chaplain’s corral

By T.W. LAWRENCE Chaplain, Cowboys for Christ

The Rabbit and the Coyote

Any of you who have talked to me for more than two minutes knows I have a big heart for Cowboy Church. I had that in mind when I sat down to write this devotional. It got me thinking about my own Christian journey and how it is that I’m here tonight in front of this group of fellow Cowboy Chaplains.

I wondered, too, what lessons I have learned on that journey and what decisions I make now based on that hard earned education. To answer that, I had to think back – a long way back. Let’s start there.

I was born in Texas. My family had a little place just north of San Antonio, at the edge of the hill country. My mother was a junior high teacher in the Northside District. My father was a veterinarian, establishing his practice in Bexar County after Army service in WWII.

There always seemed to be a horse or two, maybe a noisy burro, in the enclosure behind the house. There was even a flock of sheep and goats on the place next to ours. So it’s safe to say I was around Texas critters from a young age.

While I was still a kid, I’d spend hours just watching those animals. Over time I would learn some of their behaviors and their body language. And to a certain extent, how they communicated with each other and with us.

Doc Lawrence, as most folks called him, encouraged this education. He was fascinated with it himself and would talk about it with me whenever we ran one of our countless errands in that beat up Army green Rambler station wagon he used to drive. (There was no daycare back then, so for pre-school — and later after school — I spent a lot of time at his clinic).

One of my father’s favorite animal watching things to do happened whenever we visited LaDean, my older sister, and her husband. They lived in west Texas near Eagle Pass, a tiny border town on the Rio Grande. Actually, their place was, as they say, “Out where nothing meets nowhere.” Her husband, Neil, worked on the equipment at the big Air Force radar installation. On spring nights, just as the sun set, the desert would cool down quickly, leaving the air almost chilly. You’d go from wearing t-shirts to pulling on sweaters. But the roadway tarmac would stay warm, heated by the day’s sunshine. That’s when it would happen.

Mile after mile on that farm road to Spofford, we’d see 50-60 - some nights, even a hundred rattlesnakes. They’d slither out of the sand and onto the highway. Being cold blooded, they were drawn to the lingering heat they found there. Some were curled up, and some were just crawling slowly, but they all seemed to congregate in the middle of the road. After watching it a while one night, my father said to those of us in the car, “Men are just like those hard scaled vipers, behaving without even thinking about it. Except man is drawn to sin instead of the heated blacktop.” I think about that car ride each time I do something stupid for which I must confess in my prayers afterward.

One cloudless afternoon on the way home, my father pulled into a self made lookout at the big curve just pastColeman’s Ranch. It had a grand view of uninterrupted lowland desert sloping toward a shallow arroyo. There you could watch nature’s drama play out.

Doc saw him first. “That’s got to be the skinniest coyote in Texas.” Indeed, his thin frame evidenced his poor skills - or just plain bad luck - as a hunter. When he spotted the solitary jackrabbit, the coyote launched himself at this quarry with surprising speed. Even though the rabbit ran for all he was worth, the coyote was almost at him and closing quickly. Without missing a single hop,

Mr. Rabbit veered a quick 90º left. But it was at least three strides before the coyote could change his own direction. Again he converged on the rabbit, and again the rabbit juked away. This repeated for more than a minute. The last rabbit maneuver was a complete 180º, whereupon he darted under a cluster of low lying mesquite bushes, leaving Mr. Coyote on the outside looking in, panting hard and still hungry.

My father asked us, “Which would you rather be, the rabbit or the coyote? That coyote never gives up but the rabbit knows how not to get caught.”

I thought I knew the answer to that question those many years ago. However, the more I study scripture and read theology, the more I revise my answer.

Think of it this way; the coyote never gives up the hunt, but then, neither does the Devil. El Diablo chases us with an unrelenting persistence, trying to snag our souls.

On the other hand, do we pursue Jesus with the same unflagging determination demonstrated by the “skinniest coyote in Texas”? Or do we sometimes just give up a bit and risk starving ourselves spiritually?

That jackrabbit seemed to know when to turn and twist to escape the hungry coyote. Do we ourselves have what it takes to avoid being eaten up by sin?

