This is a guest post written by Steve Campbell of Tailor Made Cattle.
Two weeks ago, Kit wrote an article entitled Poisoning Our Cattle that generated considerable response. Therefore, Kit asked me to address some of the questions he received. Happy to do so!
To compete on price, most mixed minerals use individual minerals that originated in China. Almost every mineral coming out of China has Cadmium in it. Cadmium is a toxic heavy metal that screws up a cow’s ability to regulate internal body temperature. She is too hot in the summer to breed and so cold in the winter that she requires extra feed.
The classic sign of Cadmium toxicity is when you see a slight hump in the back rising from the shoulders and then back down to the hook bones. If you are going to buy a mixed mineral, the first step is to make sure none of the ingredients originated in China!
Some ranchers, like Kit and most of his producers, are simply putting out mineralized Sea Salt to ensure their animals do not ingest any more toxic minerals like Cadmium. The three best sources of mineralized sea salt are Independent Sea Salt, Redmond Sea Salt, and Sea-90. Depending upon the mineral content of your forage, your cows may need to consume up to four or five ounces of mineralized sea salt per day – but it is very inexpensive.
If you are already noticing a Cadmium hump in some of your cows, one of the sodium bentonite detox clays can help you remove Cadmium and other toxins from your herd. Redmond Conditioner and Desert Dynamin are the two main brands that come to mind. They are very bitter, so you will most likely need some sort of enticer to achieve enough consumption for detoxification of your herd.
I like to use sodium bicarbonate as a barometer to monitor what is actually going on with the herd. When things are good, cows typically consume two ounces or less per day. If you see sodium bicarbonate consumption go up, something is out of balance with your feed and/or environmental stressors. The one I recommend is Natural Soda brand out of Rifle, Colorado.
If you have three (or more) hours to kill, go to my website and you should be able to find enough information to get tired of listening about minerals and toxins and cows.