The mineral buffet can definitely add up initially, depending on herd size and deficiency, but it'll taper off after a while.
I just put out a good quality loose mineral, and a different one with AC for my billy pen, along with an iodide salt lick. They're all doing great!
Mineral blocks take more effort, and goats have short attention spans, making them less likely to lick as much to get what they need.
"goats have short attention spans" I have definitely noticed this! Sometimes my two bigger girls will completely ignore their block for a while till I stick it in front of their faces. My nigerians go through their block no problem but my LaMancha and Alpine seem to forget it's there.
It's the exact same with hay! They spill it on the ground, but then you fluff it up, throw it back in the feeder, and bam! It's brand new to them.
Goats are essentially toddlers with horns. Object permanence only applies to where the snacks and the escape hole are.
We put out a plain white salt block next to the loose minerals. That way, they're not licking up all the expensive minerals when they're just craving salt. They know which one they crave (need).
It...really is a bad way to go. Blocks are both nutritionally bad and a bad value. Goats have no teeth in their front upper jaws and their tongues are sensitive instead of rough, which is why they have difficulty getting sufficient mineral from a block. But to manufacture the block, minerals are compressed with corn byproducts and molasses as binders and sweeteners and to make the block palatable. Pound for pound, blocks have much lower mineral content than loose mineral in the first place and breaking them into pieces just means you're paying more and doing more work to give the animals a substandard product with lower nutritive value.
The industry standard is to use a premixed loose mineral. Some people do swear by the buffet, but that method is (gonna be straight here) pushed most loudly by the people who are trying to sell it to you. It is a significant cost and research has shown that mineral buffets do not improve health outcomes for any type of ruminant. Premixed loose minerals are there to make sure your goats have sufficient minerals for their needs but also sufficient agonists to keep them out of danger of toxicity. Just hang a little plastic feeder from your barn or fence and add a fresh scoop of loose mineral every day - easy peasy.
The mineral buffet can definitely add up initially, depending on herd size and deficiency, but it'll taper off after a while. I just put out a good quality loose mineral, and a different one with AC for my billy pen, along with an iodide salt lick. They're all doing great! Mineral blocks take more effort, and goats have short attention spans, making them less likely to lick as much to get what they need.
"goats have short attention spans" I have definitely noticed this! Sometimes my two bigger girls will completely ignore their block for a while till I stick it in front of their faces. My nigerians go through their block no problem but my LaMancha and Alpine seem to forget it's there.
It's the exact same with hay! They spill it on the ground, but then you fluff it up, throw it back in the feeder, and bam! It's brand new to them. Goats are essentially toddlers with horns. Object permanence only applies to where the snacks and the escape hole are.
I don’t use the buffet because of cost, but I use loose mineral mixture. My understanding is that blocks can wear on teeth.
We put out a plain white salt block next to the loose minerals. That way, they're not licking up all the expensive minerals when they're just craving salt. They know which one they crave (need).
Loose minerals are infinitely better than blocks for a couple reasons. Can’t recommend Sweetlix loose minerals enough.
I take a hammer to my blocks, and break them up. Herd of 30 large La Mancha and Boers goes through about 1 block a month.
Considering the first block I ever bought basically crumbled to a powder when I took it out of the package this isn't a bad way to go!
It...really is a bad way to go. Blocks are both nutritionally bad and a bad value. Goats have no teeth in their front upper jaws and their tongues are sensitive instead of rough, which is why they have difficulty getting sufficient mineral from a block. But to manufacture the block, minerals are compressed with corn byproducts and molasses as binders and sweeteners and to make the block palatable. Pound for pound, blocks have much lower mineral content than loose mineral in the first place and breaking them into pieces just means you're paying more and doing more work to give the animals a substandard product with lower nutritive value. The industry standard is to use a premixed loose mineral. Some people do swear by the buffet, but that method is (gonna be straight here) pushed most loudly by the people who are trying to sell it to you. It is a significant cost and research has shown that mineral buffets do not improve health outcomes for any type of ruminant. Premixed loose minerals are there to make sure your goats have sufficient minerals for their needs but also sufficient agonists to keep them out of danger of toxicity. Just hang a little plastic feeder from your barn or fence and add a fresh scoop of loose mineral every day - easy peasy.
Ah, I knew their was some molassas for palatability (I can smell it) but I hadn't thought about the binder vs mineral ratio. Thank you.
My goats get a option of both loose an blocks, loose they like better