Loose mineral help

[Sheep222]

We have herd that consists of two Shetland wethers, two female goats, one buck and two horses. They are all in the same pasture (hopefully by next summer we will have more fencing up and can separate them out. But for now it is what it is. Nobody is on grain, they are all on pasture with hay for the winter.
My Questions are:
1. What can they all have? Can/should I toss a plain white salt block out there for them all?
2. I've heard loose minerals free choice is better. Can anyone tell me what loose minerals you get from where and what ration you mix them? (ex. 1 bag of kent sheep mineral with 1 bag of salt added or whatnot.)
3. I know copper can be toxic for sheep, so what can the sheep have, and what should the goats have?
Any help advice is appreciated. thank you

 

[mysunwolf]

Welcome to BYH!

If it were me, I would put loose sheep mineral down in a covered mineral feeder for the sheep and goats, and add ammonium chloride for your wethers and buck if it's not already in the mix. I buy a mix from my local feed mill that you just put out as-is, but they also sell loose sheep minerals at Tractor Supply and other farm stores.

Then give copper boluses to the goats maybe twice a year, since the sheep minerals will not have enough for them.

And last, I'd put a mineral block in a bucket up high where only the horses can reach it, since horses have a little more specialized needs.

If you just put out salt, they will lick that instead of their minerals, so I would caution against that.

And if you get some time... we would love to see some photos of your critters!

 

[Sheep222]

what does the ammonium chloride do for the buck and the wethers?

 

[mysunwolf]

The ammonium chloride should automatically be in the mineral, but it depends on the brand so sometimes you have to add it separately. It's to prevent urinary calculi (basically, kidney stones in the urinary tract) in the males, which can be deadly to them--I've seen it happen.

And I LOVE the photos, your animals are lovely The goat in the barn looks so tiny!

 

[Latestarter]

Greetings and welcome to BYH. Glad you joined us! Thanks for sharing the pics We're all a bunch of pic addicts here. Browse around and make yourself at home!

 

[Sheep222]

he is tiny, he's a 4 month old pygmy. We just got him this weekend.

Thanks for the information. Any recommendations on brands for the minerals?

 

[mysunwolf]

he is tiny, he's a 4 month old pygmy. We just got him this weekend.

Thanks for the information. Any recommendations on brands for the minerals?

He's so adorable!!

It's really going to depend on your area, since mineral deficiencies are different everywhere (why I buy from a local mill that tweaks their mix for our area), but you can start with the Tractor Supply brand, Dumor. They're not bad, though I don't think they have ammonium chloride in the sheep mineral.

 

[Sasmith]

I just left some dumor sheep mineral our for the first time the other night. I poured the recommended amount for the number of sheep we have and they attacked that stuff. Should I be worried about some eating more than others and getting SE poisoning?

 

[babsbag]

My goats attack the minerals and I don't worry about it. Usually they will back off once they get accustomed to them. When I first started putting them out they were eating a 25lb bag in a week (30 goats). Now it is much slower. I don't think that one will eat that much more than the others. I leave mine out free choice all of the time, I have a feeder that I fill and they use it as them want.

 

[farmerjan]

The mineral loose will be okay, they will eat it until they get to a point of satisfaction. DO not put out loose salt as they can and will sometimes gorge on it and if they drink alot right after can bloat and it will kill them. Mineral has some self limiting features in it and most complete mineral has salt in it so they will only eat a certain amount. In the beginning they will consume more, but will not gorge on it like loose salt. We feed loose mineral free choice in feeders to all our animals. I also put a TM red salt block in the feeders. They tend to not waste the mineral or shove it around in the feeder and I have a couple of cows that just will not consume the loose mineral, so I know they are getting salt and some trace elements in the trace salt block.