Why Does Your Stock Need Salt?

Salt is an essential part of the daily diet of all livestock if they are to perform cost effectively.  It plays a major role in the diet and is essential for efficient feed utilization.  Additionally, it stimulates saliva production, promoting digestion and making fodder more palatable.

Deficiencies are most likely in rapidly growing animals and also in lactating stock.

Salt deficiency can lead to:

• Loss of appetite and poor intakes

• Depressed growth rates in growing and fattening stock

• Poor milk production in lactating livestock

Visible symptoms of salt deficiency are often seen in the form of cravings for salt; drinking urine and the licking of gates, walls, stones and soil are examples of this.