Injectable Minerals Enhance Stocker Calf Health
By Gilda V. Bryant
Sale barn calves are often high-risk animals, simply because the buyer has no way to know about the environment from which they came. Sometimes bull calves and steers have not received extensive preconditioning, mineral supplementation or additional health protocols. The rancher’s goal is to promote calf health, aiming for a 2-pound average daily gain. Successful stocker operators frequently rely on injectable trace mineral supplementation to increase the well-being and productivity of these cattle.
Larry Hollis, DVM, retired Kansas State University veterinarian, says injectable minerals give ranchers a chance to improve trace mineral deficiencies.
“The huge difference with an injectable mineral versus oral is speed, how fast we get it into the animal, so it goes to work,” Hollis reports.
“We know that Multimin’s peak absorption occurs 8 to 10 hours post-injection. The majority of the product is absorbed within the first 24 hours, moving to the site of need. If there is excess above what is immediately needed in the body, it will go to the liver, where it is stored and used over time. Multimin does not replace a good oral trace mineral program, which calves need for maintenance.”
Stephanie Hansen, Ph.D., feedlot nutritionist with Iowa State University, has conducted several injectable trace mineral trials.
In a recent study, stocker calves were backgrounded in the university’s feedyard on a high roughage diet, some of them receiving sulfur and molybdenum, which are antagonists. [Antagonists are substances which can negatively impact the absorption, uptake, or metabolism of minerals].
Sorted into separate mineral supplementation groups, Hansen found a significant boost in trace mineral status 14 days after calves received Multimin.
Data suggests that animals treated with inorganic and chelated-organic mineral blends reached the same level after 28 days as cattle treated with injectable trace minerals. The group receiving only inorganic minerals took about a month and a half to reach the same trace mineral status as the injected calves.
“We actually found that regardless of dietary antagonists, the Multimin response was extremely consistent,” Hansen explains. “That tells us it can be a powerful tool to quickly replace [mineral] status of animals, even when they’re being fed a high-antagonist diet.”
Producers often feed distillers byproducts; however, they should account for sulfur in molasses, lick tanks, lick tubs or distillers byproducts. Sulfur can tie up copper, an essential trace mineral. Hansen recommends testing water sources for concentrations of sulfur or iron. Other antagonists, such as molybdenum, also bind trace minerals in the rumen, making them unavailable to the animal. ‰
“Injectable minerals can be a powerful tool to quickly improve the trace mineral status of cattle,” Hansen concludes. “Producers need to have a good understanding of other products, especially selenium, going into calves when they are received. If you’re a stocker operator, you need to have an appreciation for what the previous mineral status of that calf is, particularly if it received Multimin recently. Be careful not to double-dip on that. Definitely read the label and follow the instructions.”
David Sturgeon, DVM, operates a preconditioning yard in Cordell, Okla., where he raises high-stress, commingled calves with unknown backgrounds.
“There’s a good chance that a percentage of them could either be below normal levels or at the low end of their trace minerals,” Sturgeon reports. “Using injectable trace minerals is a good way to make sure we start that set of calves, so our vaccines perform closer to the way we expect them to. We know we can optimize their performance in terms of growth and immune function.”
He advises ranchers to check with their local veterinarian or Extension specialist to learn if their area has trace mineral deficiencies. Animals with marginal trace mineral levels quickly become deficient during stress events, resulting in a poor immune response and illness.
Sturgeon noticed trace mineral deficiency symptoms in his cattle 20 years ago. They had poor reproduction rates and some calves experienced extra bleeding at castration, a sure sign of copper deficiency. He reports that poor hair coats, slow growth rates and susceptibility to infectious disease are much more common in these calves. In his search for a suitable trace mineral solution, he tried several products but was not satisfied with the results.
“I went to an Academy of Veterinary Consultants meeting,” Surgeon recalls. “Multimin [representatives] showed their research, and I decided to try it. Once I did, I never quit using it.”
In Newcastle, Okla., L.D. Barker, DVM, recommends injecting trace minerals in the neck, a hand-width away from other injections. Better yet, inject vaccinations and injectable minerals on opposite sides of the neck. Thanks to trace mineral injections, his stocker calf health program is more consistent, providing adequate immune responses in calves. He strives to enhance calf health, performance, and minimize expenses. Barker suggests that operators invest on the front end to get a return on the back end. When he first used trace mineral injections, he reduced the rate at which he pulled sick calves into the treatment pen from 50 to 60 percent to less than 17 percent. Death losses also dropped from 12 percent to less than 5 percent.
“With Multimin, we see healthier calves respond to the first treatment so much better,” Barker explains. “We’re reducing retreats by two-thirds. It’s so essential for animals to overcome infection. They respond to treatment much better and are turned out quicker. It diminishes your cost of antibiotics. I feel good about the tools and technology we have today to minimize our issues and problems. It has reduced a lot of frustration and economic losses by having a product we know will get all those animals on the same page and maximize their response performance. It’s cost-justified from that standpoint.”
Injectable Minerals Enhance Stocker Calf Health is excerpted from the August 2018 issue of The Cattleman magazine.