The Importance of Good DATA- DATA is in!

[Southern by choice]

The mineral Analysis was done from blood samplings.

We did a test group. One was young 8 months- logically you could deduce that the toxicity levels would not be as severe as an older goat that has had years of the water.

The water didn't need to be tested-we already knew it was high in iron. That is why we have a filtration system.
Simple ways for anyone to suspect high iron would be by the appearance. Do you have "orange" build up on your shower curtain, do you have to quickly remove your laundry so it doesn't stain orange, does your white caulk in the bathroom yellow/orange rather quickly.

Too high of sulfur can also cause issue..you can smell the sulfur-

We do run fecals for parasite checks/monitoring but the mineral analysis was the best way to see what the overall levels are.

You can always draw your own blood. Calling your state lab you can ask what kind of tube needed.. red/purple etc. ask how many cc'c they need. A mineral analysis is done by a chemist. Our state lab actually sends ours to Pennsylvania because we lost our chemist years ago.That is one reason the test was kind of high.

Our lab is close enough we could have just dropped them off but we were having kids examined before going to their new homes and annual health exams so it was easier to let the vet take care of everything. We also had CAE and Johnes done at the same time-they were done in state at $1.50 per test.

I do think this will be very interesting to see what we need to change.

 

[Southern by choice]

The DATA....

Normal limits/range our goats

Calcium:80-110ppm 104~ 105~ 103~ 103
Copper: 0.80-1.20ppm 0.685 ~ 0.979~ 0.831~ 0.753
Iron: 1.1- 2.3ppm 8.25~ 6.28~ 6.34~ 7.97
Magnesium: 25-35ppm 27.4~ 28.8~ 28.4~ 27.8
Total Phosphorus: 80-160ppm 135~ 130~ 125~ 111
Potassium: 156- 235ppm 432~ 412~ 302~ 398
Sodium: 3092-3550ppm 2920~ 3080~ 3040~ 3110
Zinc: 0.65-2.70 ppm 1.28~ 1.56~ 1.40~ 1.60

Blood serum Selenium adequate levels range from 0.20-0.50
Our goats were 0.326~ 0.340~ 0.314~ 0.338

*There is a risk of elevated iron and potassium due to hemolysis.
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As you can see the iron is extremely high, this has effected the copper and those needing copper will be given a bolus. The high iron is the greatest concern. The vets are not aware of how to actually reduce to iron levels/toxicity but at this point we need to eliminate all iron from feed/mineral etc. I am continuing to research a way to reduce the iron from their system.

We will use rain barrels for their water.

Of course this is a great concern for humans too. We will be having our water tested to see if the iron is particulate or soluble.
We may need a reverse osmosis system.

Although collection method can elevate iron and potassium levels.... these levels would not be this elevated.

We are considering having our hay tested and a soil sample done also.

We will be retesting a sampling in 3 months to re-evaluate.

I hope others have found this useful.