What are Loose Minerals???

[kuntrygirl]

Can anyone tell me what loose minerals are? Can you suggest a certain kind/name brand for my barbado sheep?

 

[Katy]

We feed loose mineral to our cattle. It comes in a bag like feed does. There are many different formulas and your local feed mill should be able to recommend what to feed your sheep.

 

[ksalvagno]

Loose mineral looks kind of like sand in form but not color. You would pour it into some type of container. You would want to find a mineral specific for sheep as copper could kill them and copper is in goat and cattle minerals.

 

[kuntrygirl]

will loose minerals harm chickens, ducks, geese or turkeys?

 

[ksalvagno]

With minerals you really only want the specific animal eating the mineral that is specifically for them. The amounts of minerals and vitamins could harm other animals if they aren't supposed to have those amounts.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Yes, you don't want them getting into 'em. Put the loose minerals in a small bucket or tub or some such, hanging on the wall of the sheep's shelter, and the poultry should stay out of 'em. A couple small drain holes at the bottom of the container is a good idea in case it should get some rain or other liquid in it.

Do make sure you get loose minerals labelled specifically for SHEEP.

Pat

 

[kuntrygirl]

Looks like I have my work cut out for me in reference to finding a feed store that sells loose minerals for sheep and then choosing the right loose minerals. I think the few feed stores that we have here mostly cater to horses, cattle and chickens. If all else fails, then I will have to order loose minerals online.

I hope that this doesn't sound stupid but if it looks like sand, how much do they eat? Will they eat the entire bucket full? How much do I put out for them? My sheep are greedy, so will they eat every bit of it?

 

[nop169]

You may be surprised - your local feedstore should have access to all grades of feeds & salts for various domestic animals. As long as they sell a known brand (Manna Pro, Bartlett, AMD, Purina, Nutrena, Southern States, Seminole & so on) there will be salt/mineral mixes available - although your local store may not stock them & you may have to wait a couple of weeks for a shipment. Most companies deliver either weekly or every two weeks. As mentioned in a earlier post - sheep must have specific feeds & minerals due to the copper content. Sweetlix (brand) makes mineral mixes specifically for sheep & for sheep/goats.
As for my farm - I free feed loose minerals in a pvc feeder in the goat/sheep sheds... it keeps it from getting contaminated & the horses, donkeys & cows cant get to it. Free feeding allows each animal to get the amount they need.... you cant really overfeed them with minerals. I also keep out trace mineral blocks for the horses & cows & the sheep & goats eat on it also... although they have free access to the standard trace mineral (higher copper content than sheep specific mineral) - I have both suffolk & soay sheep & have never lost an animal from mineral issues. Also note that your feeds often contain low levels of trace minerals in them also - because of this some people do not supplement with other sources of salt/minerals - but my herds definately look & thrive better when given supplemental minerals.
Good Luck

 

[kuntrygirl]

I knew that this would be difficult. This is what I did. I called 12 feed stores within a 30 miles radius from me and ONLY 2 feed stores sold loose minerals. The names of the 2 are Vita Firm - 50lb bag for $37.00 and Wind & Rain $22.75 for 50lb bag. This is what I kinda figured. I may have to order something online. Has anyone heard of either of these?

 

[luvzmybabz]

I am not sure about sheep but a 25 pound bag of my goat minerals last my 8 goats about 4 to 6 months depending on season feed etc.