Effectiveness of IGR mineral

For several years I have used fly tags, my parents used oilers soaked in diesel fuel and an insecticide mixture to try to control flies. I have started feeding a mineral with IGR this week, and am wondering if others have found that to somewhat effective. Also from what I read about various IGR products they mention for control of horn flies, however one article stated for face flies as well because both kinds lay eggs in manure. If it controls face flies that would be a major plus.
I have always heard that if neighbors don't feed it then it doesn't work well, and I have heard and read conflicting information on whether or not flies travel very far.
I have been feeding a chelated mineral and if I make the commitment to feed the IGR mineral mix, would that be much of a step down in terms of overall mineral effectiveness and quality?

Ky hills":3f48f5aw said:

For several years I have used fly tags, my parents used oilers soaked in diesel fuel and an insecticide mixture to try to control flies. I have started feeding a mineral with IGR this week, and am wondering if others have found that to somewhat effective. Also from what I read about various IGR products they mention for control of horn flies, however one article stated for face flies as well because both kinds lay eggs in manure. If it controls face flies that would be a major plus.
I have always heard that if neighbors don't feed it then it doesn't work well, and I have heard and read conflicting information on whether or not flies travel very far.
I have been feeding a chelated mineral and if I make the commitment to feed the IGR mineral mix, would that be much of a step down in terms of overall mineral effectiveness and quality?

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Just my personal opinion but I would stay with the mineral with the chelates and spray, dust or whatever for flies. You'll never get rid of them but hopefully you'll thin them out. The chelates will definitely be worth the extra money assuming their is enough in the mix to actually be beneficial and not just enough to show it on the guaranteed analysis tag. Mind if I ask what brand you're using now??

For whatever it's worth Altosid is the IGR most commonly used. If you can find a source all it takes is 1/4 lb. of the Altosid 2% mixed with one bag of mineral. Cost is around $16 a lb.

TexasBred":2hkkpj7y said:

Ky hills":2hkkpj7y said:

For several years I have used fly tags, my parents used oilers soaked in diesel fuel and an insecticide mixture to try to control flies. I have started feeding a mineral with IGR this week, and am wondering if others have found that to somewhat effective. Also from what I read about various IGR products they mention for control of horn flies, however one article stated for face flies as well because both kinds lay eggs in manure. If it controls face flies that would be a major plus.
I have always heard that if neighbors don't feed it then it doesn't work well, and I have heard and read conflicting information on whether or not flies travel very far.
I have been feeding a chelated mineral and if I make the commitment to feed the IGR mineral mix, would that be much of a step down in terms of overall mineral effectiveness and quality?

Click to expand...

Just my personal opinion but I would stay with the mineral with the chelates and spray, dust or whatever for flies. You'll never get rid of them but hopefully you'll thin them out. The chelates will definitely be worth the extra money assuming their is enough in the mix to actually be beneficial and not just enough to show it on the guaranteed analysis tag. Mind if I ask what brand you're using now??

For whatever it's worth Altosid is the IGR most commonly used. If you can find a source all it takes is 1/4 lb. of the Altosid 2% mixed with one bag of mineral. Cost is around $16 a lb.

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Thank you for your response Texasbred, that helps me a lot. I will go back to the chelates and a different route on flies. I have been getting mineral from Southern States, I believe the chelates product name is Beef Breeder, if I remember it is priced around $23 or $24 per 50lbs. In the past I fed a chelated mineral from KNS a company in central KY.

I've had good luck using mineral with an IGR. I've had the best luck using Nutrena IGR mineral, funny thing is that it's an inexpensive mineral. It's not an overnight thing though give it 4-6 weeks. Mineral is a mystery to me, most brands have nearly the same exact ingredients but the cost varies greatly.

Lucky":2csweml0 said:

I've had good luck using mineral with an IGR. I've had the best luck using Nutrena IGR mineral, funny thing is that it's an inexpensive mineral. It's not an overnight thing though give it 4-6 weeks. Mineral is a mystery to me, most brands have nearly the same exact ingredients but the cost varies greatly.

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The source of those mineral is the cost deference. Organic sourced minerals cost more, but are more effective, (and I don't mean the USDA organic labeling scam.) :lol:

sim.-ang.king":2ou9gsgq said:

Lucky":2ou9gsgq said:

I've had good luck using mineral with an IGR. I've had the best luck using Nutrena IGR mineral, funny thing is that it's an inexpensive mineral. It's not an overnight thing though give it 4-6 weeks. Mineral is a mystery to me, most brands have nearly the same exact ingredients but the cost varies greatly.

