What should I feed my Nubians?

[Southern by choice]

Your welcome. The sweetlix has somewhat higher , yet not significantly higher, Selenium and Copper. We are not in a deficient area for these minerals anyway so not a concern for us.
Our feed is very balanced and we have iron issues here anyway so we cannot leave minerals out all the time anyway.

 

[OneFineAcre]

Thank you so much for your input. I am going to check and see if my feed mill has a tag to use to compare to this and if it's the same I'll purchase from them - if it's not - I'll go w/ the Manna Pro. The sweetlix is just too much money for shipping compared to going to the local farm store and buying Manna Pro.

There is absolutely nothing wrong when it's close going with what's most cost effective.

 

[Pearce Pastures]

Didn't see it mentioned so I will toss in here that leaving out baking soda is not necessary and can actually decrease the absorption of some minerals. Keep it handy along with some mineral oil in case you have a case of bloat (which we had happen this year with a buck who unlocked the gate and gorged himself of lush grass) but don't leave it out free choice.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

Didn't see it mentioned so I will toss in here that leaving out baking soda is not necessary and can actually decrease the absorption of some minerals. Keep it handy along with some mineral oil in case you have a case of bloat (which we had happen this year with a buck who unlocked the gate and gorged himself of lush grass) but don't leave it out free choice.

Also if you give ammonium chloride, it will no longer be effective when you feed baking soda.

@Tiffany L (in case you don't know)
The ammonium chloride is in the manna pro minerals, it is also in most goat feed. It is to help prevent Urinary Calculi (stones) in goats.

 

[Tiffany L]

Thank you everyone for all of your help and suggestions. And since you have all been so wonderful and helpful - I have another

I'm pretty sure that my goats are due for vaccinations and worming - what should I use to worm them and what vaccinations do they need? Keeping in mind that we do consume our milk and have a bred doe or two.

 

[Pearce Pastures]

Before worming, you need to scoop up some fresh poo and take it for analysis by a vet. It should run you about $15 and is worth it. Without knowing what if any parasite your goaties have, you will waste money on medications guessing which one they need (or they may not need it at all). Different parasite require different meds so a vet will be able to tell you if they have parasites, what kind, and it they are at a high enough load to need treatment. It really stinks that the practice was for a time to just rotate medications and give them without testing. The result=we have resistant parasites and the medications available don't work very well.

For vaccination here, we only use CD&T which seems to be the standard for all goat keepers. We give it once a year to all goats and to pregnant mommies the month before delivery (it offers immunity to the kids then for awhile).

 

[Tiffany L]

Before worming, you need to scoop up some fresh poo and take it for analysis by a vet. It should run you about $15 and is worth it. Without knowing what if any parasite your goaties have, you will waste money on medications guessing which one they need (or they may not need it at all). Different parasite require different meds so a vet will be able to tell you if they have parasites, what kind, and it they are at a high enough load to need treatment. It really stinks that the practice was for a time to just rotate medications and give them without testing. The result=we have resistant parasites and the medications available don't work very well.

For vaccination here, we only use CD&T which seems to be the standard for all goat keepers. We give it once a year to all goats and to pregnant mommies the month before delivery (it offers immunity to the kids then for awhile).

Perfect - thank you so much! How often do you vaccinate for CD&T?

 

[OneFineAcre]

Adults get an annual CD&T Booster shot. Like Pearce, we give ours their booster about a month before they kid, that way the babies are born with some immunity.

As far as the babies are then concerned, different people have different protocol. We usually give ours their vaccinations at around 8 weeks old. For the initial vaccination, there are two injections the second 3 weeks after the first.

Some people vaccinate the babies earlier, as early as a week or two old.

 

[Tiffany L]

Adults get an annual CD&T Booster shot. Like Pearce, we give ours their booster about a month before they kid, that way the babies are born with some immunity.

As far as the babies are then concerned, different people have different protocol. We usually give ours their vaccinations at around 8 weeks old. For the initial vaccination, there are two injections the second 3 weeks after the first.

Some people vaccinate the babies earlier, as early as a week or two old.

Do they make different vaccinations for adults VS babies? I have a pygmy who just turned 8 weeks and has not had any vaccinations yet.

 

[OneFineAcre]

Nope, same vaccine. You can get it at tractor supply if you have one of those nearby.