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salt & mineral feeders

i've been thinking about putting an oiler right in the barn doorway where the cattle come in for their grain at night. what do you all think?

and, how do you get mineral with fly control in it? i have used those blocks (sorry, i'm a woman and an old one at that and can't remember :D ), but the cattle/horses will eat one a week and they seem to melt in the rain, so i'm not real hot on them--too spendy seems like.
 
If you get the right feeder ( I like Vigortone but there are several out there almost alike) your mineral will stay dry and you can mix the insecticide with diesel fuel and put it in the top tank. It is a trouble free system. I have used rubs at barns and have never been satisfied with the results - - - to much matainance and not good control. Go to Vigortone.com and look at their feeders - - - they have several models but I like the one on a stand with the optional insect controler. I have one that is over 30 years old and is still working fine.
 
George, you are right on. There are several of those 30-year old Vigotone feeders still in use around this country. Hard to believe, but the new ones are even better made than the old ones. (That doesn't happen much. ) We have neighbors who have old ones and ordered new ones. They swear by the old ones, and they are who told me the new ones are better. You can even grease them, so they keep swiveling with the wind.

And chuckie, fly control in mineral is called IGR for Insect Growth Regulator. Works real well to control horn flies, but you must keep it out continuously and you should keep it out until the first hard frost in the fall. Type in IGR on google. You will be surpised at the uses!!!
 
I'm new to the board, and have enjoyed reading and learning from you all.

I do have a question about the minerals. I'm currently trying out the Right Now Minerals. I have it next to the waterers, but they don't eat it. It's been out for a month now and it doesn't seem to be touched. My question is, is this just a case of "they don't eat it beacause they don't need it" or something else? Thanks ahead of time!
 
i wonder of shelly doesn't have something there with the loose salt--but wouldn't a person want to control intake by the amount of loose salt mixed in? the more salt the more intake to a certain extent? get too much salt in there and they won't get enough mineral. am i right faster horses? the salt would be the limiting content? (do i get to be right, once? :) ) if not no big deal--i'm used to it....

fh and george--thanks for the input as always, now i just have to get to the sites--and i will, never fear!
 
Chuckie,
YOUR RIGHT!! You just won the free night in the pasture with your own cows!!! I control mineral consumption by adding salt to the mineral during hot weather to curb intake. I know I am going to get hit by FH, I have already heard it from her Vigortone supplier as well as a fellow grad student who is now a Cargill salesman, about my bad habits. I have also gone to the extreme of having a Biochemist tell me that cows have no need for minerals or salt, and he owns one of the largest ranches in this state and refuses to provide any plain white salt or minerals and his cows will tear down a fence to get to them. Minerals and salt play a very important role in repro and gain, just don't let anyone sell you a line.
 
OK, now it's my turn. :lol: :lol: :lol:

Chuckie, I'm with sw, you are right on. And cattle can build a tolerance to salt. We never advise anyone to mix salt with the mineral. Put it beside the mineral, but when it is mixed by hand with a shovel, you just wasted all the expensive machinery that mixed the product orginally.

Now as to why your cattle won't eat the mineral, buckerette. My first question is, "How much phosphorus is in the mineral?" Phos is bitter and cattle won't eat it very readily. Many formulas are just too high in phos. I would be interested to know the analysis of what you are feeding. Please post calcium and phos content.

Second question, "Has it gotten wet? Is it hard?" This is one problem just about every mineral has except Vigortone. If it is hard, I would dump it out (and go buy some Vigortone~) and replace it with fresh.

For you folks whose cattle seem to eat more mineral in the summer, I think it is in the fall when the grass dries up that you will notice the consumption will increase. 'Course in Mt. summers the last few years, the grass has been dried up, too. Anyway, here is a little hint: move your feeders away from the water. That will help slow the consumption down. And if they continue to overeat, you probably need to change pastures. The cows are telling you all the good stuff is gone and they can't digest what is left.
 
