My herd of goats has had several health problems this summer, from parasites to cocci, which have been treated but now I notice that they have taken up trying to eat the wood siding on the shed and other things. What are they lacking?

-- Mike Leffelman (mleflman@theramp.net), September 14, 2001

Answers

fiber?

-- Mary R. (cntryfolk@ime.net), September 14, 2001.

Hi Mike... do you put out a good loose mineral mix? If not...that'd be a good idea IMO. There are several made specifically for goats now...and I don't know where you're located, but Custom Milling in GA sells one I like..Golden Blend Goat Minerals. ( They have a website (www.custommilling.com), and also a toll free number). I add baking soda to mine, and sometimes kelp and flax seed. I noticed an almost immediate improvement in general overall appearance and attitude when I started with these minerals a few years ago... If those aren't feasible for you, then I'd suggest the next best thing... cattle loose minerals. They should have the right percentages of most of the important trace minerals for goats. The baking soda will add some stability to the rumen...preventing any upsets. Hope that helps.. :)patty Prairie Oak Miniatures http://www.minifarm.com/prairie_oak http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Littlegoats Moderator

-- Patty (WI) (littlegoats@wi.rr.com), September 14, 2001.

I'm not a goat raiser, but will be one, one of these days. But if you have a mineral salt block out for them would this help? Also isn't it natural for goats to chew on anything that has to do with wood?

-- r.h. in okla. (rhays@sstelco.com), September 14, 2001.

Mike, I do not mean to ask a ridiculous question, but are you feeding hay? Where I live most of the weeds, grass and browse is gone, due to lack of rain and high temperatures. I feed free choice hay year round most of the time, unless my weeds get taller than me! I keep trace minerals out year round too. My darling goats turn their noses up at grass(not too easy since they are Nubians). It does sound like some type of deficiency if they are actually eating the wood and not just tasting it. What kind of grain mix are you feeding them? All livestock need to be wormed on a regular basis. The vets on Tennessee say every 3 months and in Kansas most vets say 2 times but they do not keep up to date on goats, since this is cattle country. I treat for coccidiosis once a year just in case. Vickie is the goat guru on this forum so she might be of more help but you really need to give a little more information on feed and hay and the extras.

-- Karen in Kansas (kansasgoats@iwon.com), September 14, 2001.

I've heard of goats doing that, however, i have not seen too many of mine do this. Sometimes they will eat or chew wood from boredom or a minearal deficiency. But I read somplace that the reason goats eat paper is that is it from a wood based product. Not sure about that one though!

I used to raise horses and this was called "cribbing" in horses and was thought to be a deficieny in minerals.

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), September 15, 2001.

How about lacking exercise? Perhaps put out some toys for them, even the older does like laying up on solid wood pallets and will jump, though not to high up onto platforms we have built. Like Karen, are you feeding hay :) I have learned it is never to simple of a question, considering a gal I knew didn't put water out for her wethers since they got a bottle of milk in the morning, they were 6 months old! Goats in to small of an area can also be very destructive, cribbing like Bernice said. Minerals are of course very important, and no a salt block isn't enough. Loose minerals give the goats easy accisiblilty to enough of what they need, and plain salt is found in every kind of feed, so there isn't alot of reason to feed it. Blocks take an awful lot of licking to even make a small dent, and if your goats are chewing it off in hunks............well. We don't get the Golden Blend minerals here in Texas so we use Purina's loose cattle 12 12 minerals. Wood after all is the goats favorite thing to eat, brush, browse and bark, all are wood. Now mine don't bother the treated wood their barns are framed in. Keep hay out for them, and if you are feeding pellets, you may want to give them grain instead so their rumens have something to chew on also! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), September 15, 2001.

If they don't have access to browse, can you cut tree limbs and bring them to them? I haven't seen them available in a while, but those big wooden spools cable/wire came on were favorate play attractions in goat yards.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), September 15, 2001.