Please talk to me about minerals, copper, etc.

[mzgarden]

I'm a little confused about feeding minerals, copper and offering baking soda.

I've got -- 2 6 month Nubian does, weighing about 50#. They have free choice hay/alfalfa and browse in the pasture and hay/alfalfa in the barn pen where they overnight. Morning & night they each get a scoop of goat noble. I put out baking soda, goat minerals and copper as choice in the barn, separately (not mixed together) in feed bins and they have never touched any of it that I can tell. I end up throwing it out and washing out the bins because it gets clumpy from the humidity and starting over. I hate wasting it so maybe I'm doing this wrong.

What quantity should I be putting out of each?
if the humidity makes it clumpy - will they still eat it? Can I sprinkle fresh on top of it each day?

Thanks,

[Alice In TX/MO]

Only a couple of spoonfulls at a time for those few goats.

Copper? What kind of copper free choice?

How big a scoop of Noble Goat?

[mzgarden]

Got it, a couple spoonfuls of minerals and separately same amount of baking soda available for choice. If they don't eat it and it cakes up due to humidity - toss it or leave it until they eat it and then put more down?


For the grain, they each get about a half a pound every morning and another half pound every evening.

For the copper, I'm going to have to look at the package in the morning. I know it's a blue powder. The lady I bought the girls from originally wrote it down for me and I ordered it from Jeffers Livestock.

Thanks!

[FakeMountainMan]

I'm kinda wondering the same thing. My goats browse all day, I give them a small bit of feed at night to get them in their pen, but I haven't figured out how to get them to eat loose minerals. I have manna pro goat mineral, what's the best method for getting them to eat it?

[Alice In TX/MO]

NO NO NO on the blue copper free choice. That's copper sulfate. Some folks put a couple of granules of it in the water pan to keep the algae down, but it is NOT to be given free choice. Just use a high copper loose mineral feed.

Keep experimenting with the loose mineral and baking soda amounts. Clean the mineral feeders. Start over. Work up to where it's gone at least once a week. Do not let a large amount build up if you are adding to previous amounts. Goats don't like nasty old stuff in the feeders.

Yes, you can top dress the feed with a teaspoon or so, as you are feeding small amounts of Noble Goat.

[Goat Servant]

Humidity is a problem here too. So every day I bring some out in a rubber pan.

[mzgarden]

thank you. Copper is gone - they never ate it when I put it down and I was not adding it to the feed, so likely I was just wasting my time and money. Just glad I didn't hurt my girls.

I will try again with the goat minerals (it is Manna Pro Goat Mineral) and try putting a teaspoon or so on their evening feed.

Again, thank you for helping.