Value of good summer licks for goats, cattle
FARMERS need to adjust their nutritional strategies in order to meet animal’s needs amid changing seasonal conditions for their stock.
Not only does the volume and quality of the veld decline in autumn, but droughts can also in luence the amount and quality of grazing in summer.
This raises the question as to which lick is best suited to summer and winter conditions.
The price of licks often inluences the decision making process, but the cheapest lick is not necessarily the product that will meet the animal’s needs.
Licks are used as supplementation when the nutritional value of the veld/ natural grazing is too low to meet normal production and reproduction functions in ruminants.
The right supplement in summer ensures that the nutritional requirements of the rumen bacteria are met.
The rumen bacteria will then digest poor quality grazing and make nutrients available to help maintain body weight, improve chances of re-conception, increase the calving percentage, ensure higher weaning weights of calves and guarantee a shorter inter-calving period.
Summer production licks:
These are used mainly to supplement green grazing to economically grow young animals. The nutritional value (minerals, trace minerals and vitamins) of natural green grazing is not suf icient enough to meet the nutritional requirements of the young animals and animals in production. That is the reason for the usage of summer licks for both goats and beef animals.
Importance of Minerals:
The body requires minerals to perform certain vital physiological functions. The most common micro-minerals are Calcium (Ca) and Phosphate (P). Phosphate is involved in several physiological processes in the body, among others energy metabolism. A shortage of absorbable phosphate in reproduction phase leads to loss of appetite, weight loss and milk loss, which leads to lower weaning weights among the progeny.
Other micro-minerals:
Zinc (Zn), Manganese (Mn), Chromium (Cr), and Selenium (Se) also play a major role. A few functions where minerals play a major role are energy metabolism- Cr; protein metabolism – Zn; foetus development – Cu, Zn, Mn, Cr and Se; muscle development – Zn & Se: disease resistance – Cu, Zn, Mn, Cr and Se; and skin and hoof health – Zn, Cu and Mn.
Lick supplementation can have major inancial bene its for the farmer.
The purpose of lick supplementation is to produce a heavy calf and get the cow pregnant – at the lowest possible cost.
A goat or a cow that does not kid or calve every year costs you lots of money as they have to be fed, dipped and dosed with no production.
To supplement the summer grazing with the right lick at the right physiological stage is to the advantage of both the animals and the farmer. Summer licks are therefore very important for good production.
Summer licks are available at most agricultural outlets; many trade names of P12 phosphate are available where you add equal volumes of salt to the P12 lick.
Animal have free access to summer licks at all times. Winter licks are normally fed from May onwards each year till the summer green grass is available in October thereafter you give the stock the summer lick again.