# Loose Mineral problems



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I am having a hard time with mineral this winter. It keeps getting too moist and then they really don't want it. I keep it in the barn and have had it in 3 different places. I have a large pvc elbow pipe that was given to us to use as a mineral feeder, now that one was getting moisture in it, so I've been using a red bucket that I tie up. 

I plan on moving the pvc pipe, but IMO it's not going to solve the moisture in the mineral issue.

BTW, I've been giving the mineral from TSC. But planning to try and find a different kind at one of the feed stores that I can get in a large bag.

Oh, and I don't fill it up, I just put a little at a time. But no matter how much I put out, same issue.


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## rednekrivieraranch (Dec 6, 2012)

I've been having the same problem! Switched from a pipe to a small bucket too, but still too moist/ clumpy. i have a terra cotta disk you put in brown sugar once opened to keep it from clumping. thought about putting it in with the goat minerals ( its big 4x2 inches) Hope someone else chimes in with advice


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## Tenacross (May 26, 2011)

Worrying about minerals is one of my least favorite hobbies. My goats train me more than I get them to do what I want. My latest thing is to mix my Sweetlix loose goat mins 50/50 with kelp. If I wander around with a bowl of that in my hand every other, or every third day, most of my goats will eat a fair amount. I have free choice loose out all the time, but they have all but quit them. I copper bolus on top of this. I'm planning on bolusing them about every five months.


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## ogfabby (Jan 3, 2013)

I have so much trouble getting mine to eat the loose mineral. I think I throw more out because of moisture than they eat. I have better luck with the purple billy blocks from TSC but I still keep the loose out as well.


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

I know this may not be practical for most, but I sprinkle feed with it and I also hand feed so I know they eat it....I am doing that for now anyway, but I hadn't thought about the moisture....what a pain....I know if I had mine out it would be like that here as we have quite the humidity issues at times! I put rice in my salt shaker, for example....
Hope someone has an answer!


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## sunshinegoat (Feb 7, 2012)

Poulin Grain makes the mineral I use. I get it in a 50# bag from my feed store. My guys LOVE it! It kind of smells like that LikEmAid candy..(do they still make that, lol) As long as it's under cover and doesn't get wet they eat it right up. I go through 1# every second or third day.


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## DDFN (Jul 31, 2011)

I would love to see an answer to this. I only put out a little at a time in those plastic over the fence type feed pans. In one lot I have a little mineral shed (just a small 3 sided thing) that I put one with loose mineral and one with baking soda. This time of year for some reason it just seems to take on moisture. All of my girl lots have the same plastic over the fence feeders with the mineral but the bucks lot has a very long wooded feeder that I put feed on one end and minerals and baking soda on the other. What every they don't eat I sweep out when it gets moist or doesn't look like they would eat it (normally every other day, some times every day).

If you find a good solution I would love to hear it. I always wondered how people used those bulk mineral feeder that are sold. I waste enough mineral now but I think one of those would waste a lot more.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

That really is a hard one with so much moisture in the air. Do you feed them grain? Could you sprinkle some over their grain?


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Because of moisture problem I finally gave up & just go out with a pan of it everyday.
It's wonderful to be mobbed.
The bag is stored in laundry room.


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## ptgoats45 (Nov 28, 2011)

It's dry here so I haven't had a problem, but I have a feeder made with PVC pipe with a wye attached to the bottom. I put a cap on it and so far they stay pretty dry. I use the purina cattle minerals from tractor supply, I think most cattle minerals are made to withstand moisture so they don't go bad.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks everyone! Sorry that I am not the only one going through this! 
I put some out tonight in their red bucket, probably a couple of handfuls at most. I'll check it in the morning. I had my son put about half a handful in the corner of the creep feeder. NO WAY will I leave a bucket for the babies just yet, they are terrorizers in that creep area right now LOL 
We have 2 moms and their triplets in stalls at night, so after they finish their feed I put a little in their feeders and put it low enough the babies can reach. 
This is probably what I'll have to do. Sprinking it on the grain won't work since we feed pelleted feed, it'll just fall down to the bottom and get wasted. If we were still feeding sweet feed, I'd sprinkle it on, I used to do that once in a while with a bag of mineral they stuck their nose up at.

We've never had this problem before though, don't think it was a big problem the last 2 winters, not like this.


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

Hoosier~ sometimes I add a bit of water or a touch of molasses to make the minerals stick. I use pellets and sweet feed mixed....


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## kiddoe (Oct 8, 2012)

HoosierShadow said:


> I am having a hard time with mineral this winter. It keeps getting too moist and then they really don't want it. I keep it in the barn and have had it in 3 different places. I have a large pvc elbow pipe that was given to us to use as a mineral feeder, now that one was getting moisture in it, so I've been using a red bucket that I tie up.
> 
> I plan on moving the pvc pipe, but IMO it's not going to solve the moisture in the mineral issue.
> 
> ...


I use Diatomaceous Earth (Also known as DE). I get mine at Tractor and Supply. I can't remember if it comes in a 20 or 50 pound bag. It lasts forever, but again, I only have 2 goats! I mix about a cup and a half into a 50 pound bag of sweet feed or about 1/2 a cup in with a 20 pound bag of minerals. You can put it in any feed to keep from clumping. It can also be spread on your goat's coats to help keep lice, mites and ticks from infesting.


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

It keeps it from clumping?


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