# Goat loves cleaning products



## SuperChemicalGirl (Aug 25, 2013)

I let my goats out of their area when I'm outside doing the farm chores. They enjoy getting to run around like crazy and getting to browse on everything that they stare at all day and can't reach from their pen. 

Once a week I do an intensive scrub on the feeders and waterers on the farm. 

Recently, Caramel (LaMancha/Oberhasli cross) has decided that cleaning agents are delicious. 

Three weeks ago I used Seventh Generation liquid dish soap without fragrances or colors. She loved it so much she was chewing on the top of the dispenser to get at it. I soak the rubber chicken and duck feeders while I scrub everything else, and then scrub them last so that they are easy to scrub. She wouldn't stop drinking the water and soap suds! I had to lock her up. The other goat Pippy (Nubian) didn't want anything to do with it. 

Two weeks ago I used Dial hand soap with Triclosan, thinking that the taste would turn her off. It didn't. She wouldn't stop drinking the water and suds. 

Today I used Chlorox Clean Up (bleach). I had just finished spraying a few sprays in a chicken waterer, and she stuck her head in and started slurping it up. It wasn't even cut with water! I had to drag her away. 

Interestingly, the ducks also can't resist a bucket full of water, and they'll stick their heads in the soapy or bleachy water, too. I'm not too concerned about them, but I'm concerned about my goat's rumen. Why is she enjoying soap and bleach? Maybe there's something lacking in her diet?


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## elevan (Aug 25, 2013)

Why is she doing this?    IDK, but it's not good for her for sure.

Does she have minerals available to her at all times?


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## Chevoner (Aug 25, 2013)

That's puzzling for sure!
I think elevan is onto something; from what I've read, behavior like you describe can indicate something lacking in their diet the goats try to make up for.
I have almost zero first-hand experience with goats (for now  ) but I do read a lot! Good luck to you!


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## Moonshine (Aug 25, 2013)

You know that's really funny my goats have been mineral deficit (because I didn't know they wouldn't eat the wet minerals till I joined here), but 2 have really turned around and are getting their color back. One girl on the other hand is just really picky and I have to put little treats in the minerals to get her to eat them. She is supposed to be black but she's really rusty colored instead. Anyway, she jumped up on an outside table and sucked down some bubbles DS had in a cup. I was waiting for her to baaaa bubbles lol! Moon, on the other hand, loves my coffee! Bad girl!


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## SuperChemicalGirl (Aug 26, 2013)

elevan said:
			
		

> Why is she doing this?    IDK, but it's not good for her for sure.
> 
> Does she have minerals available to her at all times?


I don't like loose minerals (it gets crusty in our humidity and then they don't eat it, or at least the last batch of goats I had wouldn't) so I use the Manna Pro Goat Balancer, which is the same thing but in pellet form and I put it in with their grain daily. She's right on the cusp of 50 lbs so I might go up to the next dose. Thanks for that idea. 

I guess I'll just have to limit her time outside her pen when I'm disinfecting. She's like a Hoover in every other sense, too, I can't have her around my tomato plants or she'll strip them of their fruit.


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## Godsgrl (Aug 26, 2013)

Goats are funny. When I was a child, my aunt and uncle had a goat that loved paint. If you left a can of paint unattended for a second that goat was muzzle deep in it. Did I mention my aunt and uncle were building a house, and painting it? That goat drove them about crazy. Fun memories.


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## Moonshine (Aug 26, 2013)

SuperChemicalGirl said:
			
		

> I use the Manna Pro Goat Balancer, which is the same thing but in pellet form


I'm sorry but I'm going to have to disagree with you on that. When you said that, I thought "oh nice! An alternative"! But I looked it up and the Balancer has significantly less minerals compared to the Manna Pro Goat Minerals. For example copper is only 150ppm in Balancer and MPGMs has 1350ppm. I found it to be that way for all of the minerals the Balancer has in it. Might be why your girls are acting funny or feel like they are missing something.


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## elevan (Aug 26, 2013)

Moonshine said:
			
		

> SuperChemicalGirl said:
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x2 on that.  You may want to try a mineral / protein block and see how they do...I'd bet that they devour it quickly.


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## SuperChemicalGirl (Aug 26, 2013)

Moonshine said:
			
		

> SuperChemicalGirl said:
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Please, disagree with me! That's why I'm here, for another opinion. 

I was thinking the Balancer was the same because you use 3x as much as a top dressing (and the label is not exactly clear as to what a serving is! And that makes it really hard to compare), but upon closer inspection, you are correct they are not equivalent - the minerals offer more ingredients. I purchased a bag of the mineral and will attempt to use that from now on. 

I also purchased a block per elevan's suggestion - I first purchased a "Billy Block" in Berry Bush flavor sick) but when the guy was loading up my car at the dock with chicken food, he saw it and said that they had a large block called SweetLix (also one called MeatMaker) in the storage room and suggested I purchase the SweetLix. I did. The Billy Block was only 4$ so I didn't return it. 

So my question to you guys is... 
Put the SweetLix block out now and then offer free minerals when the block is done? Where do you put it? One of my goats is a really picky eater and won't eat anything on the ground or that's been touched by hooves.


