# Introducing Salt & Trace Minerals to Pygmy Goats



## carolynb (May 25, 2010)

I have 2 - 10 week old pygmy goats.  I have had trouble finding information regarding when it is appropriate to introduce Salt & Trace Minerals to them.  Any help would be greatly appreciated!!


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## ksalvagno (May 25, 2010)

I would buy the goat loose minerals. You can give it to them now. My one month old babies have already been eating minerals. I wouldn't bother with the salt block.


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## carolynb (May 25, 2010)

Thank you so much for your reply!  So no salt at all, ever?  Does the Loose minerals have enough salt?


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## cmjust0 (May 25, 2010)

I'd advise against setting out straight salt..  Most mineral is at least 15% salt, and the salt is what draws them to the mineral mix..  If you set out straight salt, the may get some or all of their "salt fix" from the straight salt and either ignore or under-utilize the mineral, which may lead to mineral deficiency.

When choosing mineral, look for lots of sulfates or chelates..  In my experience, the telltale sign of bad mineral (and vitamins for humans!) is copper oxide..  Copper oxide has very low bioavailability, but it's cheaper than the more highly bioavailable copper sulfate or chelated copper.  It does, however, allow the manufacturer to list "Copper" on their guaranteed analysis tag...  To cut corners, some mineral makers add cheap copper oxide to their mix just to be able to list it on the tag.

The mineral I use is custom blended by a local livestock nutrition company.  The blend itself was designed by the goat experts at two local university ag departments..  Still, before placing my first order, I asked the plant manager at the nutrition place whether they used copper sulfate or copper oxide...  He actually _laughed_ and said "We don't even have a bag of copper oxide _in this building_."

If you want to see what a mineral should NOT look like, go to your local TSC and pick up a bag of "American Stockman Big 6" and have a look..  If I recall correctly, nearly all salt with some added copper oxide, iron oxide, etc..  In terms of bioavailability, it's practically worthless..


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## carolynb (May 25, 2010)

Wow...very informative!  I really appreciate your reply and will be sure to look for copper sulfate!!


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## ksalvagno (May 25, 2010)

I use Sweetlix Meatmaker loose mineral. You can look online at the tags. Sweetlix Meatmaker would be a good comparison for you. Print out the label that they have online and then look for a mineral similar to that. Paying for a good mineral is worth it and will make a lot of difference and probably save you in vet bills.


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## carolynb (May 26, 2010)

We certainly don't mind paying if it's in their best interest!  Thank you for the advice, I will definitely print out the information to bring with me!!    You both have been very helpful, it's not very easy to find information about young pygmy goats.  They are so sweet!!  We are having a blast with them so far.


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## cmjust0 (May 26, 2010)

Mineral -- even good, spendy mineral -- is still likely to be one of your lesser expenses, provided you feed it efficiently..  Consumption targets on mineral are usually about 1/2 to 1lb per month per head, which is about 1/4-1/2oz per day..  Not very much..  Under ideal circumstance, across 10 head for instance, a 50lb sack could last up to 5 months at the 1/2oz/day consumption rate.  Even if a bag cost ya as much as $20, you're still talking about $.40 per head per month.  

The trick is to feed it efficiently, though, or it could be a lot more expensive and of much less value to herd health..

The best thing we've found to do is set out small quantities at a time and keep it refreshed often..  I usually try to shoot for whatever they'll consume in about two days time.  That way, if they soil it (which they do, occasionally :/ ) and you have to pitch some, you're not throwing away pounds and pounds of it at a time..  Plus, after it sits out for a while, they sorta start ignoring it...  In fact, if I see the same mineral sitting out for more than three or four days, I start getting suspicious that someone's done something icky to it and they just aren't going to eat it..  Nine times out of ten, if you pitch mineral that's being ignored and replace it with fresh, they'll beat each other to death trying to get at it.

Of our last two 50lb sacks, I bet we didn't discard more than 5-8lbs...the rest, they ate.

ETA:  To clarify, that's 5-8lbs each...roughly 10-15lbs of total waste out of the last 100lbs of mineral we've offered..


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