The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Livestock => Sheep => Topic started by: moprabbit on November 29, 2018, 09:31:10 am
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I just wondered how long mineral buckets lasted terms of their usefulness. Mine last ages, but I've only got 4 sheep, who I must admit get fed up with them pretty quickly! But in terms of the mineral content, how long are they useful? Thankyou
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Will be a best before date on the bucket somewhere , if open and subject to the weather then this may be the limit or if unopened or covered then should be ok for a bit longer
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Will be a best before date on the bucket somewhere , if open and subject to the weather then this may be the limit or if unopened or covered then should be ok for a bit longer
Minerals do not go off or disappear with time. It is a simple chemical fact! For example - have you ever known salt to go off in a salt cellar? Complex chemicals will denature in time like antibiotics or proteins, but minerals such as potassium, selenium, calcium, magnesium and all the rest, are the basic element itself and cannot denature any further and therefore are stable.
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Thanks for the replies! I'll have a look on the buckets to see what the best before date is.
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Minerals do not go off or disappear with time. It is a simple chemical fact! For example - have you ever known salt to go off in a salt cellar? Complex chemicals will denature in time like antibiotics or proteins, but minerals such as potassium, selenium, calcium, magnesium and all the rest, are the basic element itself and cannot denature any further and therefore are stable.
But mineral buckets are not made of pure minerals - the majority of it is molasses, which will spoil over time.
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Plus don’t they have added vitamins? I think you can probably expect the vitamins to degrade after a while - maybe six months ish?
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My sheep nuts say the vitamin levels will be retained for 3.5 months ?
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good point Sally. the best before relates to the vitamins. whilst minerals don't degrade vitamins do. after the BB date the vitamin content will be less than stated on the bucket.