what do you normally do to prevent tetany in sucklers?

whelan1

we normally give the rumbul bullets and magnessium buckects , out of interest what do the rest of ye do , was wondering do we need to bullet them at all

Birdnuts

Licks with high Zinc levels:)

Bizzum

Birdnuts wrote: »

Licks with high Zinc levels:)

Why Zinc?

We use a few tactics:
Feed a shake of hay at risky times to cows with calves at foot.
Mg added to the water supply, thougt stock tend not to drink huge amounts in wet weather.
High Mag licks at pasture.

David brown

the bullets r great job. i use single bullet. dont think buckets are much addition to be honest. need to be done in autumn as well

Bizzum

David brown wrote: »

the bullets r great job. i use single bullet. dont think buckets are much addition to be honest. need to be done in autumn as well

With us the cows tend to get on top of the grass fairly early on as we have them on heavy cold ground that tends to take an eternity to get going every spring, then go's mad!
I never used the bullets. In theory they sound the job, at least you know they were done.
I would tend to agree about the buckets. Some cows hog them and others ignore them, so you never really know who is getting what!

I feel the Autunm is higher risk in so far as the calves at foot are stronger and are a bigger drag on the cow. But I don't have stats on this so I could be wrong.

blue5000

Nothing except only spread potash fertiliser during the summer or when ground is closed up for silage in spring. Potash locks up Mg. Not advocating this for everyone, we are on fairly dry, free draining limestone land.

Whats the story with the zinc? I thought it was only good for feet.

Bizzum

blue5000 wrote: »

Whats the story with the zinc? I thought it was only good for feet.

I asked the same question myself!
Great stuff for the male libido. Indeed vital. So keep your levels high, Ya never know who you'd meet:D

irishh_bob

David brown wrote: »

the bullets r great job. i use single bullet. dont think buckets are much addition to be honest. need to be done in autumn as well

when you say bulletts , do you mean boluses ?

Bizzum

irishh_bob wrote: »

when you say bulletts , do you mean boluses ?

Around our way both terms are used for the one item!
Except when We're shooting, We tend not to mix up a bolus and a bullet then:D

reilig

David brown wrote: »

the bullets r great job. i use single bullet. dont think buckets are much addition to be honest. need to be done in autumn as well

I thought that the whole idea of giving the rumbul bullets was to give them in 2's. I understood that they release the magnesium by rubbing off each other in the rumen. 1 bullet will only sit in the rumen and never release mag. Could be wrong but I thought that this was how it worked.

Birdnuts

Bizzum wrote: »

Why Zinc?

We use a few tactics:
Feed a shake of hay at risky times to cows with calves at foot.
Mg added to the water supply, thougt stock tend not to drink huge amounts in wet weather.
High Mag licks at pasture.

Yep - my mistake:rolleyes:

PS: In my defence I had Zinc on the mind due to the fact that I'm taking it ATM to keep the grey away:D;)

blue5000

Birdnuts wrote: »

Yep - my mistake:rolleyes:

PS: In my defence I had Zinc on the mind due to the fact that I'm taking it ATM to keep the grey away:D;)

Hey birdnuts I thought you were onto something there, now I think maybe you're not takin enough!!:D:D

whelan1

reilig wrote: »

I thought that the whole idea of giving the rumbul bullets was to give them in 2's. I understood that they release the magnesium by rubbing off each other in the rumen. 1 bullet will only sit in the rumen and never release mag. Could be wrong but I thought that this was how it worked.

we always give 2 .. a hateful job

funny man

The reason for giving two mag bolus is in case one gets coughed out.

whelan1

funny man wrote: »

The reason for giving two mag bolus is in case one gets coughed out.

you always wait a minute before letting the cow out , so that she doesnt cough it up .... will read the leaflet amarach

reilig

DATA SHEET - RUMBUL MAGNESIUM BULLETS

Presentation
Rumbul Magnesium Bullets are moulded metal cylinders of a magnesium/aluminium/copper
alloy (86, 12 and 2% respectively) weighted with iron shot. Bullets intended for adult cattle
(2.5 cms dia. X 7.6 cms length) each contain 40 g magnesium. Smaller bullets (1.9 cms dia x
4.6 cms length) each contain 15g magnesium and are intended for adult sheep or calves.
After swallowing they lie in the reticulum or at the base of the rumen and break down,
releasing magnesium continuously by electrolytic action (which prevents the formation of
insoluble deposits), throughout their active life. The iron shot is eliminated in the faeces of the
animal as small discrete particles.
Uses
Rumbul Magnesium Bullets are intended to be used as an aid for the prevention of
hypomagnesaemic tetany in dairy cows (of at least 300 kg bodyweight) and sheep (of at least
30 kg bodyweight) during the high risk period associated with the grazing of rapidly growing
spring grass. They may also be used for suckling calves where the diet is predominantly milk.
Dosage and Administration
Dosage:
Dairy cattle: Two Rumbul Cattle Bullets should be given to each animal two/three days before
the expected period of risk, e.g. before transfer from indoors to grass in the spring. If
necessary dosage should be repeated after four weeks.
Only to be given to cattle of at least 300 kg bodyweight.

2 bullets to each animal 2 to 3 days before turnout

AtillaTheHun

we used to give 2 bullets on turn out but have changed strategy and give 1 bullet at turn out and another 4wks later. we had a cow die 2yrs in a row on the same week of the year when giving the 2 bullets on turn out. The risk period is longer than just the 4wks the bullets are effective for. I do give 2bullets/dose to animals that would be high risk animals for example one cow that is feeding 3 calves:D

hateful job is right!

also use hi-Mag bucket licks during periods of high risk- persistent showery weather etc. and feeding a bale of silage helps too.