Please note, while the jackrabbit went this way and that to shake off his pursuer, Jesus does not elude us like that. He already has walked the path He has laid out for us. We are the ones who don’t always follow that way, whether it be from a lack of spiritual concentration or that unwitting desire to have things our way.

So, do we realize when we are being drawn to the heated roadway of sin?

Moreover, are we the rabbit or the coyote?

And at that, which one?

Jeremiah 29:13 - You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all of your heart.

By BRIANNA McLEESE N.C. State University -- ANS 402 Beef Management

What Mineral Best Suits Your Cattle?

With a wide variety of mineral products available to purchase for your cattle, the task can be daunting. Products range from salt blocks that can be easily placed in the pasture with your livestock to individually bagged minerals used to fill compartmentalized mineral feeders. For some producers, the decision of which product to use depends greatly on cost. Still, there are other components that must also be accounted for to provide personalized supplementation to your cattle herd.

It is important for producers to supply sufficient mineral concentrations to their cattle. Macrominerals are required in larger amounts in the animals’ diet as they are used in larger levels throughout the body. Microminerals, also known as trace minerals, are required in lower amounts1. Requirements for minerals will vary based on what stage of production your cow/calves are in (See Table 1). Although microminerals are required in small amounts, they are no less important than the macrominerals. By preventing mineral deficiency in both mineral classes, producers are effectively promoting herd health and growth, as insufficient mineral quantities can easily lead to disorders that cause decreased weight gain, lowered reproductive efficiency, and weakened immune systems 2 . These deficiencies can be marginal or severe, with severe cases leading to disorders such as grass tetany, white muscle disease, and hypocalcemia. Not only does adequate mineral consumption affect producer efficiency, but it also affects the consumers’ meat quality and taste. In grazing operations, cattle only receive mineral content from the top layer of soil, which, if mineral deficient, can create a metallic taste in the meat. It is important for all cattle, especially grass fed and finished beef, to graze pastures with a mix of grasses and legumes, along with additional minerals available to prevent off flavors in meat3 When it comes to selecting which mineral products to invest in, there are a few different options that each have their own unique benefits. White salt and trace mineral salt are two popular choices within the cattle industry due to the ease of feeding them out to the cattle4. White salt only supplies sodium and chlorine. Trace mineral salt can vary but generally provides higher amounts of trace minerals and does not provide any macrominerals. Loose forms of salt or mineral, such as these, are preferred over block forms of supplements because livestock are better able to intake more sufficient quantities of minerals in the granular form5. When feeding a complete mineral supplement, the product will contain all trace minerals and some of the macrominerals essential for cattle nutrition. This method generally consists of ordering individually packaged 25 lb bags of different minerals and filling each into its own compartment of a mineral feeder. The advantage of this option is that producers are able to customize mineral availability based on their own pastures’ soil composition. It also allows for easier observation of which minerals the cattle are consuming, most of which can be useful in further tailoring their diet. According to research conducted by Free Choice Enterprises, the method of feeding out individual minerals allowed for cattle to consume proper amounts of what was lacking within the diet, as well as decrease the cost per head6 Another option available for producers is through subcutaneous injections of chelated sources of minerals. It has been shown that chelated sources of minerals have higher bioavailability within the animal, which is an often overlooked aspect of mineral consumption as there can be antagonistic relationships between specific molecules within the rumen. Multimin 90 is a popular product that focuses on supplementation of zinc, manganese, selenium, and copper, which are some of the most common mineral deficiencies in cattle 7. This company has conducted its own research, which found that when injecting its product at vaccination time, serum levels remained higher after 14 days than they did without the addition of the product (See Image 1)8.

