selenium for kids

[steff bugielski]

At what point do you give any selenium to kids? Moms all got it at 5 weeks and 2 weeks prior to kidding.

[KimM]

I've given all my kids BoSe at birth but never gave any to the does. From now on I'll be dosing does before breeding and before delivering but wondering if the kids will still need it at birth.

[ozark_jewels]

It probably depends on your area like so many other things. My does get selenium before they are bred and then a couple weeks before kidding. I give my kids their first selenium shots the same time I give them their first CDT shot(about two months old), then again at about four months old, then again at about 7-9 months old as we go into breeding season.
Gotta get outside, think I hear newborn puppy whinings!

[Goat Servant]

Mine get theirs a day or two after they have hit the ground, then a few weeks before breeding and a few weeks before kidding.

[Feathers-N-Fur]

Does anyone see anything in their herds that shows that giving BOSE helps with anything other than increasing multiples. I live in a very selenium deficient area and few people I know give it for anything other than flushing before breeding. At the goat nutrition class I took, the instructor told us it is out of their system in 2-3 weeks anyway. That the best thing to do was to give a good mineral with the selenium in it.

[ozark_jewels]

Supplying a good selenium free-choice mineral is the basis of making sure the herd gets the selenium they need. That should always be done. But in many areas that are severely deficient it may not be enough during high-stress periods in a goats life. Such as young kids growing, does breeding, bucks breeding and kidding season.
I always supply free-choice minerals to my herd but with the use of Bo-Se to be sure they get enough selenium at key times, I see a better resistance to sickness, better growth rate in kids, better conception rate in does and easier kiddings with no retained afterbirth in does.