First freshener Dexter

[Farmingscots]

I just had goat kids born with iodine deficiency - underbites super little and huge goiters. It’s been a fight but they are still with us.
…and now I’m worried about making sure my Dexter has enough while she’s pregnant so baby will be healthy. Please help me understand what do give my Dexter in these last few months. She is due to calf on June 30th

 

[canesisters]

Do you have access to Redmond mineral?
The 'gold standard' is a buffet of individual mineral tubs (that nobody can actually afford )

but Redmond is a VERY good. I keep it out for my girl.

 

[Farmingscots]

That’s what we lean toward also. So I’m on the right track at least according to some…I have redmonds with garlic and it helps with the flies. I plant to get kelp meal in my next Azure order.
a neighbor said that if I had given my goat a multi min shot I might not have such an issue with the kids. But multi min is this crazy blue color so it can’t be natural…

 

[farmerjan]

We use MultiMin on our cattle... I will look up the bottle next time I am at the barn to see... BUT... sometimes some of these things are colored to make sure of what is being given... and some might be colored with some of the particular formulation. For a little goat, the small amount of a single shot that might prevent such a problem would be a very small price to pay if it is an "unnatural" dye. Plus it is a one shot deal... you do not give it regularly. But I will make it a point of looking at the bottle when I go to the barn to see what it has in it because now I am curious.
They make an injectible iron shot for baby pigs as they are often born with low iron levels, but I cannot think of any iodine shots except in the multimin...

Another thing, the "buffet of minerals" that was touted to be the ultimate way to "allow and animal to choose what their body needs" is actually pretty inefficient. It has been studied on many dairy farms over the years, a couple of organic ones here were part of a local study... and it was found some of the supplemental minerals are UNPALATABLE and the cattle would wind up pushing it out, because they would not eat/lick it.... and it was wasted more than anything. That is why most minerals have a certain amount of salt as an enticement to cattle to use them...
We use a pasture mineral, hi-mag.... for the cattle with the garlic to help with the flies also...especially at turn out to help with the spring flush of grass being low in magnesium and causing grass tetany; some years the garlic seems to work better than others.

If the kids have iodine deficiency, then you need to find a salt with high iodine concentrations...but there are levels that are allowed by the USDA... that is why MultiMin is from a vet and not over the counter. All part of the rules governing drugs and the vet requirement that have gone into effect over the past 10 years.... VFD... Veterinary Feed Directive part...

 

[Farmingscots]

I wish I had known that giving the goat a shot of multimin pre-birth could have prevented a lot. You said you also use it on your cattle? The cow is due to calve June 30 so when would it be good to have the vet come out and give her a multimin shot?

 

[farmerjan]

We mostly use multimin on cattle we buy, and in cases of ones that don't shed out well.. or in stress situations... not on a real regular basis. In your case, if the iodine deficiency in the kids is that pronounced, it certainly cannot hurt the cow... I probably would have done it sooner rather than later... but as soon as you can now... I would like to see it in her system a few months ahead so it is feeding the fetus through the placenta blood exchange....
Again, that is more for an individual to decide, but if you are in a deficient area. it might be a good thing to give once a year or so... this would be with the vet consulting. We do use it some on animals pre breeding....It is not a cure all... but might have provided enough of the trace minerals to have mitigated some of the problems...Breeding and early pregnancy can take a toll and it might "shore up" their systems better.
We are not in an especially iodine deficient area here... our problem is low selenium... and we often will give a BoSe shot to calves that might show a contracted tendon or have weak legs... and to the sheep/lambs also.

We give vaccinations and such at preg checks... we use Triangle 10 which is a killed virus vaccine on all females, it is safe for pregnant cows so it is like a boost to their immune system... usually at preg check they are 4-6 months along when we sort/work the cows...Use triangle 5 on the steer calves... and a blackleg booster also which is cheap insurance to bolster the immunity the calf gets through the colostrum... lasts usually 6-12 weeks... at which time we use a blackleg shot for the calves. always when they get worked to go out to pasture in the spring... Picking up a clostridium in the environment is too easy and it can kill them in 24-48 hours... and you usually can't tell they are sick until too late... It is also a killed virus vaccine...
Then we also vaccinate heifers we retain for breeding replacements. And they get bangs vaccinated by the vet to guard against any Brucellosis... no longer required but I just want mine done... old school thinking...

 

[Farmingscots]

Thanks for sharing all that. It seems like vaccines might be safer for animals than humans. Do you know what is used as an adjuvant in the vaccines?

 

[farmerjan]

Thanks for sharing all that. It seems like vaccines might be safer for animals than humans. Do you know what is used as an adjuvant in the vaccines?

Web site says it is proprietary, trade secret. I do know there is gentamycin and thimerisol as preservatives. maybe something else... I do not like the thimerisol since it bothered me when used in the solution back when I wore contacts and I had to switch to a different one... But... we have had cows abort due to high incidences of Lepto in this area... carried by all mammals and spread easily... and we have lost some calves years ago to an outbreak ...called a bloom... of clostridial spores after a particularly wet week and warm temps that cause it to spike... also environmental and occurring everywhere so not like you can prevent exposure except to put them on concrete and keep everything out and away from them... Vaccination is safer than not and possibly losing another animal... especially with today's prices. There are few totally killed virus vaccines.. and I will not use modified live.
I will look at the MultiMin bottle when I am in the barn. But if you go to the website , the manufacturer's page, I see nothing for sheep or goats so it has to be prescribed off label for them. I also do not see anything about iodine in it. It might make iodine more available with the chemical reactions in the body to the minerals... I am not sure. And there is no reference to a dye in the inert ingredients, so I am thinking it is a natural color from the interaction of the minerals included. If I remember right, copper is a blue color when in the sulfate form... but that is a long time ago so I could be wrong... There are only 4 minerals in it.. copper, zinc, selenium and manganese... so did not see where iodine is included. One reason it is used off label for goats would be their need for copper above what is allowed to be added to a mineral mixture.

 

[Farmingscots]

Thank you again. I just communicated with some neighbors who have cattle and they talked a lot about loose minerals that there is a blend specially formulated for our region - particularly low in selenium like you said you deal with. So interesting. I looked up multimin and realized it didn’t have iodine either- but it did say it’s at its peak in the bloodstream within a day or less. - I forget the hours range it described but it seemed to work fast. I’m thinking the best way to ensure iodine is to provide kelp meal as a choice, and also to just put some on her skin (underside of her tail, inside of ears) etc. I read that iodine is inhibited by certain chemicals and is often present in water - it’s so hard to know if an environment is compromised these days. It makes me want to pull my hair out

 

[Farmingscots]

“Perchlorate, thiocyanate and nitrate(called as major Sodium-Iodide Symporter (NIS) inhibitors) are known to competitively inhibit iodide uptake by the thyroid gland”