Minerals

Mineral

Role

Effect of deficiency or Excess

• Most abundant mineral element in the animal body
• Key structural component in bone
• Involved in function of nervous system
• Main role in the skeleton, nervous system and milk production

• Poor growth and skeletal development (rickets and osteoporosis)
• Milk fever
• Depressed milk yield
• Delayed uterine involution
• Cystic ovaries
• Retained placenta

• Linked with sodium and potassium
• Role in the production of hydrochloric acid for digestion

• Dehydration if levels are too high
• Urine drinking
• Poor performance

• Required by rumen microbes for the production of vitamin B12

• Unthriftiness
• Poor fertility
• Pine
• Anaemia
• Loss of appetite
• Rough hair

• Essential element for fertility, energy utilisation and maintenance of immunity
• High affinity for molybdenum and sulphur

• Anoestrus
• Poor conception rates
• Embryonic death
• Delayed puberty
• Silent heats
• Anaemia
• Swayback
• Poor feed utilisations
• Low milk quality (fats)
• Poor body condition
• Reduced antibody response to vaccination
• Hair growth and condition

• Component of hormones produced by the thyroid
• Works together with selenium in some enzyme systems
• Symptoms of a deficiency include still births, retained placentas, weak neonatal calves, and abortion

• Stillbirths
• Abortion
• Weak calves
• Extended calvings
• Retained placenta

• Essential for haemoglobin levels in the blood responsible for oxygen transport around the body
• Reduces the uptake of manganese
• Suppresses the absorption of copper

• Anaemia
• Poor growth

• Found in bone
• Key role in reducing stress through its action in suppressing certain hormones

• Grass staggers
• Extreme nervousness and death
• Reduced milk butterfat
• Hair loss

• Vital for fertility, bone development and good growth rates
• High levels of iron depress manganese uptake which can lead to sub-clinical fertility problems

• Fertility – conception rates
• Bone malformation in young stock

• Often associated with toxicity problems
• Essential for the activity of some enzymes

• Anoestrus
• Poor conception rates
• Embryonic death
• Delayed puberty

• Closely associated with calcium in bone
• Important role in energy metabolism
• Role in supplying energy to all the animal’s vital processes such as milk production, body condition and fertility

• Skeletal disorders
• Poor energy utilisation
• Depressed fertility
• Poor appetite
• Delayed puberty

• Most abundant mineral in milk
• An electrolyte and closely involved in fluid balance
• Slurry is a particularly good source
• Depresses the uptake of magnesium which can cause staggers
• The main mineral in milk

• Water retention and oedema
• Reduced feed intake
• Muscle weakness
• Eating wood

• Plays an important part with Vitamin E in the anti-oxidative system, which protects the animal from stress and disease
• Related to iodine in enzyme systems
• An anti-oxidant or protector of health through the immune system
• Involved in fertilisation
• Selenium dependant enzymes act to convert inactive iodine (thyroxin) into its active form (tri-iodothyronine) in the thyroid gland

• Retained placental tissue
• Metritis (whites)
• Extended calving
• Depressed immune function
• Poor conception rates
• White muscle disease
• Sudden death syndrome
• Depressed immunity
• Retained cleansings

• In combination with potassium, this element is crucial for maintaining fluid balance and optimal cell function
• Sodium is important in the palatability of grasses and hence forage dry matter intakes

• Dehydration
• Urine drinking

• Needed for proteins found in milk, wool and hair
• Suppresses molybdenum in the rumen
• Reduces the uptake of selenium by grass
• Key role in the rumen to bind copper and molybdenum as thiomolybdate complexes

• Depressed appetite
• Weakness
• Reduced fibre digestion

• Required for growth and development
• Vision
• Disease resistance

• Poor vision coordination and reproduction

• For a healthy nervous system

• CCN

• Energy utilisation
• Use of proteins by the body

• Pine
• Loss of appetite
• Anaemia

• Involved in absorption, transport and storage of calcium in bones

• Poor utilisation of calcium and phosphorus

• Strong antioxidant
• Disease resistance
• Works with selenium to protect cells

• Poor reproduction
• Muscle weakness

• Important to immune function and maintenance of health
• Development of adequate horn tissue in the feet
• Required by the immune system
• Maintaining healthy udder tissue

• Lameness
• High cell counts in milk
• Poor health
• Delayed wound healing
• Reduced testicular growth