Strong hoof health is essential for keeping a consistent feed intake while reducing injury prevalence and economic loss, which is why the Garvan Park Feedlot (GPF) team have included quality, specific organic trace mineral, ZinMet®, in their backgrounding process.
With increased wet weather inundating Victorian farmlands and waterlogging pastures, GPF Feedlot Manager Nic Cook noticed more cattle were coming in from the sale yard with sore feet.
Nic says he believes prolonged exposure to waterlogged land was softening the cattle’s hooves before going to the sale yards, where standing and walking on hard surfaces was leading to sore feet for the stock.
“When hooves are wet for extended periods, it can soften the tissue making bruising and penetration injuries more common,” he says.
Operating since 2004, Garvan Park Feedlot is capable of running 3500 head of cattle where they feed mixed breeds of cattle.
The GPF team include ZinMet® in their feedlot feed but also in their supplemental feed for backgrounding cattle to get them ready for intensive feeding.
“When cattle have sore feet, they’re less likely to travel through the paddock to access supplemental feed which, in turn, affects their performance and means they start their intensive feeding at a lower weight,” Nic says.
“Including ZinMet® into their feed, we started noticing an improvement in the hoof health of affected cattle within a couple of weeks, walking more confidently.”
A combined source of specific organic trace minerals, zinc and chromium, ZinMet® stimulates keratin (the protein that helps form hooves) production in treated animals, accelerating hoof growth, hoof hardening, and maintaining cellular integrity.
Nic says GPF has been using ZinMet® for about four years, and when the weather is particularly wet and on the suggestion from their nutritionist, they double the dosage to ensure the stock are getting what they need.
Austasia Animal Products National Sales Manager Paul Lloyd says ZinMet®’s unique complexation of zinc and chromium boosts the performance of feedlot cattle by improving their cell sensitivity to insulin.
“Insulin plays a critical role in many of the physiological functions in beef cattle and chromium is the essential trace element that makes it happen,” he said.
“Recent research has found ZinMet® enhanced feedlot cattle performance with a 3% increase in average daily gains and a 2.3% improvement in dry matter feed conversion.
“This combination of minerals is bound to a specific organic escort, methionine, which helps bypass rumen degradation at approximately 80%, making ZinMet® more readily available for absorption through the gastrointestinal tract.”
Proudly manufactured in AAP’s state-of-the-art facility at Forbes, NSW, ZinMet® is the only specific-organic trace mineral additive in the domestic market made in Australia.
Nic said his experience working with AAP had been positive, appreciating the professional and personal services they provide.
“Our AAP Sales Manager Liam drops in to see how we’re going, and since working with him, he has taken the time to get to know our operation and what we’re trying to achieve,” he says.
“If there are cattle producers, feedlots or farmers looking to improve the hoof health of their cattle, I recommend introducing ZinMet® or working with Austasia Animal Products.”
Learn more about our quality-specific organic trace mineral, ZinMet®, and its benefits for feedlot cattle.
