mistivydel
Exploring the pasture
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- Dec 18, 2012
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So I'm a little nervous to share about this because it will probably be exposing my ignorance in one way or another, but I'm ok with doing that to figure out what the deal is with these minerals that I've been using!
I have three Nigerian Dwarf goats, and they're my first so I'm still definitely learning how to keep them as happy and healthy as possible. I started using a new brand of minerals that my local feed store recommended, but I stupidly trusted them a little too much because although I checked for general contents of the minerals I didn't really look at how much of each vitamin/mineral was in the mixture. Here's the stats:
Ash (Max) 20%
Calcium (Min) 25% (Max) 25%
Phosphorus (Min) 5%
Sodium (Min) 25% (Max) 25%
Magnesium (Min) 5%
Copper (Min) 3 PPM
Zinc (Min) 3PPM
Salt (Min) 5% (Max) 5%
Iodine (Min) 3 PPM
Selenium (Min) 5 PPM (Max) 10 PPM
Vitamin A (Min) 3 IU/LB
Vitamin E (Min) 3 IU/LB
Am I crazy, or does this have an extreme amount of calcium and nowhere near enough Copper, Selenium, or Vitamins?? Just comparing it to other brands, even brands that folks usually say is too much filler, makes it seem entirely inadequate. It seems so off, that I'm wondering if there's something I'm missing? Why have people in my area been requesting these minerals?
I'm already switching to a different brand, it just seems wrong to me. I will say that my goats' hooves are thicker than I've ever seen them thanks to all that calcium! Thank goodness I don't have any wethers or they'd have stones left and right...
Any insights are very welcome!
I have three Nigerian Dwarf goats, and they're my first so I'm still definitely learning how to keep them as happy and healthy as possible. I started using a new brand of minerals that my local feed store recommended, but I stupidly trusted them a little too much because although I checked for general contents of the minerals I didn't really look at how much of each vitamin/mineral was in the mixture. Here's the stats:
Ash (Max) 20%
Calcium (Min) 25% (Max) 25%
Phosphorus (Min) 5%
Sodium (Min) 25% (Max) 25%
Magnesium (Min) 5%
Copper (Min) 3 PPM
Zinc (Min) 3PPM
Salt (Min) 5% (Max) 5%
Iodine (Min) 3 PPM
Selenium (Min) 5 PPM (Max) 10 PPM
Vitamin A (Min) 3 IU/LB
Vitamin E (Min) 3 IU/LB
Am I crazy, or does this have an extreme amount of calcium and nowhere near enough Copper, Selenium, or Vitamins?? Just comparing it to other brands, even brands that folks usually say is too much filler, makes it seem entirely inadequate. It seems so off, that I'm wondering if there's something I'm missing? Why have people in my area been requesting these minerals?
I'm already switching to a different brand, it just seems wrong to me. I will say that my goats' hooves are thicker than I've ever seen them thanks to all that calcium! Thank goodness I don't have any wethers or they'd have stones left and right...
Any insights are very welcome!
