Importance of Salt Lick and its Uses
Importance of Salt Lick and its Uses
Salt lick is often known as mineral lick, can be quite beneficial to animals. Farmers have been applying the process of salt lick for forever now. It is a way of dealing with cattle on the farms efficiently.
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People from various parts of the world have been using this procedure where different animals like cows, sheep, rabbits, rodents, etc., feed on salt licks.
Not many people are aware of salt licks. If you are one of them, you can go through the following to have a better account of the process.
What is a Salt Lick?
Most people suffer from a common question which is what is a salt lick, to be exact? Salt lick is a mineral lick in general.
It is a particular spot where salt in its pure form is available for animals to lick for gaining minerals in the body. Those are either naturally occurring spots in the mountains or forests or are even artificially made.
Mineral licks have large mineral gatherings in them and even vitamins, dyes, additives, and antibiotics. The salt licks are favorites to the hooved animals.
What is a salt lick for horses?
Salt lick for horses is available in various forms like in chunks, granules, or mineral blocks. Horses do not understand their appetite or the limit of food they should have in a day.
They are not fans of salt, unlike other hooved mammals. The farmers provide them with mineral salt blocks, which can help them meet their salt necessity.
Horses should have at least one to two ounces of salt lick every day, which will help them fight several severe conditions at ease. Horses do not know their eating limits, and so quite often, they overeat the salt blocks.
The farmers provide the chunks for a limited time when they realize that the horse has got his share for the time being. Too much salt lick can cause stomach upset and other health issues.
Horses mostly prefer Himalayan salt lick over other mineral salt deposits or artificial salt lick chunks. The horse salt licks last for at least 6-8 months, depending on the weather condition.
Where to buy a salt lick for animals?
Animals need salt licks to better their health and get immune from health issues like muscle sprain, bone joint brittleness, weak bones, muscle pain, etc.
But most of the people have a common confusion which is where to buy salt licks for animals. There are different types of salt licks available in the market from where you can quickly get rabbit salt lick and other animals.
You can get it from local dealers, farmers dealing in salt lick business for salt lick for sheep and other cattle, etc. You can also get mineral blocks and salt licks for cattle from online shopping sites at ease.
There are mainly two sources of salt licks, the natural deposited ones, and the artificial means. If you have a water body with mineral salts from a natural occurring, you can also pick up your salt lick for the animals from there.
You should know that salt licks for baiting wild animals like deer are illegal.
What is the purpose of Salt Lick?
If you are looking for a salt lick for goat or other cattle, then you should also know the benefits of salt lick in the first place.
Here are a few points which can let you know the purpose of using salt licks for animals. Here you go!
- Provides sufficient nutrients:
Cattle and other animals often do not get sufficient nutrients in the body for not having natural salt lick deposits in the barns or fields except for a few lucky breeds staying in random spots.
It is the responsibility and duty of the farmer to keep its animals healthy.
If your animals do not have balanced diet charts or fixed diets, then you need to grab mineral chunks as soon as possible for them to serve their health requirements of nutrients.
- Protects from dehydration:
If the salt level goes significantly down in animals, it might end up dehydrating them, which would not turn out to be of any good. You can provide the cattle with proper mineral blocks to get whatever health nutrient it wants.
One of the main reasons behind artificial mineral blocks to cattle like sheep, goats, cows, and horses is to keep them hydrated all the time and prevent them from falling sick quite often.
- Enhances cattle growth:
Low levels of salt in the body can cause severe problems like goiter in animals as humans. It can also push the cattle towards stunted growth and no by-product at all.
Provide the cattle with authentic, natural, or artificial mineral chunks for feeding their salt requirement in the body. It can enhance their growth faster than usual, keep them fit and acceptable, and increase cattle production.
When you give a salt lick to cows, sheep, goats, etc., it tends to boost milk production and wool production and keep their physique stronger than usual.
The above was how salt lick for animals could benefit your cattle. There is still a lot left to know about salt licks. If you want to know more, then keep an eye on the following.
Why do cows lick salt?
Do you own a cow? If yes, then you can give salt licks to her. Large domestic animals like cows often lick salt for fulfilling their health requirements. If you provide enough salt licks to cows, then you can avoid the following health problems in cows:
- Restlessness:
You can often notice the cows going restless. If you have not discovered any particular reason behind such disorientation, you can try giving them salt blocks for licking.
Salt crisis in the body can often lead to disorientation and restlessness in cattle.
- Irregular eating:
There can be two particular situations as symbols of low salt levels in the body.
The cow would either lose its appetite and stop taking food further, or she will start chewing on everything in the near vicinity, including woods, iron, plastic, dirt, mud, etc.
These are the symbols of low salt levels in the body. If your cattle starts behaving in a similar abnormal manner, then you can supply her with mineral blocks or salt lick granules for health development.
- Miscarriage:
Another symptom of low salt levels in the body is miscarriage or loss of pregnancy in cows. If your cattle had conceived and has suddenly lost her child recently, then it might be the result of low salt level in the body.
You can supply her with an adequate amount of food along with mineral blocks, salt granules, and chunks.
- Weakness:
You might also notice improper walking or imbalanced walking style in your cattle. It is one of the symptoms of weakness in the body for lack of enough sodium chloride.
You can help her by providing artificial salt lick blocks to get over her weaknesses.
- Infertility:
The other effect of low salt levels in the body is infertility. Infertility can lead to the incapability of the cows to thrive.
If you do not want to put your cattle in such an unsatisfactory situation, then you can treat them with salt blocks at ease.
Why do horses lick salt?
The following are the reasons why horses need to lick salt:
- To meet the sodium and chloride requirements in the body:
One of the main reasons behind horses licking salts is to meet the body requirements. Horses are crazy about salt as it is not produced in bodies by default.
They need to intake salt from exterior sources to stay healthy and robust with sufficient nutrients. Horses require sodium and chloride from exterior sources to meet the body necessities, which they can quickly get from mineral blocks or salt licks at ease.
- For maintaining sanity:
Horses' brain cells require salt sodium nutrients to maintain normality in the body and the activities. The brain can act weirdly in horses and give wrong signals, leading to abnormal behavior in horses.
If you do not want to go through such problems with your horse cattle, you can provide them salt licks to maintain sanity.
- Body fluid balance:
No horse can stay healthy without proper fluid equilibrium in the body. Sodium and chloride are the components that help in maintaining body fluid balance at ease. It also controls the thirst limits in horses at ease.
- Body secretions:
Salt is one of the most critical components which regulates the various body part secretions like sweat, saliva, urine, mucus, etc.
If your horse does not have enough salt level in the body, the secretions might get disoriented at ease, bringing restlessness and sickness.
- Body activities:
The horses' health ends up deteriorating in the absence of sufficient salt levels in the body. It hampers digestion, causes muscle pain and a lot more health issues.
If you do not want your cattle to suffer in any way, then you can provide them salt blocks to get over the health issues in no time.