animals' diet with supplements or licks from Bio-Minerale.
Why should I supplement my animals' diet?
There are two main reasons for the provision of supplements or licks. Firstly, different animals have different nutritional needs depending on their condition (for example lactating or in-calf etc). Roughage might not always provide in the nutritional needs of all your animals, which leads to shortages. Secondly, fodder provision needs to be sufficient to feed the animal itself as well as the rumen micro-organisms that live in the animal's digestive tract. A supplement can be fed to feed these micro-organisms in order for fodder, especially fibre, to be digested more effectively and nutrients to be made available to the animal.
What shortages can I expect during winter?
Protein: Seed formation, when nutrients are translocated from the leaves to the root system, takes place during the winter months. In the process, protein content in the leaves can dip to as low as 2%. Rumen microbes need at least 8% protein intake to remain active, and your animals need a healthy rumen-microbe population for effective utilisation of roughage, so chances are that you'll have to feed a protein supplement.
Phosphate and salt: Shortages of these nutrients give way to breeding animals losing body mass and subsequently calving and lambing at lower milk-production levels. This in turn leads to lower weaning mass. Non-protein nitrogen (mainly urea) is used to curb loss of body mass during the winter months, but it also improves digestibility of winter roughage. Higher roughage consumption limits the loss of body mass.
How do I know it's time to feed a winter lick?
You know it's time to supply a winter lick when the dung is hard and dry (often round spheres in little stacks) and contains undigested pieces of grass visible to the eye. These are signs that there is a protein shortfall and that the micro-organisms aren't functioning properly. Soft and fairly runny dung indicates optimal fibre digestion and the unlikelihood of a protein shortage.
Remember that a mineral shortage is not always immediately and obviously visible, but it has a direct influence on the growth, reproduction and health of the herd.
How should I apply licks?
Cattle require lick protein at between 150g and 220g/animal/day. Licks should only be applied as roughage supplementation and not substituted for roughage under normal circumstances. When supplementary feeding represents more than 25% of total intake it is considered substitution or grazing replacement.
Which lick should I buy?
The kind of pasture, type of animal and its production status, the season and the quality and quantity of the roughage will determine which lick supplement should be fed. If you have been feeding a lick, and the natural lick intake deviates from the intake prescribed per product, it's a sign that you should change your lick.
What lick options does Bio-Minerale have to offer?
Bio-Minerale offers three winter licks:
Winteronderhoudslek 35% - this is Bio-Minerale's flagship winter product as, of the three licks, Winteronderhoudslek contains the highest levels of natural protein, lowest levels of urea and best energy fraction. Bio-Minerale Winteronderhoudslek is ideal to supplement winter feeding in young animals and in situations where cattle and sheep graze together.
Winterlek 44 - the most commonly sold of all Bio-Minerale's winter products, Bio-Minerale Winterlek 44 can supplement both cattle and sheep diets.
Winterlek 50 - a specialist supplement for cattle grazing on stubble fields (as this lick's Ca:P ratio has been specifically adapted to complement stubble fields) and an excellent product for the autumn to winter months.
