USA_2-1_Goat_Mineral_Label.pdfCould you look at this PDF of what is in this mineral mix and tell me how it compares. Frankly - it is seldom I see any of my goats eating any of my minerals. And I don't want to force minerals on them. As Deborah said in another post - if they are getting much of what they need from food - they won't go to minerals - so this means my goats might not be getting all that they need ...concept.
Thoughts?
Judy
Replies
If you have concerns about the water (salt from the softener), you might consider making yourself a little distiller for their water.
My husband said that there is nothing removing the salt from our water softener before before our water goes to our goats. He also didn't think that there would be enough sodium in the water to affect the goat's desire to eat minerals. Softened water doesn't even taste salty. Most goat minerals I've seen are 10-40% salt. I also did a quick search on the topic, and here is what Mayo has to say:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/nutrition-and-healthy-eati...
I haven't actually said it, but our goats drink our softened water, and they consume the Sweetlix minerals just fine -- right at the recommended amount.
Since you only have a few goats, is it possible that they were eating more than you thought? Did you do the math to see how long it should take to go through a bag of the minerals? It is possible for goats to consume the recommended amount of a multi-mineral and still need additional supplementation of one or two single minerals. Since you have a water softener, I'm assuming there is something about your water that is less than desirable. In our case, we have high sulfur, so even though our goats consume the Sweetlix at the recommended level, they still need COWP 3-4 times a year. If they simply ate more of the Sweetlix, then they'd OD on other minerals.
Unfortunately, his answers just make me ask more questions ... If the copper he uses is totally available to the goat, then why does he use twice as much as what is used in mixes with copper sulfate? Chelated minerals are supposed to be better absorbed and they use a lot less.
And remember, there is a case study about goats that died from copper toxicity when receiving 3000 ppm copper sulfate in a mineral. If some goats died with that much copper sulfate -- which he is says is not readily available -- then this copper has even more risk for toxicity, if what he says is correct.
I'm not sure if I buy the softened water theory because we have a water softener. I'll ask my husband if there is anything in place to remove the salt after softening on our system. Our water treatment system is really complicated! Because our water is so bad, we have several things in place, but I don't know if any of them would remove sodium.
OK Deborah -
The crystal creek man said the reason they like the version of copper they use is that it is totally available to the animal. Meaning you don't have to do other copper supplementation. He said Copper sulfate which is the usual thing in minerals is often not available to the animal which is why people have learned to bolus.
When I said my goats don't eat the minerals much - his first question was - do you have high sodium in your water.
His opinion on my issue with the goats not ever eating the minerals - even when they were copper deficient - is that my water - in order to deal with sulfur and iron - is softened. It is softened with salt. So my water is "high" in salt and thus - the goats have salt in their water and don't want the minerals. The salt normally draws them in to the minerals. Thus they aren't getting the other things in the minerals either.
That is why my goats likely have never touched any of my minerals - any of the choices I've brought in.
My issue is - getting another source of water is not feasible. In summer - I collect rainwater and that is great (haven't seen goats eat minerals then either by the way). But in cold- I bring it.
Judy
That's what goats do! :-) And pleas share the info when he tells you more about the type of copper he uses.
Well - BECAUSE I posted this - a bunch of goats went in today and gobbled some up - wouldn't you know.
Anyway - I can access Sweetlix and can try that! They wouldn't eat it in the past which is why I got this one.
The owner of this business raises dairy goats - so I can ask him just out of curiousity - why he chose that copper option.
Judy
I never thought I'd say this, but the high level of copper makes me nervous, although the copper ingredient is listed as "Copper Polysaccharide Complex," which I've never seen on a mineral label, so I don't now how to compare it. Copper sulfate is the usual source in most minerals, and if it's around 1,500 ppm, that good. The thing that worries me about such a high level of copper is that if the goats don't need it, they won't eat the mineral and may be missing out on other important nutrients. There is one published study in the literature about goats dying from copper toxicity, and they had been fed a cattle mineral that contained 3,000 ppm copper sulfate.