Gift from the Neighbour

[Baymule]

I had lambs eating dirt from fresh gopher mounds. I had some Azomite that I bought to mineralize the soil in the garden, so I offered them some. They licked it right up. It is rock dust from an ancient lava flow, from Utah. I now keep it out for all the sheep. I bought it on Amazon.

http://www.azomite.com/

 

[greybeard]

Question for you on my jersey heifer calf. I let them run around in our riding arena during the day...it is for horses of course but we don't ride anymore so it has become a bottle calf paradise. The riding arena is filled with sand. The silly calf keeps eating the sand! I called another calf raiser and she said she probably just wants something gritty in her stomach and she has access to hay and grain both of which she is putting in her mouth. I can't leave her in the riding arena because I just cant get her to stop eating sand! Any idea? The only thing that comes up on google is that she is missing something in her diet, but what is she missing?!

I know this is an old question, but it's not neccessarily something the calf 'needs' as what it wants. Most sand naturally has a fairly high % of salt content in it (compared to dirt or soil) , as well as other small particles of various minerals. It is not unusual for any bovine to choose to ingest salty substances even if their rumen is full of forage and/or feed, and even if they have salt/mineral available to them in more traditional forms.
The calf may be eating the sand simply because it likes the taste of the salt or other mineral, whether the calf is deficient in that regard or not.