Larkspurs (Delphinium spp.) are native forbs that are poisonous to cattle and cost livestock producers millions of dollars in losses each year. Macro and micro minerals are required for normal functioning of essentially all metabolic processes in ruminants. The role that mineral status may play in larkspur poisoning in cattle is not clear. In this study, we seek to determine the effects a mineral-salt supplement, commonly used by cattle producers, to potentially reduce cattle losses to larkspur. The ability of mineral-salt supplementation to alter susceptibility to larkspur toxicosis was evaluated in a pen study. Animals supplemented with mineral-salt were found to be less susceptible to larkspur poisoning than the non-supplemented animals. A separate group of animals were then grazed on larkspur infested rangelands. One group was supplemented with a mineral-salt mix and the other group did not receive any mineral-salt. Supplementing cattle with the mineral-salt mix did not alter larkspur consumption (P > 0.05). However, overall larkspur consumption was low and averaged 3 ± 1.0% and 2 ± 1.1% for cattle supplemented with mineral and non-supplemented, respectively. Serum was collected from animals once a week during the grazing study. Average and maximum serum concentrations of toxic larkspur alkaloids were numerically higher in mineral-salt supplemented cattle compared with the non-supplemented animals. Results from the pen study suggest that a good mineral supplementation program will provide a protective effect for animals grazing in larkspur-infested ranges. The mineral-salt supplemented steers, in the grazing study, were not observed to consume less larkspur than the non-supplemented animals; however, the mineral-salt supplemented animals had higher concentrations of larkspur alkaloids in their serum indicating they may be able to tolerate higher larkspur consumption. The data also indicate that mineral-salt supplementation must be continuous throughout the time the animals are grazing these rangelands as the positive effects can be lost within 30 d post supplementation.

中文翻译：

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补充矿物盐改善飞燕草中毒的牛

飞燕草 (Delphinium spp.) 是本地杂草，对牛有毒，每年给畜牧业者造成数百万美元的损失。反刍动物基本上所有代谢过程的正常运作都需要常量和微量矿物质。矿物质状态在牛飞燕草中毒中所起的作用尚不清楚。在这项研究中，我们试图确定养牛者常用的矿物盐补充剂对减少牛因飞燕草造成的损失的影响。在笔研究中评估了补充矿物盐改变飞燕草中毒易感性的能力。发现补充了矿物盐的动物比未补充的动物更不易受飞燕草中毒的影响。然后，另一组动物在飞燕草出没的牧场上放牧。一组补充了矿物盐混合物，另一组不接受任何矿物盐。给牛补充矿物盐混合物并没有改变飞燕草的摄入量 (P > 0.05)。然而，总体飞燕草消耗量较低，补充矿物质和未补充矿物质的牛的平均消耗量分别为 3 ± 1.0% 和 2 ± 1.1%。在放牧研究期间每周一次从动物身上收集血清。与未补充矿物盐的动物相比，补充矿物盐的牛体内有毒飞燕草生物碱的平均和最大血清浓度在数值上更高。围栏研究的结果表明，良好的矿物质补充计划将为在飞燕草出没的范围内放牧的动物提供保护作用。补充矿物盐的小牛，在放牧研究中，没有观察到比未补充的动物消耗更少的飞燕草；然而，补充矿物盐的动物血清中的飞燕草生物碱浓度更高，表明它们可能能够耐受更高的飞燕草摄入量。数据还表明，在动物放牧这些牧场的整个过程中必须连续补充矿物盐，因为补充后 30 天内可能会失去积极作用。