Many horse owners unwittingly sabotage their mineral supplement program by providing plain white or yellow salt blocks in place of, or in addition to, loose mineral supplements or mineral blocks. Unfortunately, most who do this think they are doing the right thing by their horse. This article is meant to educate horse owners on proper mineral management and nutrition.

With calf prices at near record highs, it makes more sense than ever to utilize Rumensin^® to maximize weight gains on high quality small grain forages this spring. Rumensin^® makes additional energy available to the animal through manipulation of rumen fermentation. Based on research growth trials, it can be calculated that the additional energy derived from feeding 200 mg of Rumensin daily to growing calves is equivalent to the energy derived from roughly 1.0 lb of corn. With so many Rumensin^® supplement options available, why are STOCKADE^® Rumensin^® Pressed Blocks the best option for stocker cattle operators wishing to feed Rumensin^®?

With the herd expansion in full swing and heifers being more valuable now than ever before, it makes sense to be concerned about dystocia in heifers. Injury caused by dystocia causes up to 80% of perinatal calf losses and is most common in first calf heifers. Excessive calf size can result in malpresentation due to the calf not being able to properly position itself in the birth canal or total fetopelvic disproportion requiring C-section delivery.

Stocker cattle represent a great opportunity to turn forages into profit for the savvy cattleman. With calf prices at near record highs, stocker calves represent a lot of potential gain, but also a lot of potential loss. The keys to a successful stocker program lie in pasture management, cost control and animal management.

I am often faced with questions about self-fed mineral consumption. Unfortunately, many producers only have a vague idea about the amount of mineral consumed by their livestock. And then when mineral consumption alters for any reason, they don’t have a good baseline to compare with. For this reason, it is imperative that you monitor mineral consumption.

What is Frothy Bloat? Frothy bloat (also known as pasture or legume bloat) is the entrapment of the normal gases of fermentation in a stable foam within the rumen. Left untreated, these gasses compress the heart and lungs and can result in death. In severe cases, death can occur in as little as a half hour from the onset of symptoms. Frothy bloat is most often associated with grazing lush, immature, legume pastures (alfalfa or clover) or cereal grain pastures (wheat, oats or rye).

What can you do when your hay quality isn’t the best and hay is in short supply so buying better hay isn’t an option? Well, research has shown that protein supplementation can increase digestibility of low quality forages up to 10%. That’s like having 10% more hay in your barn! Here’s how it works…

Aggressive pecking is a very real problem for the backyard flock owner. While it is perfectly normal for birds to establish a dominance hierarchy or “pecking order” by pecking one another, it is not normal or healthy for birds to actually wound or even kill one another.

Heat stress is one of the leading causes of chicken deaths and can be a huge issue for backyard flock owners, especially new owners. It is important to recognize the symptoms of heat stress and take action quickly to keep your chickens healthy and happy.

With the recent spike in vitamin E prices affecting the cost of mineral/vitamin supplement products, many are now taking a hard look at their current supplement program. Which begs the question, why is vitamin E added to supplements and how much vitamin E is really necessary?