Summer Mineral Needs
The longer sun exposure and higher temperature humidity index of summer can drastically change your livestock’s mineral needs. Add in life stages such as breeding, lactating, and weaning and you can have the perfect storm for mineral depletion.
Your animal’s biological systems are working overtime during the summer on the macroscopic (physical symptoms that are easy to spot visually) and microscopic level. Making sure every animal has access to an expansive mineral profile is critical in order to replenish what they are losing, maintain overall health, improve body condition, and more.
Electrolytes Are Essential
One of the biggest mineral needs during the summer months is electrolyte replenishment. According to the National Library of Medicine “electrolytes are minerals in your body that have an electric charge. They are in your blood, urine, tissues, and other body fluids.”
Common electrolytes include:
- Sodium
- Calcium
- Potassium
- Magnesium
- Chloride
- Phosphorus
Electrolytes perform many essential functions throughout the entire body. They:
- Conduct electrical impulses that power the heart, muscles, central nervous system and more
- Maintain the acid / base balance (pH levels) within the body
- Move nutrients into cells
- Move waste out of cells
- Balance fluid levels within the body
White Salt Blocks vs. Redmond Mineral Salt
There are a lot of options out there when it comes to livestock minerals. Without knowing everything your animals’ bodies are losing during the summer, it can be tempting to reach for the white salt blocks and call it good.
White Salt
White salt blocks contain plain sodium chloride (NaCl) or plain white table salt. Sodium chloride is an essential mineral and electrolyte but it is only 1 piece of the puzzle. Remember, that animals don’t just lose sodium chloride in the heat of the summer. For this reason, most white salt blocks say that additional supplementation will be needed. They unfortunately offer an incomplete electrolyte profile.
Redmond Mineral Salt
All Redmond mineral salt blocks and loose mixes are harvested from a Jurassic Era deep sea deposit in central Utah. This deposit naturally contains over 60 essential minerals including the complete electrolytes listed below:
- Sodium
- Calcium
- Potassium
- Magnesium
- Chloride
- Phosphorus
Why offer your animals a single electrolyte when you can provide them all? As an added bonus, Redmond’s minerals and their quantities have been perfectly balanced by nature. In fact, the balance of our minerals and salts are nearly identical to the proportions you’d find in the blood of healthy livestock. We like to describe this ratio as mother nature’s formula for ideal animal health. Redmond's signature color shows the unique profile of electrolytes and trace minerals that your animals need, especially during the summer.
Because animals instinctively crave what their bodies need, they love our mineral salts and choose it every time when offered a choice between Redmond and other livestock salts. We offer a wide range of block and loose minerals for all classes of livestock. Give us a call today at 
to see how Redmond can help you get back to what you love about raising animals!
© 2023 Redmond Minerals Inc.