B VITAMINS and THEIR IMPORTANCE TO GOAT HEALTH Because all B vitamins are water soluble, a healthy goat manufactures its own B vitamins daily in its rumen. The goat uses what it needs each day and excretes the rest from its body. It does not store B vitamins in its body. Two of the B vitamins that are extremely important to goat health are Vitamin B 1 (thiamine) and Vitamin B12. A goat that is not eating is a goat whose rumen is not producing B vitamins. When a goat is sick, it usually quits eating and/or drinking-- goes off feed. This is very serious in a kid, because its rumen is just beginning to function and its immune system is not fully developed until about a year of age. When a goat goes off feed, B vitamins must be provided. Injectable Fortified Vitamin B Complex is a good way to add B vitamins. The word "fortified" in the name is crucial; "fortified" means that the vitamin complex contains 100 mg/mL of Vitamin B 1 (thiamine). This strength of thiamine is extremely important.
Fortified Vitamin B Complex is available over the counter by mail order from Jeffers (1-800-JEFFERS or 1-800-533-3377). Vitamin B 1 (thiamine) is necessary for carbohydrate metabolism and normal neural activity. When metabolism slows down as a result of inadequate amounts of thiamine, cells die and brain swelling occurs. With Polioencephalomalacia (Goat Polio), there is a shift in rumen micro-organisms and a change in metabolism that consumes all the thiamine made in the rumen. A high carbohydrate diet (lots of sacked grains) containing high levels of sulfur (greater than 0.30% of total diet) appears to be a major cause of Goat Polio. Thiamine injections are required to overcome this condition. Sacked grains (carbohydrates) should be removed from the goat's total diet to allow the rumen flora to return to normal. Soybean meal is a good protein source for goats, but it also contains a high level of sulfur. High-protein diets with soybean meal as the primary protein source along with the "sulfate" variety of many minerals can lead to a diet high enough in sulfur to create polioencephalomalacia.
Thiamine deficiency in a goat can produce life-threatening conditions. Administer thiamine injectably whenever a goat becomes ill. Usage of Fortified Vitamin B Complex is acceptable, because it contains Vitamin B 1 as well as other necessary B vitamins. Dosage is four (4) cc's per hundred pounds bodyweight given IM (into the muscle) every 12 hours. Since all B vitamins are water soluble, overdosing is difficult and the margin of safety is wide. Better too much than not enough when giving B vitamins. Vitamin B 12 is a red injectable liquid that in many locales is a prescription item. Buy a bottle of Vitamin B 12 from your vet. Fortified Vitamin B Complex is not sufficient for treating Vitamin B 12 deficiency. Do not use the poultry product that contains Vitamin B 12 and Vitamin K, as Vitamin K in involved in blood coagulation. Goats heavily infected with worms become anemic, and Vitamin B 12 is an essential part of bringing them back to health. B 12 injections may be required daily over a period of weeks or months, depending upon the severity of the anemia.
To avoid repeated injections during long-term treatment, the producer can add B vitamins to the feed of a severely-anemic goat by using a swine vitamin premix or top-dressing feed with Show Bloom, both of which should be available from a local feedstore or from a mail-order house like Jeffers. However, I am not a believer in medicating goats via water or feed because the goat that needs it most is going to be on the bottom of the pecking order and will get the least. Direct administration of medication into the goat is the best way to insure proper dosing. B vitamins, especially B 12, can jump start the rumen function and get a goat eating again. Producers living in geographic areas with cobalt deficiencies should know that a sufficient cobalt intake is essential for the manufacture and utilization of Vitamin B 12. As a measure of safety, assume that cobalt is deficient and make sure it is in all mineral or protein/energy supplements. It is not expensive. Cobalt requirement in the goat's diet is believed to be 0.1 parts per million, although not much research has been done in this area.
The primary reason that I discourage producers from formulating and/or mixing their own goat feed is that vitamin and mineral interactions are so critical that mixing feed should be left to trained professional livestock nutritionists. At certain levels, specific items work with each other; at other levels, they inhibit nutritional uptake. Some ingredients are cheap but are not readily absorbed by the goat's body -- oxides (except magnesium oxide). Others are more expensive but are better utilized nutritionally -- sulfates, chlorides, carbonates. Feed components need to be biologically active. The most difficult part of raising goats in any sort of managed environment is proper nutrition. The information contained is this article is proof of the importance of this fact. My thanks go to Kent Mills, nutritionist in charge of technical services for goats, sheep, and wildlife, at HiPro Feeds in Freonia, Texas for furnishing technical data used in preparation of this article. Suzanne W. GasparottoONION CREEK RANCHUpdated 10-3-10
November 4, 2013 by Mary Humphrey Fortified Vitamin B Complex is a staple in my goat medicine cabinet. This post will help you understand the importance. Are B vitamins necessary in a goat’s diet? Goats manufacture B vitamins in the rumen through micro-organisms during the digestion process. Goats utilize (absorb) the B vitamins that the rumen creates and eliminate any excess. B vitamins are not necessary supplements in the diet of a healthy goat. In fact, B vitamins are not metabolized (absorbed) through the ingestion of feeds at all. They are only absorbed through the rumen system, solely through the internal manufacturing process. What causes a thiamine deficiency? Any illness or condition that leads to a goat not eating can cause the rumen to function poorly, or not function at all, resulting in a drop (or cessation) in B vitamin production, which lowers the absorption of the most important vitamin (B1, Thiamine) to a goat’s health. Goat kids are very prone to thiamine deficiency.
The rumen does not fully function at a very young age, and the immune system continues to build during the first year of life. Symptoms of thiamine deficiency include: weak back legs, staggering, confusion, star gazing (looking upwards, stretching the neck), diarrhea, muscle tremors, convulsions, circling, and blindness and depression. In the later stages, the goat is unable to stand or rise up, death will follow. The importance of the correct fiber to starch ratio is extremely important to a goat’s health. When the ratio is incorrect, or when the goat overloads on carbohydrates resulting from too much grain or starch, the rumen stops functioning correctly resulting in less production of B vitamins, or no production at all. Long stemmed fiber, such as good quality hay, is very important to proper rumen function. A change in diet may also lead to rumen function issues. Feeds must be changed gradually, allowing the rumen to adjust over a period of 7 to 10 days. Moldy hay or feed also leads to poor rumen function and illness.
Goat Polio (Polioncephalomalacia) is a disease that results from thiamine deficiency. It is easily treated, early on, with larges doses of thiamine. Goat Polio and Listeriosis have very similar symptoms and causes. For this reason, I also include penicillin in the treatment. Note, Listeriosis normally affects full-grown goats, not kids. How is thiamine deficiency treated? Fortified Vitamin B Complex contains 100 mg/per ml of Vita B1 (Thiamine). When injected under the skin the goat is able to absorb the B vitamins, replacing what they are not able to produce. A goat will not overdose on an injection of B vitamins. The excess is expelled through urination. As prevention, probiotics are often administered by goat owners each time feed is changed, when oral medications are given, or when the goat is stressed. The administration of probiotics assists with proper micro-organism balance in the rumen. Note: purchase Fortified Vitamin B Complex, not Vitamin B Complex, the latter does not contain the correct percentage of thiamine (B1), 100 mg/per ml, required for treatment of thiamine deficiency.