Selenium and Copper

There are two really important minerals when it comes to goat breeding (and general well-being), Selenium and Copper. A deficiency in either of those minerals will make it really hard for your goats to get pregnant, stay pregnant, and kid properly (even besides the other problems the deficiencies cause!). 

Copper

Copper deficiency is perhaps the most common type of deficiency, due to previous problematic understanding of goats' copper needs. (As a side note, in general, lighter colored goats need more copper than darker colored goats).

Symptoms

The symptoms of a mild- to moderate-level copper deficiency include: 

Faded coats--brown goat turn yellow-ish, black goats turn brown. This is often seen on the back legs first, we've found.

Fish tails--tails that separate top and bottom so they're in two "bunches".

Losing hair on the face

Problems caused by copper deficiency that may not immediately be apparent...

Fertility issues--infertility (does AND bucks), abortions, fewer kids, premature births, etc.

In severe cases, spinal injury 

Ultimately, if it's severe and goes unchecked, death 

Weak immune system

Parasite issues + anemia

Causes and Solutions

There are two ways your goat can be copper deficient: they are not getting enough dietary copper, OR they are also eating large amounts of a copper antagonist, another mineral that makes copper unavailable, (sulfur, iron, molybdenum, calcium). This often happens in goats who drink well water.

There are essentially three steps to be taken:

1. Remove antagonists from the diet. Some are still needed in small quantities, but try to balance it out.

2. Make sure your goat minerals have at least 1500-1850 ppm of copper in them. Many minerals which are marketed for goats DO NOT have this much copper in them--this is a leading cause of deficiency. We have only found one goat mineral with enough copper, Sweetlix Meat Maker, which can be found HERE.

3. If both of these fixes leave the goats still copper deficient, copper oxide wire boluses are a good option. They contain little pieces of copper wire which slowly dissolve in the goats' stomachs. We have to give these to our goats every three months; other people need to give them only every 6 months, or once a year. The ones we use can be found HERE.

More information can be found at THIS link--Deborah is an experienced goat owner, who has also done a TON of scientific and practical research on goats.

Selenium

Selenium is a micronutrient, meaning it's needed in very small amounts. Different areas of the country have different levels of selenium. Selenium also works in tandem with vitamin E, so if a goat has a vitamin E deficiency, they won't be able to use the selenium they have in their system, and vice versa. However, vitamin E deficiencies are much less common.

Symptoms

Trouble getting and staying pregnant

Trouble giving birth

Consistently giving birth to weak or stillborn kids

Retained placenta

Less milk production

Causes and Solutions

Again, selenium deficiency can be caused by not having enough dietary selenium, or consuming too much of a selenium antagonist (sulfur, often in well water). Two solutions in this case:

1. Remove the antagonist from the diet.

2. Supplement in some way. We use Kaeco selenium gel, found HERE. Other people do shots or other methods of supplementation. The gel is marketed as "Selenium and Vitamin E gel", but it doesn't actually have even the suggested daily intake of vitamin E for goats, so for vitamin E, they're generally dependent on diet, which gives them enough usually. This gel is given once a month.

More info on selenium deficiency and supplementation can be found HERE.