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## Chevoner (Aug 26, 2013)

Perhaps the Balancer is just that? To balance and supplement the minerals available to the animals, is this correct?

There are 'block holders' available that will serve your purposes to elevate and prevent soiling (perhaps post mounted?). I found this site; I'm sure there are other alternatives as well.

http://www.southernstates.com/catalog/c-1669-mineral-feeders.aspx

For an easier, cheaper DIY method you could take a long masonry drill bit, bore a hole in the center of the block, then used nylon rope or cord to hang it from a fence post. Nylon because the salt rusts wire and cotton/sisal/hemp may rot too fast.


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## SuperChemicalGirl (Aug 26, 2013)

Thank you for the links! In my garage/basement sweep for something suitable I found a triangle shaped piece of wood that I had originally made as a small call duck shelter, but the call ducks hated it and besides a few cobwebs it was pristine. A few long deck screws later and it's in the wall holding up the goat block. I'm sure BF will see it and freak out and then build something much more suitable, but it's working for now. 

The goats seemed extremely interested in it for the first maybe 30 seconds. Then they quickly lost interest and were much more excited by the fact that I had brought out fresh hay. 



I'm wondering if Caramel is just an "oral explorer" - she was quite excited about the cantaloupe rind I had brought out for the chickens and violently gnawed on that - also for about 30 seconds, and then promptly moved on. I don't doubt that I possibly have a mineral issue, but that goat of mine is odd.


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## Moonshine (Aug 26, 2013)

See, my girls are pretty picky too and someone locally suggested a block but all I could find was the billy block and its full of salt! 

I don't know much about Maine, although I heard it was beautiful!! But you said your weather was really humid and here in TX it's that way as well. I have to put fresh minerals out daily because the minerals get wet overnight with the due and humidity. I put a tbsp out every day and usually there's just a little left so not much waste. (I hate to waste!) My picky little divas won't eat it after its gotten wet!! I learned that the hard way and felt horrible! I thought they just weren't eating them because they didn't need them. 

Good luck I hope all this helps.


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## SuperChemicalGirl (Aug 26, 2013)

Moonshine said:
			
		

> See, my girls are pretty picky too and someone locally suggested a block but all I could find was the billy block and its full of salt!
> 
> I don't know much about Maine, although I heard it was beautiful!! But you said your weather was really humid and here in TX it's that way as well. I have to put fresh minerals out daily because the minerals get wet overnight with the due and humidity. I put a tbsp out every day and usually there's just a little left so not much waste. (I hate to waste!) My picky little divas won't eat it after its gotten wet!! I learned that the hard way and felt horrible! I thought they just weren't eating them because they didn't need them.
> 
> Good luck I hope all this helps.


The larger lick was "behind the counter" so you may want to ask at your feed store. All they had on the shelf was a Billy Block. I did lick the SweetLix myself (before the goats did) and it's not bad, palate-wise. I was worried that it was going to be incredibly salty but it's more crumbly than the hard salt licks I was thinking of. I'm thinking they may enjoy the block more than the free minerals, because my other goats didn't like it (hence switched to the balancer). It is pretty humid here, most of the time. We usually get a ton of rain in the spring/summer. It has been alternating between really cold and raining (I was building fires in the wood stove in July and August) and super hot and dry. Many bee hives (mine included) are starving this summer because the plants are trying to deal with the weather and conserving nectar.


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## Moonshine (Aug 26, 2013)

Ok thanks! I'm definitely going to ask! And wow that is some crazy weather!!


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## elevan (Aug 26, 2013)

We used large hog feed pans to place our blocks in.  And yeah the sweetlix or meatmaker is the type I was suggesting....those billy blocks are pretty useless imo.



This tip was shared by a friend though I've never used it since my poultry are able to access everything.  Adding a little bit of coursely ground rice will help prevent clumping in loose minerals too...kind of like how Chinese restaurants always add rice to the salt shakers    Make sure you grind the rice a little though (use your food processor, blender or coffee grinder).  Don't use this method if you have poultry that can access your minerals.


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## SuperChemicalGirl (Aug 26, 2013)

Overrun with poultry here but I am not too concerned about them eating rice in moderation. My goats even have their own banty rooster that lives in their barn (and only eats goat food - hope he's not mineral deficient ). He got picked on by the other roosters and moved himself to the goat barn/run and I've let him stay. I'm hoping he takes care of the spiders in there in exchange for a hassle free life. 

I'll probably be moving to the meatmaker block if the goats decide they like it. I compared labels and it was almost exact to the other one with exception of copper. I was planning on giving the Billy Block to the deer.


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## SuperChemicalGirl (Sep 5, 2013)

It's been 10 days, and while they've been consuming the mineral protein block, it's not at a terribly high rate. The block is falling apart in the humidity here more than it's being eaten. 

Caramel enjoyed sudsy water on Sunday from the duck bowl that was soaking. She also tried to eat a piece of applewood that was bound for our smoker, the matches, and the paper to light the smoker. I'm still thinking she's just orally fixated on everything and doesn't have a mineral deficiency. I realize it's still early to have a deficiency corrected, so I'll continue to "test" her and see if her weirdness gets better with time. 

The deer are enjoying the Billy Block. 

That's all the news that is fit to print.


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