by James I. Sprague, Ph.D., Livestock Nutritionist

Will they drink before they eat?
The idea is to get an additive into newly arrived cattle as soon as possible. Yet we know that some cattle do not find the water tank for several hours when coming to the feedlot. The late Jack Anderson, a cattle feedlot manager in Colorado, in most cases gave newly arrived cattle a feeding of hay without water in a receiving pen before they were sent to their home pen. He thought that getting a little feed into them would help get the rumen started and it would stimulate immediate water intake. Yet I have always considered this dangerous, because water is such an essential nutrient. We also know from research of Dave Hutchinson and other scientists that some newly arrived cattle may not eat for several days and will rely on body stores to stay alive. But we have assumed that they would at least drink water.

We have seen tetracyclines used successfully as water treatments and in one case, a low suds detergent to help control wheat pasture bloat has been used. Years ago, a rancher explained that they put a bag of sodium bicarbonate in a big tank of water for newly arrived or weaned cattle.

Ideas being proposed
Many ideas are being proposed to cattle feeders and producers by feed additive and direct feed microbial suppliers to (1) stimulate water intake, (2) provide the additive, and (3) supply vitamins and trace minerals for the rumen bacteria. With the development of the direct fed microbials and other products that stimulate rumen activity, producers have began adding these to drinking water to stimulate intake for the first few days.

Examples of two commercial products
One of the first companies that we heard from on this subject is the Natur’s Way Company of Horton, Kansas. Their product is called MSE. It is mixed with water as an aid to get cattle to drink and consume the additives with the goal of helping get cattle started faster. It also can be mixed with water and sprayed on the hay of receiving cattle to add a palatability factor. Their product is a combination of dried fermentation probiotic, vitamins A and D, and B complex vitamins.

Another company developing products for starting cattle is Ralco-Mix Products from Marshall, Minnesota. There product for starting cattle is called “Appetol.” It is mixed with water and used as the only water source until the product is consumed. It also can be applied as a drench, or mixed with starting rations. Their product supplies dried fermentation products, vitamins, trace minerals, and herbs. Ralco-Mix is also used in pasture minerals and mineral blocks.

Evaluation of these products
Some of these products do not have controlled research to evaluate their use as drinking water additives. Most have started out as feed additives and then developed as a drench and later suggested added to drinking water. Therefore, if research and field trials are not available, cattle feeders have only the experiences of respected cattle feeders as the main way to decide if they have value. Certainly the experiences of different cattle producers are an accepted method of checking on proposed use of any product. ©