Minerals to save you money, Stop throwing money away on high cost, molasses tubs?

Wow, now that is a statement to make you think or start hating me!

I can't say I am fully convinced one way or other but I do like to read new as well as informative articles and have found several in different publications that make me wonder. Recently, the Trails magazine had an article on grass tetenus in cows and how the published and accepted way the academia and industry paid advisors said to do things only had mediocre at best results. Then it mentions an old rancher who treated as he had for years and had never lost a cow to such affliction.

The next place was from Free Choice Enterprises who sells minerals for livestock. Their research shows that free choice is an option. The argument is used that some animals choose certain vegetation over others based on their life and time of year. They seem to have an intuitive sense of needing some things during specific times of the year. If animals know this then giving them a choice they may would pick the mineral itself instead of the vegetation with that mineral.

The research seems to be there and anyone around cows has the ones that lick the dirt, eat bark, or randomly start eating the odd plant. Is this them showing their ability to tell what they need and will they not over consume some minerals.

I have a mineral feeder and from what I have seen they have eaten one or two down but not the rest. I have not had the soil tested as some research suggest the soil is low in those minerals the animals crave. Over time, if you allow them to free choice pick the selected mineral will be spread around the pasture as they spread their manure . This puts the mineral that is deficient back into the soil.

Some research shows that they do better overall and have better health as well as better feed efficiency. If your interested in learning more check out the article in the 'Trails' magazine which is online and published by TLBAA the longhorn association and go check out freechoiceminerals.com and the research they have done. I am looking to build my second free choice feeder for my cows.