How to Make a Hanging Salt Lick

Salt licks are a food supplement for animals that provides nutrients and minerals lacking in the regular diet. They are routinely given to livestock to balance out the diet. They can also be created and used to attract wild game such as deer. The primary ingredients of a lick is salt, with added minerals and optional flavoring depending on the use. Making a hanging lick keeps it off the ground and from sitting in a trough or container that can collect moisture and turn the lick to mush, creating waste.

Things You'll Need

  • Mold
  • Nylon rope
  • 5-gallon bucket
  • Salt or mineral salt
  • Kynofos
  • Urea
  • Bone meal
  • Lime
  • Water
  • Molasses (optional)
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Instructions

    • 1

      Purchase the ingredients in bulk to create your hanging salt licks. You won't want to make them all at once, since humidity will cause them to deteriorate; however, you can create a few and store them in sealed containers until use. The leftover ingredients can be stored in sealed containers to make more licks later.

    • 2

      Create two 2-pound salt licks, or the desired number for your use. This recipe will work for the two licks.

    • 3

      Prepare two molds. A small round bucket that will make a cylindrical lick will work, or use a pitcher or square loaf pan. Any type of container you have around that you can adapt works fine; you don't need a special mold.

    • 4

      Cut a length of the nylon rope for each mold. Buy a weight that will hold up to the type of livestock or wild game you are feeding. Cows and horses can break through thin line easily, so use something that will last as long as the lick. Make the rope as long as you need to hang at the site where you are placing the lick.

    • 5

      In a 5-gallon bucket, mix together 19 ounces of mineral salt, 3 ounces of urea, 3 ounces of bone meal, 5 ounces of Kynofos, and 2 ounces of lime. These products can easily be found at a livestock feed dealer or farm supply. Blend them together well.

    • 6

      Add enough water to bind the mixture together and no more. You should not be able to squeeze the mixture and extract water if the blend is right. Add some molasses if you want to sweeten the lick and help bind it together. This works especially well for horses and wild game.

    • 7

      Load half the mixture into one mold. Orient the rope so that it runs down the center of the salt mixture. For a small bucket or cylinder container like a pitcher, you can coil the other end of the rope in the bottom or make a large knot. For a loaf pan, you can half fill the container, lay the rope through the middle and over the ends, then fill the container the rest of the way.

    • 8

      Press the mix down firmly and add more if necessary. Repeat for the other mold, or molds if you are making a larger recipe. Set them in a cool dry place to cure, dry and harden.

    • 9

      Lift the licks from the mold when hard. You can tie the rope into a loop, or if you have used the knot method, simply leave the knot in the bottom and hang it from the other end. Store unused licks in an airtight sealed container.