Faster horses: It has got wet, but isn't hard. It's the loose mineral. As for the phos and calcium content, I'll have to get back to you. I'll grab the tag off of it when I go home tonight and will let you know tomorrow. Thanks for all the help from everyone! I haven't mixed salt with it, but do have salt blocks out by it. They lick the salt block, drink some water and go on there merrily way, never even thinking about the trying the mineral. I did trick one cow to try it. I put a little grain in it and she took a big bite. You could tell it wasn't very yummy to her by the glare she gave me.
 
here's the stats on the right now mineral

18.5% - Calcium
7% - Phosphorus
14.5-18.5 - Salt
5.8% - 6.5% - Sodium
2.5% - Magnesium
.01% - Potassium
 
Cal. to phos seems fine. When I asked if it was hard, what I meant was, did it get wet and then turn hard? Sometimes that will back cattle off mineral.

After you posted that you have salt out with the mineral, my very first advice would be to pull the salt. Take it totally away and force them to the mineral. If it is something they aren't used to, as you have just put this brand out, that might be your problem.

How does your mineral smell? Our mineral smells yummy and tastes good. So, it won't hurt if you want to taste it, even, to make sure it isn't sour or bitter. And it should smell good...

Hope this helps! But be sure to take the salt away by all means.

When you add the % salt and the sodium together, that mineral has adequate salt to meet the salt requirements and salt should not be fed with that particular formula. (Unless you are trying to cut consumption, not increase it.)
 
Thanks Fast Horses for all of your help! I moved the salt block and tasted the minerals. Tasted fine to me, not really a taste. I did catch them eating it finally the other day. So I think all is well. Thanks again.
 
Big Muddy rancher said:
Alabama said:
The best mineral feeders I have are the ones I made and were the cheapest too.
Take a plastic 55-gallon drum with all the lids on it and cut a hole in the side big enough for a cow to stick her head in. Hang it from a tree limb or a frame with some light chain. Then fill with mineral. Very little rain gets in and if you use a nimble limb it sort of acts like a spring so the cows don't bust the chain.
Click to expand...

WHAT"S A TREE? :cowboy:
Click to expand...
:lol: A tree is one of those big wood things that your cattle dogs use for a fire hydrant! :wink:
 
Hi everyone,
I was looking for info on loose mineral feeders for cattle and came across all of you. This is the first time I have decided to join a chat forum. You all seem so friendly and SANE! Thanks for the great info and I'm going to look into some of the products you recommended. By the way, I use the Right Now Minerals and really like them. The cows eat them well and they all look great. My problem is with my bull knocking over the big tubs that I had them in. (I'm still new to these cattle critters). The minerals with the Altosid are awesome! We had a terrible fly year and I could see a huge difference in horn fly population reduction when I used it and when I ran out. Thanks again and I'll be checking back in later. :)
 
We use troughs and feeders made fro tires on a wooden platform. We used the Purina Wind and Rain this summer w/IGR and the cattle ate it pretty well. Then this fall we learned a local store was selling Right Now so we got started on it. We used the Emerald for a bout a month, then switched to the Bronze after a couple frosts. They seem to eat it well. We go through 300 lbs every week to 10 days. We have 150 head in that group.

I would like to try the Vigortone. There is a saleman south of here I guess that could get it too us. Vigortone also inquired if I would be interested in selling it, but not sure if I want to deal with that.
 
I like the vigortone. constumption has been good, availability is good and the district sales guy is ready and willing to answer any questions the local dealer can't (Which is a lot because frankley it is more of a pig area and more of a grain elevator than a feed dealership and that is what the guy who runs it knows). Even switched the sheep over to ovatone. .. We jsut feed in troughs or direct mix into a TMR this time of year and the cows seem to do well on it.... We used to toss out loose salt to cut consumption during high consumptionan times but found that it cut consumption too much...

Now FH, the stuff does smell good but I don't think I will be tasting it anytime soon ... :lol: :lol: Maybe I'll get a blow bacvk in the face one of these days so I can experience the vigrtone difference personaly :wink:
 
FH, don't you sell for them, or am I thinking of someone else?

My only problem with it would be the logistics. I don't have a place to store a inventory, and since I hold a day job it would make delivering it hard. I sell for Accelerated Genetics on the side and sometimes even that gets hard to keep up on deliveries in the spring rush of AI'ing.

MAybe I give the guy a call and see what the job would entail.
 

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