As some may know from reading my post I have been feeding Sweetlix meat maker minerals, baking soda and separate salt all the time, and 2-3 days a week my herd gets Onyx cattle minerals. For a while now I have noticed that I have had to waste more of the sweetlix minerals to put out fresh so I have not been putting out as much at a time. There is never even one grain of Onyx left Yesterday when I brought out the Onyx bucket, you would have thought I was bringing them grain and hadn't fed them anything at all for weeks!
It was all I could do to get into the pen with the bucket, and once I got to the mineral feeder it was a showdown to see who's nose would be the first in which turned into a knock down drag out brawl over who gets to eat the minerals directly from the bucket. All the while I am filling the feeder. The little one eventually knocked over and climbed into the bucket to get the last traces of mineral from it since the bucket was empty afterwards.
They gobble the stuff... if they only take what they need and they are barely, if at all, touching the sweetlix I am skeptical as to if I should continue buying the sweetlix once I run out. The Onyx does have considerably more copper, and I have heard that they can get too much causing toxicity, which is why I have only been giving them a little every few days. But I am torn because they act so desperate over it. I continued to use it even after I copper bloused in late spring/early summer, and now their coats look amazing and some seem to go a little longer between worming.
Any advice or thoughts would be appreciated.
Replies
Thanks Deborah! You are always so helpful.
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
This is a really tough call. Looks like the Onyx has less of everything except copper, so I'd guess that's what your goats are going crazy for. And the Onyx has a LOT less of most of the minerals, meaning you could wind up with a deficiency of something else. Half as much selenium sounds dangerous because the selenium has been standardized by more testing than most minerals, and I've never heard of a goat toxicity from it, which means that if you only give half as much, it could be a problem. The other breeder you know probably gave MuSe, which is the cattle version of selenium. Before I starting using BoSe, I asked a vet professor if she'd ever heard of a goat dieing from a BoSe injection, and she said no, but she had heard of them dieing from MuSe, so it is pretty strong stuff.
You just have to evaluate your goats based upon what you do and figure out what works best in your herd.
Deborah, Here is what the label says for both. Word has it that we are not in a selenium deficient area, but another goat person I know has had to give some in her herd a stronger version of BoSe... I have forgotten the name at the moment. The only time I gave extra selenium was at kidding, and Madison got a couple mouthfuls before she could stand without falling over like a fainting goat.
Sweetlix Cattle mineral
Calcium Min 14%- Max 16.80%
Phosphorus Min 8%
Salt Min -10.00% Max- 12.00%
Magnesium Min 1.5%
Potassium 1.5%
Sulfur 1.5%
Iron 1.25 %
manganese 1.25%
Zinc 1.25%
Cobalt 240 ppm
Copper Min 1750 ppm Max 1810 ppm
Iodine 450 ppm
Selenium 50 ppm
Vitamin A 300,000IU/Lb
Vitamin D-3 50,000 IU/Lb
Vitamin E 400 IU/Lb
Onyx Cattle mineral
Calcium Min 13% Max 15%
Phosphorus Min 8%
Salt Min 14% Max 16%
Sodium Min 5.3% Max 6.3%
Magnesium Min 2%
Potassium Min 1%
Copper Min 2500 PPM
Iodine Min 200PPM
Selenium Min 26 PPM
Zinc Min 5000 PPM
Vitamin A Min 100,000 IU/LB
Vitamin D Min 10,000 IU/LB
Vitamin E Min 100 IU/LB
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said: