The main purpose of a supplemental lick is to fill the nutritional gap between nutrient supply, from forage in grazing systems, and nutrient requirement as set by the animal. The animal nutrient requirement is dependent on the weight, age and production status of that animal. Regardless of a mineral lick, transition lick, protein lick or production lick, all are there to fill a specific nutritional gap predominanty linked to a specific time period or season.
Research showed that animal production, in the form of weaning percentage and calf weaning weight, increased by 33% and 26%, respectively, when implementing a balanced annual lick programme when compared with a non-supplemented animal group. Correct protein supplementation and the transition from mineral licks to protein licks contributes significantly towards the increased observed animal production.
Transition Licks Ensure Sustained Animal Production
Once natural grasslands enter the late growing season, animals should be given additional protein combined with phosphorous in the form of a transition lick as recommended by Australian researchers McCosker and Winks (1994). A transition lick aimed at bridging the period from the green to the dry season, will promote both production and reproduction, as the extra protein in the lick will limit the loss of weight and condition.
Benefits:
- It ensures a gradual transition from phosphorous supplementation in summer to urea-containing licks in winter.
- It contains less urea than winter licks, thus decreasing the risk of urea poisoning when animals are switched to winter licks (high in urea) – they will be fully adapted to urea by then.
- It ensures that animals don’t overfeed on the high-urea winter licks, as they will be adapted gradually.
- It provides at least 50 to 80 g of protein and 6 to 9 g of phosphorous per head per day during the period when the nutritional value of the grazing starts to decrease.
- It limits the loss of weight and condition in cattle (moderate growth is still possible), thus promoting production and reproduction.
When?
- As soon as there is a drastic increase in phosphate lick intake and/or grass reaches maturity when it starts to seed.
- In the high rainfall areas cattle will start reacting to protein supplementation even when grazing is still somewhat green.
Self-mixing transition licks for beef cattle
In sweetveld grazing areas good results are achieved with Voermol Superfos (V17422) or a Voermol Super 18 (V355) based transition lick (80 kg Voermol Super 18 plus 50 kg Rumevite 12P [V11994] plus 50 kg salt). Where it is necessary to supply more protein, especially on poorer sourveld grazing areas, one of the following transition licks can be mixed:
| Raw materials | Transition lick | |||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| Voermol Premix 450 (V4676) (kg) | 200 | – | – | – |
| Voermol Bovelder Lick (V19218) (kg) | – | 300 | – | – |
| Voermol Dundee Lick Concentrate (V10737) (kg) | – | – | 150 | – |
| Voermol Bovelder Lick Concentrate (V19908) (kg) | – | – | – | 150 |
| Voermol Rumevite 12P (V11994) (kg) | 100 | 100 | 150 | 100 |
| Salt (kg) | 150 | 100 | 150 | 200 |
| Total (kg) | 450 | 500 | 450 | 450 |
| Recommended cattle intake (g/head/day) | 250-400 | 200-300 | 190-300 | 200-320 |
Protein Licks Maintain Cow Condition, Improves Fertility and Enhances the Unborn Calf’s Performance
It is well-known that protein supplementation is essential in preventing weight loss in breeding cows during the dry season. Hence, the main pupose of protein licks is to maintain the weight that an animal has put on in the summer until calving time.
Other benefits of supplementing protein licks
- Improved fertility. Supplementing nutrients that are lacking in dry grazing has a stimulating effect on an animal’s appetite and promotes the digestion of dry grazing. This can then increase grazing intake by up to 20%. It limits condition and weight loss, thus improving fertility. Without sufficient protein supplementation through licks on dry grazing, breeding cows will not achieve their target condition by the start of the breeding season. The result is poor conception and resultant lower calving percentages.
- Strong immune system. Animal performance and optimal functioning of the immune system are adversely affected if animals are exposed to a protein deficiency on dry grazing or crop residues. Low resistance due to weak immunity will make animals more susceptible to bacterial and viral diseases, while animals will also immunise weaker when vaccinated.
