Welcome! We are so excited to have you here with us!
First and foremost, what I write here works for us, it is not the only way to raise Spanish goats, it’s just what we feel is the best fit for us.
I am going to start by writing about our mineral buffet system and why I love it. Imagine you go to the doctor and tell them you’re tired. They do blood work, and you find out you are low in a certain vitamin or mineral, but your only option is a multi-vitamin. You take more, but it doesn’t fix your issue because you actually can’t get the amount of the one you need without over doing another that you don’t.
That multi-vitamin is like a bag of mixed minerals; it cannot be personalized to fit your goats’ needs. Don’t get me wrong, mixed minerals are not bad, they work for a lot of people, and if it’s working for you, keep going! I am just aiming for a better option for my goats, which is why I use a mineral buffet.
Let’s look at what is offered on my buffet. Calcium, Iodine, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium, Silicon, Sodium, Sulfur, Vitamin C & B mix (CB)9 B vitamins plus vitamin C, Vitamins A, D, & E mix, Alkaline Neutralizer, Acid Neutralizer, Copper, Cobalt, Boron, Manganese, Molybdenum, Selenium, Zinc. I also offer a holistic free choice herbal dewormer mixed in kelp on my buffet too, but that’s for another day. If you look at a bag of mixed minerals, you’ll see they do not contain everything offered on the buffet.
Each of these mineral choices allows the goats to get exactly what they need. No one size fits all, it’s free choice and trust me when I say they know what they need. We see different minerals being consumed at different rates throughout the year and during breeding season and all throughout pregnancy, The photo below shows a Dam and a kid eating different minerals off the buffet.
But how does this help you? A goat with proper mineral levels is a much healthier animal overall. You have less parasite issues, better kidding rates and better overall gains.
I highly encourage you to go read on the Free Choice Mineral site about what each minerals does for your goats, it’s absolutely amazing once you know, and better understand, why your goats are eating what they eat and when.
Until next time, happy goating!
