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Vitamins and Minerals One of the significant lessons that Carrie and I have learned over the past couple of years is the importance of vitamins and minerals in our nutrition program. So this month I will give you our thoughts on vitamins and minerals. We have had a basic mineral program for our sheep for the past couple of decades and it has not changed much during that time. Marty Short who works at Knox McDaniel in Ogden, Utah developed our program and we have basically had pretty good luck with the program. Then we purchased the Boers and put them on our sheep mineral program as well as the same nutrition program that we were using on the sheep. It seemed like we were soon in problems with trying to keep the hair coats shiny and our goats just looking good. It seemed like no matter how much grain or hay we fed, they just looked dull and while they would get fat, they just didn’t look like we thought they should. Then three years ago, we found some dairy quality alfalfa hay and I thought that would be just the ticket for the goats. I had watched how many of our friends in Texas were feeding what appeared to me to be very low quality hay and I assumed I could get a leg up on those folks by feeding the dairy quality alfalfa hay. The bales looked great, the goats loved the hay and it appeared that we were in fat city! Then we got close to kidding and a couple of does aborted, as kidding started nearly every doe would go into labor and then would need help. The kids came weak and many died during birth or shortly thereafter. We made every attempt to identify the disease that was taking our kid crop, and soon both we and our Veterinarian were frustrated as no disease could be identified. Finally, he suggested that we do a complete blood work up to determine what the problem might be. We readily agreed and the blood was sent to the lab. The results surprised us and taught us an expensive lesson. The goats were very short on Magnesium, Manganese and Copper. Marty was consulted immediately and we tested our feeds including that wonderful dairy quality alfalfa hay. It turned out the hay was the culprit. The calcium level in the hay was so high that it was tying up the Magnesium and Manganese which were causing the problem. Our mineral formula was adjusted and the problem was cured. I have much greater respect and understanding for the lower quality grass hays my Texas friends feed now. In the past year, we have also consulted with Dr. Tim Turner of Southwest Livestock Mineral in San Angelo, Texas. He has also taught us a great deal about our mineral formula. While we all agree that Copper is important, the question of how much is not always agreed upon. Dr. Turner has indicated to me that he doesn’t think you can kill a goat by giving them too much Copper. Obviously, that statement needs to be taken in context, but I am inclined to agree with him. If the hair coats on your goats are not a shiny as you would like, we have found that Copper may be the first place to look. It could also be worms or other causes, but if it is a nutritional deficiency, Copper is likely the first place to start looking. Unlike feed rations, it is difficult to pinpoint a mineral ration that will work for everyone, since feed components at your place will likely have different mineral contents than the same feedstuffs in our feed market. We are happy to share or formula with you, but you should take it to either your local mineral formulator/dealer or call Marty (Home 307-789-1025, work 800-726-5669) or Dr Turner (work 800-777-0232) and consult with them. National suppliers may have quality mineral formulas as well, we just have not worked with their products other than Sweetlix, whose mineral blocks we have used with success. We do not rely on those mineral blocks for the total mineral package, however, rather we use them for kids or for goats on high quality pasture. We never cease to be amazed at the perfect job Mother Nature does in providing minerals when the goats are on the mountain range land. They just don’t need much additional mineral in those circumstances. Vitamins are likewise an important part of our health and nutrition program. We provide many vitamins in our feed ration as well as including them in our medication program. For example, we believe strongly that 5 c.c. of Vitamin E given two weeks prior to parturition will result in significantly stronger kids. We also give and C,D & T shot at that time to make sure the kids will have coverage until weaning when they will get their first shots. Like many goat breeders, we believe Thiamin is a miracle drug for meat goats. We have seen goats that we thought were dead from stomach problems, be up and standing in minutes after a dose of Thiamin. Vitamin B Complex which has Thiamin in it is also a regular part of our medication program for kids that seem listless and who have their tails down. Vitamin C may prove helpful for buck kids who have urinary calculi when given at the rate of 5 c.c. per day, along with 5 c.c. of Dexamethazone. If you use the Dex, don’t sell the animal for meat at any age as the drug is prohibited for use in food animals. We only use Dex in goats that will either be a part of our breeding program or be dead from the problem. A dose of C may also perk up a listless dumpy looking animal as well. The combination Vitamin AD&E will often assist in correction of leg problems where the joints and bones start to grow in a bent way. Vitamin A will also assist in healing Pinkeye and other eye problems. We try to give each kid born a dose of liquid Vitamins (Nutridrench or Survive) as soon as we can. It is our contention that the use of vitamins in our medication program can significantly offset the use of antibiotics and they are usually cheaper to purchase and much healthier for both the animal and humans as well. One great source for both vitamins and minerals is a product called ‘Replimin’, which is a gel that you give orally to the animal. It is loaded with Copper as well as Vitamins and the minerals are chelated which will assist in faster absorption into the blood stream. Again, if we can share any information or formulas, please don’t hesitate to call. Good Luck with your Vitamin and Mineral program! |
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