Sweetlix Mineral

I have been giving Sweetlix Meat Maker to our does for about five years now. Shame on me, but I just recently discovered a Sweetlix mineral designed specifically for dairy goats. In doing a little research, some still prefer the Meat Maker even for their does. My local co-op sells both, so my question is: 1. For those out there that use Sweetlix, or are familiar with it, what do you recommend for does? 2. How about for bucks? The Meat Maker or the Sweetlix designed for dairy?

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  • If you have been feeding this for five years and had no problems, then you're doing great! That's why I emphasized alfalfa ONLY. If goats are on pasture and eating other stuff, or if there is grass in their hay, then that's not 100% alfalfa. 

    Too much calcium causes zinc deficiency, which causes foaming of the mouth and then hair loss in huge chunks that leaves bald patches. If you haven't seen that, you're fine. 

    Too little calcium at freshening will cause hypocalcemia (calcium deficiency), which can kill a doe, if not treated quickly and aggressively. That's why the Magnum Milker scares me. Too little calcium with a milker can kill her, but too much causes a mineral imbalance (zinc deficiency) that causes pretty obvious symptoms and is easily corrected by simply reducing the calcium level in the diet. Just add grass hay.

  • Thanks for the help Deborah. Great info. Indeed, we do feed our does alfalfa hay. It's not 100% alfalfa, but it's good quality stuff. Should I be concerned about too much calcium in our does if we are giving the Meat Maker?
  • The big difference between the Meat Maker and the Dairy is the amount of calcium. They assume that your does are confined and that you're feeding 100% alfalfa to dairy does, so Magnum Milk actually has less calcium in it. The calcium to phosphorus ratio in Meat Maker is 2:1, and in Magnum Milk it's 1:1. Basically Meat Maker has 2X as much calcium as Magnum Milk does. Meat Maker is 14-16% calcium. Frankly, MM scares me, and I won't use it for does because of the risk of hypocalcemia (calcium deficiency) when they freshen. I really wish that Sweetlix labeled their bags with some type of educational material for consumers.

    Weirdly enough -- I have actually thought about giving Magnum Milk to my bucks in the winter. This year, for the second time in 15 years, I don't have grass hay, and I just noticed foaming at the mouth this morning, which is an early indicator of zinc deficiency, which is caused by too much calcium. 

    http://www.sweetlix.com/products/C14A34/meat-maker-products.aspx

    http://www.sweetlix.com/products/C14A36/magnum-milk-products.aspx

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