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The source of those mineral is the cost deference. Organic sourced minerals cost more, but are more effective, (and I don't mean the USDA organic labeling scam.) :lol:

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I'm going to look into this some more. I called the company I've been getting mineral from this year to ask about feeding the mineral with Bovatec to some yearlings and about all they could tell me was don't feed it to equine. Not much help on anything else. Makes me wonder why it's $12 more per bag.

i was always told Bovatec wouldnt hurt equine but Rumensin would.

bse":7mlnxrj2 said:

i was always told Bovatec wouldnt hurt equine but Rumensin would.

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Both carry a warning that consumption might be fatal to equines. Amazing how many donkeys I've seen in pastures with goats consuming goat feed with rumensin in it.

TexasBred":1u9rlvqi said:

bse":1u9rlvqi said:

i was always told Bovatec wouldnt hurt equine but Rumensin would.

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Both carry a warning that consumption might be fatal to equines. Amazing how many donkeys I've seen in pastures with goats consuming goat feed with rumensin in it.

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Im under the impression that the only way to kill a donkey is with a slug between the eyes.

M-5":fvgo5hh1 said:

TexasBred":fvgo5hh1 said:

bse":fvgo5hh1 said:

i was always told Bovatec wouldnt hurt equine but Rumensin would.

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Both carry a warning that consumption might be fatal to equines. Amazing how many donkeys I've seen in pastures with goats consuming goat feed with rumensin in it.

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Im under the impression that the only way to kill a donkey is with a slug between the eyes.

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Depends on the donkey . . . . . . . ask me how I know.

Lucky":1kytps5w said:

I've had good luck using mineral with an IGR. I've had the best luck using Nutrena IGR mineral, funny thing is that it's an inexpensive mineral. It's not an overnight thing though give it 4-6 weeks. Mineral is a mystery to me, most brands have nearly the same exact ingredients but the cost varies greatly.

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Lucky, what you have to realize about minerals are that they come in different "Forms"... Sulfate; Oxide; Carbonate; and Chloride. The most important thing to realize is that these sources vary greatly when it comes to the "Bioavailabilty" to the cows. Think if it this way, Bioavailability means how much of the mineral can my cow actually utilize. Sulfate is the only form that a cow can utilize at 100% (assuming that the animal is consuming the required amount of mineral). Oxide, Carbonate, and Chlorides all will vary with respect how much the cow can actually utilize. And as you can probably guess, Sulfate is the more expensive form in which you can get mineral. So the best thing that we can do is to read the mineral label and see what form they are using when they are putting it in their bag!

Now, you also have the form of mineral called Zinpro Performance Minerals which are the very best but also the most expensive. I hope I helped a little on this subject... I know Texas Bred can clarify some things if I left them out.

Thanks TN cattle man, that makes allot of sense. Another thing I've noticed is that the really cheap mineral clumps up and gets hard as a rock after a week. I give everything a a shot of multimin 90 in the spring to give them a boost before breeding season and try my best to keep mineral out but it's difficult when rotating cows. Do any of y'all think mineral feeders make a difference? I use the bull proof ones.
I also do 1 salt and 2 minerals they always eat the salt first. I was told to stop puttting salt out and do 3 bags of mineral to make them eat the mineral. Anything to that?

If you're using bag mineral, you're correct in that you do not need the salt block. Cows crave salt and with the salt blocks out, they'll bypass the mineral and hit the salt. I'm a firm believer in good minerals and keeping them out year round and I use a hi-mag mineral. I don't use the mineral blocks or sulfer blocks because they are more salt than minerals. Find a good mineral and stick with it.

Sulfates are not 100% Bioavailabile. They have a 100% "relative bioavailability" rating. Actual bioavailability is pretty low. They have a 100% rating because those forms of mineral were what was used in the orignial research to determine the requirimed amount and they became the standard to what other forms of mineral are now compared to. For instance the aforementioned Zinpro minerals are a higher quality than sulfates. I believe their bioavailability is listed at something like 125-150% (it varies depending on if your are talking about Cu, Zn, or Mn) that obviously doesn't mean they absorb more mineral than they ate, it just means they absorbed 25-50% more when compared to the sulfates and thus are a higher quality product.