Keeping Game Safe From Mineral Deficiencies And Poisoning

Game kept in intensive systems and that are moved to larger camps or open farms, can suffer from mineral deficiencies.

- Andries Gouws

Since game prices are not what they used to be, it is becoming harder to afford the expensive feed required for intensive systems. At the same time, some animals are genetically so superior that it would be unwise to get rid of them.

Many of the animals are moved to larger camps or even open farms where natural grazing and edible shrubs make up a much larger portion of their diet. To support animal performance, farmers should make use of the expert advice of nutritionists to analyse the estimated nutritional value of the veld, and to adjust licks and supplementation in such a way that mineral deficiencies are supplemented correctly.

Poisonous plants

Poisoning due to plants that are unknown to animals and/or which they would not eat in the wild, is another risk that game farmers must consider when game can no longer migrate as they did in the wild. When grazing is scarce, such plants become very attractive to animals, often with disastrous consequences.

Dr Johan Steyl from the Faculty of Veterinary Science at the University of Pretoria says there is a lot of information available pertaining to the complex action and interaction of minerals in ruminants, but little is known about mineral-related problems in game.

The biological and chemical form in which the minerals occur also affects their bioavailability. This means that the mineral analysis indicated on the bag of feed is not necessarily available to the animal for which it is intended. This makes it very difficult to identify the main cause of a mineral imbalance.

Copper