“It’s in the feeding, not the breeding” is an old farmer’s rule of thumb. Sheep grazing out on pasture are particularly at risk of essential mineral and trace element deficiencies, not to mention commonly also deficiencies of protein and energy! There are huge variations in pastures, even on the same farm, due to soil types, season and climate, and management.
During long dry Australian summers, feed on offer can be in very short supply and supplementary feeding is necessary to keep sheep alive. Serious deficiencies of minerals and Vitamins such as A, D and E can occur at these times, or may be subclinical, but will frequently result in infertility, lamb deaths and poor weight gains, which all impact overall farm productivity.
Anitone has evolved into a helpful tool for the sheep farmer because in these operations it becomes the true multi tasker. Firstly Anitone is well suited for coating grain for trail feeding or lick feeders and is highly relished by the sheep and will encourage shy feeders. Secondly Anitone can be mixed with many commercial drenches or just as easily drenched alone whenever sheep come into the yards.
Anitone can also be given in water troughs in suitable situations. Many farmers run it into their paddock troughs from their windmill tanks once or twice a week during the long hot summers.
Anitone is a source of valuable minerals needed by sheep running on stubbles over summer, and as well it is a useful stress buffer to give weaners and during shearing, mulesing, or crutching when it can easily be tipped in to the troughs in the sheep yards whilst holding the flock.
Many farmers have reported that Anitone will lift those depressed sheep who want to lay down and die because they have had a hard time, or those that give up and stop eating.
It is a very useful tool for raising lambs, being able to be easily mixed into milk, feed or water. Many farmers use it routinely on their lambing ewes to ensure they come through the physical stress of birth and lactation, and have plenty of energy to look after their lambs. Many sheep diseases have a nutritional aspect to them, predisposing the animal by weakening the immune system – therefore Anitone has great potential for lifting sickies and tail enders, and for any sheep under stress.Anitone is brilliant in the feedlot situation, as it can help to counteract the effects of acidosis and keeps animals on their rations. By supporting gut microflora, Anitone can assist the rumen in adapting to the higher levels of concentrates and may be safely combined with molasses and urea supplements for drought feeding programmes, as the sulphur compounds in Anitone are of particular value when feeding supplements such as urea. Some farm trials have demonstrated a clear benefit in increased weight gains, especially where they are mixing their own grain rations on farm.
Anitone is a great tool for finishing show sheep or preparing rams for ram sales, when it can be used on a daily basis mixed in the ration. Some reports from shearers have indicated that administering.
Anitone prior to shearing can have a quietening effect of the sheep – this is a commonly reported feature of the product in other species of livestock as well. Anitone has also been praised by farmers as being particularly useful in helping recovery from mulesing – a calming and muscle relaxant effect has been reported, and the lambs appear to be brighter and bounce back better from this procedure when they have received a dose of Anitone. Many farmers add Anitone to the water troughs in the yards whenever they bring the sheep in.
DOSAGES
- Lambs 5mls
- Adult Sheep 10mls. Dose can be doubled for stress recovery.
- Add to watering systems at rate of approx. 2mls/litre, or can add to watering troughs in yards in amount calculated by per head volume.