weanlings - are they lacking?

Muckit

Have a pen of bought in weanlng heifers that are licking and eating timbers under the barrier. They'd ate the jacket off ya if you went into the pen with them!

They're on pit silage (cut start of june) and a shake of nuts. But they must be lacking in something surely?


Thinking of buying a bag of minerals and giving them a shake of it.

Anyone any experience of this? Any ideas??

pakalasa

I've seen that with suckler cows too, eating the timber beams in the shed. Propably lacking some mineral or another alright. Try the bagged minerals like you said.

Muckit

Just googled and came across this.........

http://homepage.eircom.net/~progers/picaurin.htm

Figerty

Sounds like a mineral defficiency. Try a few mineral buckets along with powder as a quick mix.

If you have Ivy anywhere nearby give them some of that. I have few weanlings out at the moment and they will climb walls to get at it.

tismesoitis

Maybe try throwin then a fork of straw they might need more roughage in d diet.

Farmer Pudsey

Maybe they want their IORN put the bull in

Muckit

After more googling, I found that cattle can become copper deficient after a significant change in fertilisers or after LIMING.

Our silage ground was limed last spring, so perhaps the silage is lacking? Going to get some copper injections and see if it makes a difference.

whelan1

would you not be better to get some bloods done to see if or what they are lacking in anything

Muckit

On further investigation, the whole shed of cattle are at the same thing, albeit to different degrees. ie eating timbers under barrier and licking girders. One group have even chewed a little pin hole in the hydradare going up to water trough! I managed to tape it temporaily with insulation tape, but it's a job that I'I have to fix permanently on Saturday! :mad:

Went to the vet this evening and explained situation. He was in agreement that it's very probable that it was the Liming of the silage ground last spring that has 'locked up' minerals in the silage.

They're on calf to beef mineral licks at the moment. Told to move to Hi-mag bucket after this, as it's more economical.

Hope this is of some help to others