Why bulls eat earth

Bulls eat earth as a result of the lack of any elements in their diet. Most often these are endemic violations, but as a result of improved transport links today this problem can arise in any region.

Why bulls eat earth

Perversion of appetite in any mammal occurs with a lack of trace elements in food. In nature, animals make up for this deficiency with water from rivers that flow from afar. River water, flowing through different regions, is saturated with substances contained in the soil.

Limited in the choice of food and water, livestock makes up for the lack of minerals by eating the earth. Clay is richest in micro- and macroelements. Other types of soil clog the stomach of a bull to no avail.

Eating earth by a bull is a sign of some diseases related to metabolic disorders:

• ketosis;
• osteodystrophy;
• hypocobaltosis;
• hypocuprosis.

“Pure” avitaminosis usually does not lead to perversions of appetite.

Ketosis

The most common variant of ketosis is a lack of carbohydrate in the diet of cows and an excess of fat and protein. But the development of the disease can be caused by a chronic lack of a whole complex of chemicals:

• manganese;
• copper;
• zinc;
• cobalt;
• iodine.

Perversion of appetite is a symptom of a mild form of ketosis, when everything is easy enough to fix. The diagnosis is made after a laboratory analysis of blood and urine. Treatment is carried out by adding the missing elements to the feed.

Often the goby eats the earth out of boredom or hunger, as there is no grass yet.

Osteodystrophy

disease in adult animals. The calves don’t get sick. Osteodystrophy in bulls is usually recorded during the stall period in the absence of exercise and exposure to ultraviolet rays.

A winter deficiency of vitamins and chemicals is superimposed on the shortcomings of the content:

• salts of phosphoric acid;
• calcium
• vitamin A;
• cobalt;
• manganese.

The development of osteodystrophy is also facilitated by a violation of the ratio of these elements. Provoking factors are an excess of CO₂ in the room and protein in the diet.

Osteodystrophy develops osteoporosis and softening of the bones (osteomalacia). With these diseases, calcium is washed out of the animal’s body, it develops “lizuha” or a perversion of appetite. The bull, released after the winter for walking, begins to eat the earth, trying to make up for the deficiency of the missing micro and macro elements.

After the diagnosis is established, the animals’ diet is balanced and the necessary mineral-vitamin premixes are added.

Hypocobaltosis

The disease is typical only for certain regions, in the soil of which there is not enough cobalt. Hypocobaltosis occurs in areas where the earth is well washed by rains, or in swampy areas. In an attempt to make up for the lack of cobalt, cattle eat not only the earth, but also other inedible objects, including the bones of other animals.

The diagnosis is made taking into account the biochemical analysis of blood and checking the soil, feed and water for the content of the necessary metal. In case of deficiency, cobalt salts and feeds with a high content of this element are prescribed to animals.

Podzolic soils are typical for northern regions with heavy rainfall.

Hypocuprosis

Develops in areas poor in copper. With hypocuprosis, the bull eats the earth, as it instinctively tries to make up for the lack of metal in the body. Adult animals are less susceptible to hypocuprosis than young animals. The symptoms of the disease are more noticeable in calves, since copper deficiency primarily affects the development and growth of the calves. Adult cattle are diagnosed on the basis of blood biochemistry.

The disease is chronic and in advanced cases the prognosis is poor. For therapeutic and prophylactic purposes, copper sulfate is added to the feed of bulls.

What if the bulls eat the earth

First of all, it is worth donating blood for a biochemical analysis. For some reason, the owners of bulls taken for fattening prefer to make a diagnosis “according to the grandmother’s principle”: they eat the earth, which means there is not enough chalk. Sometimes the “diagnosis” changes to a lack of vitamins. The latter are absent in the soil. And the bull, not getting the substances he needs in the feed, continues to eat the soil.

In small quantities, the earth is not dangerous. In any case, cows often swallow it along with plucked plants. But with mineral starvation, bulls eat too much land. They usually do not understand the types of soil, they eat it at the level of instincts. “Grazing” on black soil or sand, the animal will not make up for the lack of trace elements and will continue to eat the earth. The result will be a mechanical obstruction of the intestine. Clay will also cause harm if the bull eats too much of it.

There is nothing difficult in making the bull not eat the earth. After receiving the results of the analysis, a premix with the missing elements is added to the feed. Sometimes it really can be calcium, but in this case it is better to mix the chalk with food, and not give it in its pure form.

Conclusion

Since bulls eat earth when there is a shortage of elements, the task of the owner is to provide them with a complete diet. Sometimes for this it is enough just not to be afraid to use ready-made compound feeds specially designed for cattle.