With all of these different options available, how are you supposed to pick which product works best for your herd? The answer should consist of a combination of farm location, feed composition, cost, and ease of use of the products based on your production cycle. Farms across the United States will vary in which minerals their cattle receive in deficient or excess amounts. In North Carolina, cattle will likely be deficient in selenium9, but it is still important to get your farm soil tested as it can even vary across the same state. This will help create a good baseline as to which minerals your supplementation should focus around. In addition to soil analyses, proper feed analyses should be conducted as well since additional feedstuffs will lead to additional intake of certain minerals, particularly phosphorus. For many farmers, cost is an important factor in deciding between any product. Is there extra room in the budget to upgrade your mineral supplementation? Is your farm spending more money on recovery from these deficiencies than it is on the actual mineral supplement? Although mineral supplementation may be seen as an extra or unneeded cost, the production lost from animals suffering from marginal deficiencies and veterinary care needed to treat severe deficiencies may outweigh the monetary investment made in proper prevention10. Lastly, it is also important to realize which options are feasible based on your production cycle. Do you have the time or labor to ride into pastures and fill 16 compartments of a mineral feeder? If not, complete mineral supplementation might be the right choice for you. Do your cattle get worked often? If so, Multimin might be an easily implemented supplement (See Table 2).

Overall, there is no one correct answer for which supplementation is best for your herd. Instead, it should be tied in with the production practices you already have in place and should be tailored to what fits your farm the best for maximum efficiency and improvement. It is important for producers to conduct even further research based on what region they reside in, as mineral supplementation will vary greatly across the country. Although mineral deficiencies are most common within beef cattle, it is important to understand that mineral excess, although more uncommon, can also become an issue within herds. Therefore, there is great importance placed on investing in feedstuff and soil analyses to maximize herd production. It is through these analyses that you can make better management decisions on which mineral deficiencies/toxicities and consequential diseases to prevent and watch out for.

References

1 The difference between Macro and micro minerals. Central AG Supply Services. (2018, November 1). Retrieved April 7, 2022, from www.centralagsupply.com

2 Avoid cattle mineral deficiency: Purina Animal Nutrition. Purina Mills. (2021, April 1). Retrieved March 4, 2022, from www.purinamills.com

3Williams, B. (2016, July 20). Better tasting beef from the ground up. Joyce Farms. Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://joyce-farms.com

4 Mineral spotlight: Salt! - hi-pro feeds. Hi-Pro Feeds. (2019, November 13). Retrieved April 7, 2022, from https:// hiprofeeds.com/blog/mineral-spotlightsalt/

5Van Saun, R. J. (2022, March 3). Which one, loose or block salt feeding? Penn State Extension. Retrieved March 4, 2022, from https://extension.psu.edu

6The “Free Choice” Dilemma. Free Choice Enterprises, Ltd. (1970, January 1). Retrieved March 4, 2022, from www. freechoiceminerals.com

7 Hall, J. (2020, February 12). Common vitamin and mineral deficiencies in cattle. Post Register. Retrieved April 7, 2022, from www.postregister.com

8 The scientific proof behind MULTIMIN 90. MULTIMIN USA. (2021, June 18). Retrieved March 4, 2022, from www.multiminusa.com

9 Lawing, A. (n.d.). Selenium deficiency - NCSU. N.C. Cooperative

Extension. Retrieved March 5, 2022, from https://mcdowell.ces.ncsu.edu

10Kettner, A. (2022, March 11). What return on investment can I see with a good cattle mineral program? Riomax 360. Retrieved April 7, 2022, from https:// riomax.net

11Stewart, L., & Fontes, P. (2006, September 1). Using cotton byproducts in beef cattle diets. University of Georgia Extension. Retrieved April 7, 2022, from https://extension.uga.edu

12 Champion’s Choice Mix-N-Fine Salt. Blaine’s Farm and Fleet. (n.d.). Retrieved April 7, 2022, from www. farmandfleet.com

13Champion’s Choice Trace Mineral Salt. Tractor Supply Company. (2021, August 3). Retrieved April 7, 2022, from www.tractorsupply.com

14Free Choice Enterprises 20-Choice Mineral. Free Choice Enterprises, Ltd. (1970, January 1). Retrieved April 7, 2022, from www.freechoiceminerals.com

15Valley Vet Supply Multimin 90 for Cattle. Valley Vet Supply (n.d.). Retrieved April 7, 2022, from www.valleyvet.com

Have You Herd articles written as a portion of the ANS 402 Beef Management course requirement at N.C. State University Department of Animal Science. The opinions of Caitlin Brianna McLeese are not necessarily those of N.C. State University or Dr. Carrie Pickworth.