|
Post by legendrockranch on Oct 6, 2015 21:37:16 GMT -5
I have not used Crystalyx "Brigade". Does it fit your needs? One thing I did notice was that it has added salt, so you might want to adjust anything you might have with salt in it already. HE20 and Replacement Heifer have no added salt. I can't speak for everyone but normally you may want to go with a higher protein level in the winter time depending on the quality of you hay/pastures. Brigade has a protein level of 14%. All of the other tubs have a higher level. Sorry I can't be of much help.
Barb
|
|
|
Post by deepthoughts663 on Nov 7, 2015 22:05:46 GMT -5
hey there, sometimes i feel the need to feed my cattle with protein tubs, but here in india we do not have that many brands which come with reliable quality, we have around 26 cows right now and we are into dairy farming. feeding cows is a big head ache for me as they are the most difficult to formulate because they go through different reproductive periods....so sometimes i will have to determine all by myself, do they require the most or the least amount of nutrition in their diet. more over we live in an area where forage is not so abundant and it is hard to grow. So we mainly depend on TMR- total mixed ration. what would be the substitute for protein tubs?
|
|
|
Post by cheddar on Nov 9, 2015 10:25:38 GMT -5
Liking deepthoughts question. When we put in the Brigade protein tub she devoured half of in in 24 hours and I pulled it out. The saying take what you like and leave the rest does NOT apply to this heifer. So, I have gone to mixing Fertrell minerals and Kelp into a small amount of Alfalfa pellets. I am hoping this is enough. I am going to do a hay analysis and see where we are at there. Excellent quality hay but……?
|
|
zephyrhillsusan
member
Caught Dexteritis in Dec. 2009. Member of this forum since Oct. 2013.
Posts: 1,502
|
Post by zephyrhillsusan on Nov 10, 2015 13:12:46 GMT -5
cheddar, I tried to answer you yesterday on my phone, but no go. I'm very curious about your experience with Brigade? Was this a 200 lb. tub? If so, I can't see how it would be possible for a single heifer to devour that much in 24 hours! We put one out about two weeks ago for four animals, and they were still eating it yesterday. The Crystalyx tubs are dehydrated which makes them too hard to lick too much. It makes me wonder if there was a faulty batch or something? As hard as ours are, I would think her tongue would be raw from licking that much. Have you talked with the Crystalyx rep? legendrockranch, my preference would be for higher protein than the Brigade, but the only other options I have available here all contain either urea or chicken feather meal to get the protein up, so I won't use them. I think you probably have more options in Texas, being such a big cattle state. In our area, farmers tend to throw their stock in a huge pasture and raise them by benign neglect. Some don't even have (visible) hay out yet. We have six head, and only four are together right now: bull, cow with 6 month-old calf, and 18-month old steer. The Crystalyx dealer assured me that Brigade would be adequate for all of their needs. I've got another tub ordered for Siobhan and her calf. I asked about the minerals, and he told me to keep the high copper mineral available, even though they'll eat less of it because the Brigade has a lot of minerals, vitamins and electrolytes in it. (He uses the same mineral, although he uses different tubs.) I've been over the detailed PDFs of so many protein tubs, and it seems that anything over 14% protein is going to have something other than plant-based protein--either urea or feather meal. (Urea is bad for horses, so if we ever need to put them with the cattle or they get out, it's a problem.) I thought I had found a tub that had higher protein without those products, so I made a detailed hunt on the internet to run down a sales rep and called him to be sure. He assured me, "Oh no, we wouldn't put anything like that in our tubs. They're 'all natural'." I finally got him to track down a link to the detailed ingredients (it was almost impossible to find unless you knew where to look), and lo and behold--there it was, feather meal, the second or third ingredient. He was shocked!
|
|
|
Post by cheddar on Nov 11, 2015 15:30:27 GMT -5
No, thank goodness, it was the 40 (?) lb. tub. And yes her tongue is still intact :-). Good suggestion Susan on checking with the rep. From all accounts I expected it to be hard enough that she couldn't do that. I was shocked. I have to say I am seriously considering not using the block at all. However I will try to contact the rep..
|
|
zephyrhillsusan
member
Caught Dexteritis in Dec. 2009. Member of this forum since Oct. 2013.
Posts: 1,502
|
Post by zephyrhillsusan on Nov 11, 2015 17:30:08 GMT -5
cheddar, thank heavens it was just the 40 lb. block! Still, that's an incredible amount for her to eat in one day. I did have another thought, is she in a small area where she might be bored and just kept licking on it for that reason? Or is it possible that she might have something she needs in her diet and she was licking it for that reason, and she might slack off once the need is met? Although I completely support your decision to pull the tub; I wouldn't want to take a chance on her eating more until I talked it over with the rep, either.
|
|
|
Post by cheddar on Nov 11, 2015 19:30:57 GMT -5
I really doubt she is bored though she "is" the only cow. Her paddock area is large and she has llamas on two sides and a horse on another so she is well equipped for entertainment. I will see what she does with the tub again after a few weeks of having a rationed amount of daily minerals and kelp. In the meantime I will try to contact a rep and get their input. Thank You Susan for your help and guidance. I do wonder as deepthoughts asked earlier if a TMR could be a substitute for the protein tubs?
|
|
|
Post by livestock7 on Dec 21, 2018 15:01:59 GMT -5
I suggest everyone check out Vitalix tubs. They’ve been in business almost 30 years now. They’re doing this promotion to switch over and they’re giving away two FREE tubs! It’s on their website and Facebook page.
|
|