Benefits of Stress Tubs at Weaning

Weaning is one of the most stressful periods of a calf’s life. Separation from the dam, their primary nutrition source, can lead to stress and a variety of symptoms, such as weight loss, reduced feed intake, which creates the potential for illness, due to a suppressed immune system.

For cattlemen, planning for proper nutrition for weaned calves is key to prevent illness and lower stress. Having an adequate water source is also key to weaning calves. Water and feed intake tend to go hand-in-hand.

 Research has found it sometimes takes calves nearly a week to consume the expected amount of receiving diets. This means cattlemen must be especially mindful of delivering the critical trace minerals and vitamins to the calves.  The addition of Stress Tubs at weaning can help fill any nutritional shortages during the stressful weaning phase.

With a lower intake of feed comes a lower intake of the essential minerals that calves need to grow and thrive. Generally speaking, many supplements offer minerals in inorganic states, such as oxides, sulfates and chlorides. These minerals are less bioavailable to the cattle, which means lower absorption of these key minerals.

Figure 1. Morbidity and average daily gain of heifers fed inorganic or organic mineral sources during a 42-day receiving period during the stocker phase. Adapted from Cheek et al. (2024; https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skae056).

A recent study conducted by Kansas State University’s Beef Cattle Institute compared the use of inorganic versus organic minerals at the time of weaning for heifers high-risk for Bovine Respiratory Disease. The key findings are summarized below:

The organic mineral diet contained zinc, copper, manganese, and cobalt complexed with an amino acid whereas the inorganic mineral diet contained sulfate forms of these minerals. Calves were fed bermudagrass hay free choice and a grain supplement at 3 lb/hd/day.

Morbidity due to BRD was 46%, for heifers fed the chelated organic mineral compared with 58% for the inorganic mineral.  The heifers fed the organic mineral gained 1.72 lb/d compared with 1.54 lb/d for the inorganic mineral.

Their research concluded that organic forms of minerals could be very beneficial at the time of weaning or any other stressful period of time. Nelson Tubs’ Cow Country Stress Tub contains organic chelated trace minerals for improved bioavailability. The high level of vitamins promotes animal health and performance during times of stress. The nutrient dense formula ensures intake of rumen friendly protein, energy and critical minerals and vitamins.

Citations: Robin A Cheek, Elizabeth B Kegley, Jason R Russell, Jana L Reynolds, Kirsten A Midkiff, Doug Galloway, Jeremy G Powell, Supplemental trace minerals as complexed or inorganic sources for beef cattle during the receiving period, Journal of Animal Science, Volume 102, 2024, skae056, https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skae056