Mineral deficiency? *Picture heavy*

[Hykue]

I do think that my goats both had mineral deficiencies, as both breeders that I got them from "don't feed minerals in the summer". I'm working on it with loose minerals. I talked to the local large animal vet (there's kind of only one within 60 miles) and was told that our soils are variable, with low zinc being consistent, and low copper in some years but not in others. Selenium levels were (according to this one person) not usually deficient for horses. She also recommended that I NOT dose selenium above the level in my feed and mineral, because it's so easy to overdo it on selenium.

I finally had a day where my camera worked, so I took pictures of what may be symptoms of a copper deficiency. Can anyone tell me what they think, just so I'll know what I'm looking at in the future?

This is Dot. When I got her she was very itchy, with oily skin and dandruff. I put on a powder for mites which dried the oil a little bit, and I've been brushing her. I also gave her some ivomec for the mites. She still is itchy (but maybe not more than your average goat, I've never had goats before). She has a patch of slightly brownish hair on her thigh, and I can't tell if it's just normal coloration or a copper-deficiency reddish tinge.

She also has a bit of fishtail, I think.

Here's Dash's tail for comparison

And as for Dash, her coat is a little rough, with kind of curled tips on her hairs in her coat. Do some goats just have coats like this, or is this also a sign that something is wrong?

Thanks for any input, I'm just trying to learn as much as I can. Most people around here seem to think that goats live on sunlight and neglect . . . ok, that's an exaggeration, but they would think I was nuts for worrying about the state of their coats.

 

[ksalvagno]

They do look like they are mineral deficient. At least you are putting out minerals for them.

 

[helmstead]

I would give them a copper bolus, they both look deficient, along with a dose of BoSe at the usual rate and see how things change. In most places across the country, selenium is deficient and producers should bolus with BoSe at least 2x/yr. Here, I am needing it every 3 mos...it is way lower here in Indiana than it was in GA and I started having weak kids within a couple months of moving here.

I've only had one goat over the years that needed zinc...for the most part ours have gotten enough from their loose minerals. The one that needed zinc lost his hair in patches...it grew back after zinc pills for about 2 weeks.

 

[Emmetts Dairy]

Are they Toggenbergs...they look like they are...I have Toggs too..and their coats in all goats...show alot..they should be smooth and shinny...I give my goats mineral licks with grain and hay..hay..hay...But it looks like somethings going on...did you check for lice??? If its sucking lice..the wormer should take care of it....But thier hair is not curley..and it just dosnt start to curl if they are...usually somethings wrong if there hair is curling....good luck..keep us infomed...

 

[ThornyRidge]

I would lean toward a course of parasite treatment and some mineral treatment... as stated above good loose minerals should be out and topped off as needed... make sure it is marked for goats.. and should have good amount of copper.. as far as rough coats I know in my experience after seeing "rough" coats and checking eyelids I did a 2-3 course treatment for internal parasites and coats looked good as new!

 

[Ariel301]

They could be deficient. My senior girls looked like that when I bought them, all scruffy and flakey and rough. Since getting them onto a good mineral and treating them for the lice they were crawling with, they are shiny now. I have been using an organic mineral called Redmond's Mineral Conditioner. It's kind of pricey and hard to find, I get a good deal on it at $10 for 50 pounds though, and I really see a difference. You might try shaving them down also, that will help get rid of the lice and the rough dead hair ends, so it should grow back in nice and shiny. If the goats are also on the thin side, you could try adding some sunflower seeds or corn oil to their grain, they will put weight and shine on your animals. Also, a good deworming is probably in order.

 

[cmjust0]

I'm going to be the weirdo here and say they don't look too bad at all to me. The reddish tint on the back legs would seem to indicate some level of deficiency, but the texture of the hair doesn't look right to indicate a really, really bad deficiency. Copper deficiency hair is...well, it's just courser than normal hair.

Also, the tail....that first tail doesn't look bad to me, either.. The reason they get the 'fishtail' thing is because the hair on the very tip-end of the tail falls out and doesn't regrow, so when you look at a true deficiency fishtail up close...the tippy end of their tail is bald or very, very sparse.

That's not rally what I'm seeing in the first tail picture...that tail looks full, all the way out to the end.


All in all, I think they look pretty good.

If you want to copper bolus, go for it...it's barberpole season anyway, so if nothing else, you're going to send a lot of those to the big dirt nap. That's always good thing.

And, Bo-Se?...if you're in a deficient area and they haven't had it in a while, it probably wouldn't hurt.

 

[Hykue]

Thanks for the input. I do have out a loose mineral formulated for goats. They are definitely eating it, and I know neither of them were getting any before. I think I'm starting to notice improvement in the texture of both of their coats.

I think I will copper bolus, if I can find some, because it sounds like it can't hurt. And I will then learn to bolus. I'm less sure I like the idea of the Bose - apparently our area has sufficient selenium for horses, which have similar selenium needs to goats (or so the internet tells me). I really don't want to give them too much, and they're getting it in the minerals.

Emmetts dairy - I thought it was funny that you asked if they were Toggenburgs until I realized that none of the pictures included any identifying features. Dot is an alpine and Dash is a Lamancha!

I'm nearly certain Dot had mites, but I gave her a shot of ivomec that I'm thinking has done the trick. Her coat feels better to the touch already (minerals or lack of mites? Either way, I'm happy). And Dash seems to be getting smoother, although it might have something to do with the twice-daily brushings.

You can't really tell in the picture of Dot's tail, but you can see the bald tip of it if you look from the end (like you were going to poke out your eye on her tail). I couldn't seem to get a picture from that view, oddly enough.

Anyway, thanks again. I'm still trying to figure out what's normal, what's slightly bad, and what's horrible. So I appreciate all the input.