Pay attention to trace elements

Getting youngstock off to a good start is the crux of any livestock business, but many producers could be compromising performance by ignoring trace element levels.

All trace elements affect the farmer’s pocket because essentially they are production elements, says Simon Mellor, Animax Scottish sales manager.

“Trace-element deficiency can have far-reaching effects on fertility and daily liveweight gains, manifesting itself in reduced conception rates, poor calf and lamb vitality and low-standard animals.”

Because iodine is used by the thyroid gland which controls metabolism, deficient animals are likely to produce offspring of low vitality, which may struggle to consume enough colostrum.

Copper deficiency can also have a knock-on effect on fertility rates, while low selenium levels are linked to white muscle disease, dull calves and increased levels of retained placentas.

For Scottish beef and sheep producers Lyndsey and John Vever, poor calf thriftiness was the main indicator of iodine deficiency in their 150 cow Limousin x suckler herd, High Strenries, Waterbeck.

“We were experiencing problems with calves not getting up to suck after birth along with still born rates of 2-3%,” says Lyndsey Vever.

Analysis of thyroid glands from stillborn animals identified iodine deficiency as the main cause and, following discussions with the vet, the family decided to bolus the herd with iodine, selenium, copper and cobalt.

“We had always given general purpose minerals via the ration, but had never thought about iodine as a potential problem,” explaines Lyndsey Vever.

Cattle have always been supplemented with copper, either by bolus or injection, but now all four trace elements are included in one treatment.

“The bolus includes everything in one application. We still use the general purpose minerals, but we have cut our use by 3t a year.”

Cattle are bolused one month before calving to ensure both the cow and calf receive the benefits. “We also time it to coincide with the rotovirus injection so cattle are not handled twice.”

The effects of the first bolus were marked, with calf vitality picking up within 10 days of treatment. Five years on, the Vevers have continued to bolus cattle and this year have experienced no still births whatsoever.

And following success in the suckler herd, the family have repeated treatment in their flock of 900 Cheviot Mules x Texels, with similar results.

A lot of farms keeping both cattle and sheep, may only treat one or the other with trace elements, says Mr Mellor. “However, when one is deficient there is a possibility the other will also be lacking too, so it is well worth investigating.”

Before bolusing the sheep, we were getting a lot of weak lambs and consequently we were spending a considerable amount of time trying to get them to drink, says Lyndsey Vever.

“A lot of these individuals never really recovered and this was shown through poor growth throughout the summer.”

In 2009, ewes were bolused in February, one month before lambing. However as an experiment, the family decided to bolus before tupping in the same year and not treat again before 2010 lambing.

“This was a bit of an experiment, but the bolus simply didn’t last long enough – at lambing this year, ewes started well and then began to drop off.” As a result, the remaining flock was bolused straight away, and showed a marked improvement within a short period.

“In future, we may decide to bolus before tupping and also before lambing. We did experience improved conception rates after treating before breeding, but this may have been linked to the good quality grass last year and ewes being flushed well.”

When a problem with trace elements has been identified, I would generally recommend bolusing cattle and sheep every six months, says Mr Mellor.

“This means animals are covered throughout the year and farmers can plan treatments to coincide with normal handling.”

And according to Mr Mellor, bolusing is by far the most effective way of providing trace elements to stock. “Iodine can be splashed up the backs of cattle, but this is not long-lasting and relies on stock licking it off. As with mineral buckets, you can not guaranteed animals are receiving sufficient levels.

“With boluses, you know each animal has received a set amount which will last for six months.”