Deborah - I have seen you mention using free choice selenium. Was going to order some but wanted to ask if you have ever had them use too much. Is it not a concern that some would over use it, especially young ones or is it a pretty low dose? I always worry about that kind of a situation. I had a hard time going over to use COWP also but after using it I can really see a difference. My animals coats are so soft and nice since doing the COWP - I did have two still- births last year so added selenium gel giving it occasionally but it may not be enough?
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Julia @Woody Glen Farm said:
Well - I added the free choice selenium -worried about over eating of it so much. Every one took a taste but no one really wanted much. Maybe they get enough in their mineral mix. Anyway - no more worry -will just keep some out. Thanks again for all the information.
If you have a Fertrell dealer in your area, they can get it for you, if they don't normally carry it. That's where I get it. They have a dealer look-up on their website.
I wish it was available locally! I buy it from Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Thorvin-Organic-Kelp-For-Animals/dp/B003MPX2Z...
Expensive stuff but it lasts a long time. This was the best price I could find with free shipping.
I free choice the kelp, baking soda, and then I use the goat minerals from Hoeggers Supply. I also found they would gulp down a lot of kelp but now only a little. I get my kelp at my local feed store.
I will be ordering the selenium -probably today from Caprine Supply. Thank you so much for all the response. I get so much pleasure from this goat forum. It is also really great to know how many people love their little ones as much as I do. Now I know I am not really nuts - just part of a special community. Right!! Thanks again -Bev
Julia,
Where do you buy your kelp? Online or at a store? The reason I ask is because I live near asheville and if there is someplace that sells it I would much rather pick it up then pay shipping online lol!
Julia @Woody Glen Farm said:
My goats LOVE the kelp! I was worried, they go through it so fast. But after a month now, they finally slowed down a bit on it. I just put about a 1/4 cup in there each day and they fight over it.
I also have free choice kelp available, but not yeast. Goats love kelp. They tend to eat a lot when you first put it out, but with time, they slow down their consumption.
Do you free choice the kelp as well? Do your goats go for that? What about yeast?
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
I switched from BoSe injections to free choice selenium three or four years ago, and it's going great. Livers show mid-range selenium levels, rather than borderline low, and there was no reduction in fertility when switching from BoSe injections to the free choice. Grassfed cattle producers swear by "cafeteria minerals," which means they put out about 14 different mineral feeders, each with a single mineral. This has been done for at least 20 years, probably a lot longer.
Current research on goats being able to self-regulate their mineral consumption have been very positive. Many years ago (at least 20), there was research that said goats could not self-regulate, but that was because they used salt as a carrier for every mineral. Today we know that salt drives a goat's consumption of minerals, so putting salt in every mineral completely confused them and stopped them from consuming the minerals they needed. The selenium/E from Caprine Supply uses wheat middlings as the carrier. I looks like sawdust. The goats usually consume it very slowly unless the Sweetlix runs out, and then within a day or two, I see the selenium/E run out also within another couple of days. So, they really do know what they're doing.
The only study I've ever seen where goats had a problem with toxicity when consuming oral minerals was in a herd of 100 or so goats that were given a cattle mineral with 3000 ppm copper. Four or five of the goats in that herd died from copper toxicity. So, I think it's safe to say that about 95% of goats won't overdose themselves, even in a less-than-optimum situation. What I mean by that is that the goats who did overdose themselves probably did it because they were trying to get enough of the other minerals in that mix. That's why I always say that you should not mix things into minerals, such as baking soda, kelp, etc. When you start mixing things, you run the risk of over-dosing on some things and under-dosing on others. I would like to do cafeteria-style on everything, but the companies that sell individual minerals usually sell them in 50# bags, which I don't think I'd use fast enough. I'm happy that Caprine Supply sells the selenium in a 10# bucket. That's a good size for a goat herd.
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