I was reading and posting from my cell phone earlier. Hubby had to have an abscess removed from his back, so much of today was spent in doctor offices or traveling to doctor offices. It's all good now, and at least he has no broken bones.
I didn't have a way to really research, cut, and paste. Also, I am not a chemistry major. My degree is in Humanities.
That said....I think we are talking apples and oranges. I believe the OP was asking if it was ok to give bucks sodium bicarbonate to prevent digestive issues. The answer there would be yes, IF your buck was having digestive issues. HOWEVER, the key to
avoiding digestive issues is to feed less grain and more hay, AND the key to avoiding
urinary calculi is to have the calcium/phosphorous balance of buck feed in the correct range. In general, do this by feeding bucks primarily grass hay and VERY LITTLE grain. Thus, both issues are avoided by diet alone. There are goat owners who do not feed baking soda at all.
Excerpt from
http://www.tennesseemeatgoats.com/ar...calculi06.html
The key to avoiding Urinary Calculi is feeding the goat a proper diet. Producers experiencing Urinary Calculi in their goats must change their feeding regimens. Carefully read feed labels for proper calcium-to-phosphorus ratios (2-1/2:1). Some prepared goat feeds contain ammonium chloride in the formulation, but this is no guarantee that Urinary Calculi will be avoided. Most importantly, offer lots of free-choice forage/browse and good-quality grass hay and reduce the amount of grain concentrates being fed. Both the health of your goats and your financial bottom line will improve.
Really good concise info in PDF/slide show form:
http://www.ansc.purdue.edu/SP/MG/Doc...%20calculi.pdf
The Purdue source above actually
recommends adding salt to the diet to increase water consumption and dilute the urine. Baking soda is sodium bicarbonate.
My personal take on this.... I've always had doubts about the human use of baking soda or the current fad of alkaline water to try adjust the body's pH or the pH of any body system past the stomach. You'd have to make a serious pH adjustment in a normally acid stomach for the blood pH to change, and then the pH of the urine. I just haven't seen research that would make me believe it. Not an expert on this either, but I googled and found this about the alkaline water scam:
Your stomach acid will neutralize the pH of the water so it really doesn’t do anything once it hits your stomach. If you were able to change your blood pH you would rapidly develop metabolic alkalosis.
Metabolic alkalosis develops when the body loses too much acid or gains too much base. For example, stomach acid is lost during periods of prolonged vomiting or when stomach acids are suctioned with a stomach tube (as is sometimes done in hospitals). In rare cases, metabolic alkalosis develops in a person who has ingested too much base from substances such as baking soda (bicarbonate of soda). In addition, metabolic alkalosis can develop when excessive loss of sodium or potassium affects the kidneys' ability to control the blood's acid-base balance.
http://www.apswater.com/article.asp?...Simple+Science
9Likes
but he knew there was something about that that was appealing to his sensibilities IF ....you know what I mean 