- Generational feeding. Researchers in Argentina (2019) tested the theory: ‘What you feed during late-pregnancy affects the calf’s performance in the feedlot’, on Angus cows. Results showed that when feeding optimal protein levels to cows during late-gestation increased the Longissimus muscle-area of the born calf (68 vs 78 cm2) which resulted in a greater carcass dressing percentage when slaughtered after feedlotting.
Protein requirement of mature pregnant cows
A mature cow of 550 kg body weight requires 680 g of protein per day during early gestation and 860 g during late-gestation (last 1/3 of pregnancy).
Winter forage dry matter intake of dry beef cows may vary from 1.8% to 2.2% of body weight dependent on the digestibility of the forage, <52% total digestible nutrients and 52% to 59% total digestible nutrients, respectively. Hence, the average dry matter intake of a 550 kg cow is 11 kg.
The average protein level between sourveld and sweetveld grazing is 3.5% to 5.5%. Hence, 11 kg of average winter forage will only supply 500 g of protein, which is 180 g short of the animals protein requirement during early gestation.
When supplementing protein it is advised to aim for a minimum of 180 g of protein per cow per day and can be increased to 240 g per cow per day to ensure the animal’s protein requiement is met on all types of veld. It is evident that a protein supplement on its own is not suffient for a late-gestation cow, therefore it is advisable to feed a production lick with a higher intake at least 30 days before calving.
When?
Soon after the first frost or when it is evident that veld quality is decreasing. Lick intake is also a very good indicator of the animal’s nutrient requirements. As soon as an increase in mineral lick intake is observed it is then time to start with a transition lick and soon after a protein lick.
Readymix and Self-mixing Protein Licks for Beef Cattle
Readymix protein licks for sweetveld grazing areas for good results include Voermol Premix 450 (V4676) at 400 to 500 g/head/day or Voermol Ekonolick (V11147) at 630 to 800 g/head/day. The latter lick is ideal for phosphorous-deficient areas.
Voermol Bovelder Lick (V19218) is the recommended readymix protein lick for the sourveld areas. It contains higher levels of salt, natural protein, minerals and trace minerals especially for the high rainfall areas where the quality of winter forage can be extremely low.
Herewith a table for self-mixing protein lick options:
| Raw materials | Protein lick | |||
| Sweetveld or mixed veld | Sourveld | |||
| 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | |
| Voermol Dundee Lick Concentrate (V10737) (kg) | 250 | – | 400 | – |
| Voermol Bovelder Lick (V19218) (kg) | – | 500 | – | 600 |
| Milled maize/whole small grains/Molasses Meal | 100 | 120 | – | – |
| Voermol Rumevite 12P (V11994) (kg) | 25 | – | 50 | – |
| Salt (kg) | 150 | 250 | 300 | 400 |
| Total (kg) | 525 | 870 | 750 | 1000 |
| Recommended cattle intake (g/head/day) | 450-550 | 400-500 | 420-520 | 400-550 |
What are the unique Characteristics of Voermol’s Molasses Based Protein Licks?
- Urea is dissolved in molasses syrup and the energy of molasses is immediately available to the microbes in the rumen, ensuring the effective utilisation of urea. This reduces the risk of urea poisoning.
- The relatively low pH in Voermol’s products ensures that the breakdown of urea to ammonia in the rumen is slower. This ensures that ammonia is utilised more effectively by the microbes in the rumen, again reducing the risk of urea poisoning.
- Molasses is rich in potassium, which is a moderate laxative and subsequently aids in preventing dry gall sickness in animals on dry grazing.
- Molasses is palatable and thereby ensures that licks are not dusty. This assists in achieving the prescribed lick intake and, at the same time, prevents licks from blowing away.
- Voermol markets a range of molasses-based rumen-stimulating protein licks in various forms (loose lick, block or liquid); formats (premix, ready-to-use or self-mix); with high or low phosphorus content and with high levels of all six essential trace elements, as well as macro-minerals and Vitamin A. Farms often differ vastly due to various factors (including different soil types; climatic conditions; grazing composition and species; grazing and animal management practices, etcetera). This necessitates changes to existing lick supplementation practices and recipes, in order to achieve the optimum response.
