Feeding Arsenic

Do you believe that this practice is still going on? I have heard that it was widespread back in the 50's and 60's and rumors about it's use in today's show cattle. What do people think about this? What does it do?

Makes them eat or makes them die. Can be afine line

JTM said:

Do you believe that this practice is still going on? I have heard that it was widespread back in the 50's and 60's and rumors about it's use in today's show cattle. What do people think about this? What does it do?

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JTM this is way off subject but I was wondering if your are going to be selling any semen on CF Flex in the future. Whether you are or not, what type of cows do you feel he would work best on?

As far as this thread goes, Its crazy to hear some of the things people did to show cattle back in the day. Its sad to hear some of that illegal crap is still going on as well. 

shortii said:

JTM said:

Do you believe that this practice is still going on? I have heard that it was widespread back in the 50's and 60's and rumors about it's use in today's show cattle. What do people think about this? What does it do?

Click to expand...

JTM this is way off subject but I was wondering if your are going to be selling any semen on CF Flex in the future. Whether you are or not, what type of cows do you feel he would work best on?

As far as this thread goes, Its crazy to hear some of the things people did to show cattle back in the day. Its sad to hear some of that illegal crap is still going on as well. 

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Flex is syndicated so I won't be selling any semen on him. The only way to get some would be to split a flush with someone who has it. I think he will work good on moderate framed, easy fleshing purebred Shorthorns. He has superior phenotype and structure with plenty of bone, foot, and huge mountain oysters... He naturally bred about 7 or 8 cows for me this summer and I will be finding out pretty soon.
I agree that is is sad that the illegal crap goes on. Any other thoughts from people? Experience?

I have no proof but I suspect some show producers are still feeding arsenic. It increases their appetites immensely but it can also cause major problems after they are taken off it. It also promotes hair growth so it does a lot of things that some want... and as we all know  .. to some winning is everything.
Arsenic has been used more in the horse industry probably more than in the cattle industry. 
Anyone who goes to these measures are beyond stupid in my opinion.

I remember back in the 70's we actually put in the water for hogs per vet advice for treatment of some illness not sure what the illness was at the time but it was a practice that was used.

justintime said:

I have no proof but I suspect some show producers are still feeding arsenic. It increases their appetites immensely but it can also cause major problems after they are taken off it. It also promotes hair growth so it does a lot of things that some want... and as we all know  .. to some winning is everything.
Arsenic has been used more in the horse industry probably more than in the cattle industry. 
Anyone who goes to these measures are beyond stupid in my opinion.

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Interesting, I had never heard that it promoted hair growth also. I have heard that it may weaken the lining in the digestive system and allow more to be absorbed instead of wasted. Do you think there is merit to this? What kind of problems arise after they are taken off of it? Thanks.

an old friend of mine, still has a bottle of it laying around...

few years ago, we had a ewe lamb that was purchased, came to us with a set of tapeworms..  after every deworming treatment, combination, and dosage in the book... he said, she'll die anyways, we may as well try a shot of this old stuff.  I had no idea what it was in that old unmarked brown bottle, but we agreed on a dosage (forgot what it was) and administered it.

After giving it to her, he told me what it was- and said it'd either kill her or the worm, either way we'd fix the problem (of her spreading it to the rest of the flock). 

Cured that ewe lamb, not once for the rest of her life did a tapeworm, or egg appear in her- and not once did she get the shits again.. 

Disclaimer: I know nothing about feeding this product to animals that are produced FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION, but really? 
I can see it being used under the care of a vet for a serious problem, but not by some fitter who thinks he is a vet in order to grow hair, or for whatever the other side effects may be.  I wish people wouldn't forget that the main purpose of raising these animals is/should be to get a quality product to the consumer.  Ok down off my soap box.

I was told that in the 50's , 60's it was common for show and sale cattle to be fed this and they thrived and grew great hair. (assuming you knew just the right amount to feed) After the sales when the new buyers got them home and they no longer got arsenic they shrunk up, lost the hair and were not thrifty. It also builds up in the body so all so sorts of food chain issues etc.
It's a poison with bad side effects up to and including death

It used to be a common practice for draft horses to be fed arsenic and many great hitch teams depended on it. ( I said " used to be a common practice" as I do not know if it is still as common as it used to be)  I remember a neighbour selling his famous 6 horse hitch ( back in the 70s) to a buyer in California. This was a well matched hitch of 6 red roan Belgian horses that did a pile of winning throughout Canada and the US. When the owner decided to retire, he sold the horses to a buyer from California. He told the buyer that the horses were on arsenic and if he kept them on it, there were several years of high quality showing left in them. The buyer did not listen and within a year of taking them off arsenic, only 1 of the 6 horses was still alive.
I also remember a few years ago when frame score was the number 1 criteria for show cattle, a well known breeder in these parts, had some of the biggest cattle in both Canada and the US. I was stalled by him at one show, and I noticed that he did not allow any of his family or workers prepare the feed for the cattle. I watched closely and I noticed that he had a small locked box inside his show box and when he showed he would unlock it and take a small amount of a grey powder and mix it in the feed. I suspect he was feeding arsenic. The other clue for me, was that I purchased two females from this herd in that era and both of them completely fell apart after coming here. They were hard doing, always thin and unthrifty. My dad was convinced that they had been on arsenic and he suggested that I buy cattle elsewhere from that time. I have followed his advice.

Probably 20 years ago or close to it a neighbour girl "Saved" an old decrepit horse off of a meat truck that was a complete bag of bones.


No matter how much you fed that horse or what you fed it, it never gained much weight and the poor old nag was just an eye sore.


An old time vet close to retirement came out and looked at the old boy, floated his teeth and suggested he be fed Arsenic to help stimulate his appetite and make him put weight on.

I have no idea if it worked though.

Everyone has heard lots of tales about arsenic being used as a poison and it is/was.  But in reality, almost any element or compound is "poisonous" if you ingest enough of it.  Arsenic is a heavy metal that isn't really all that toxic - it takes quite a bit to have an adverse affect on humans or animals.  For example, it is very similar in toxicity to other metals like selenium that we feed to animals.  Honestly, we probalby give our livestock a lot more minerals (i.e. heavy metals) than they really need when we feed them feed with it built in + all of the different supplements we tend to use. 

As far as that being potentially harmful to humans eating those animals - no risk to us whatsoever. Mammals don't bioaccumlate metals that easily.  All of the cases you hear of that on tv involve fish and birds which are very different biologically - and those cases are almost always mercury.

Some people probably do still feed arsenic.  I know my mentor in the show business still did not too many years ago. 

Does anybody know how an animal can be tested for Arsenic?

Blood test.  Any college or vet lab could do it