Timmie low on zinc

where I want to · #1 04/16/12, 12:53 PM

I got back the mineral test on my goat with the scruffy coat and constant itching and chewing sores onto herself.
She is low normal in selenium but pretty significantly low on zinc.
She has access to a mineral mix with zinc but I can't say I have ever seen her using it. The others, yes- her no. For all I know of course she could get up at midnight and gorge on it.

I checked a years worth of search in this forum and can't find anything that says how you determine how much zinc she should get and how to get it into her.
Help????

Backfourty,MI. · #2 04/16/12, 03:05 PM

Alice in TX/MO gives Zinc to one of her does' & I believe when I asked her about it she said she gave her 100mg tablet once a day for a week then went to 1 tablet once a week. I think she is having good results from it.

She is pretty busy right now & getting ready for her trip back to MO. I believe but hopefully she'll get on here & tell you if I'm wrong.

There were a couple threads not long ago about Zinc/Bald spots. Minelson started one of them.

Alice In TX/MO · #3 04/16/12, 03:11 PM

Yup. I got the zinc in the health food department at Walmart. Crushed the pills, and mixed it with peanut butter. My goats LOVE peanut butter crackers.

where I want to · #4 04/19/12, 09:56 AM

Timmie's vet, who is a caring person and did research on zinc, said I should give Timmie 100 mg per day for 4 weeks.
I always get nervous about giving animals new things as I worry about causing harm.
Do you all think that giving her this amount for 4 weeks rather than one week is dangerous? I read that too much zinc reduces copper absorption.

Backfourty,MI. · #5 04/19/12, 10:40 AM

I have no idea, hopefully Alice or someone with more experience in this area will jump in with their advice.
What about going somewhere in the middle, like give it daily for 2 weeks instead of 4 & then once a week like Alice does & see if you see an improvement.
Of course if your vet is a good goat vet then he may know what he's talking about.

Minelson · #6 04/19/12, 12:06 PM

Frankie gets 50mg of Zinc a day and has been for a year. He still got itchy, flaky, bald spots again this spring. So it didn't help, but didn't seem to hurt either. He is a Mini. He gets his in his dosage ball that I make for him with AC and peanut butter