You might have heard that people feed ammonium chloride to goats. While you might think that it is for dietary reasons, its actually used to prevent certain medical conditions.
Why should you feed ammonium chloride to goats?
You should feed ammonium chloride to your goat if it is experiencing calculi stones. Calculi stones are similar to kidney stones in humans and are a result of mineral build up in a goat’s urinary tract.
While there is no 1 definite cause for calculi stones, studies have shown that goats that eat a diet that is high in concentrates are more at risk. Water that is heavy in minerals are also another cause of calculi stones.
When calculi stones form, they make it extremely painful for your goat to pee. In some cases, the stones completely block the urinary tract, and you must call a veterinarian as soon as possible. The reason you should feed your goat ammonium chloride is because it breaks down the calculi stones which allow them to pass through the urinary tract and out of the goat’s body.
How much ammonium chloride to give a goat
If you are mixing ammonium chloride in your goat’s food, you should put half a pound of ammonium chloride into every 50 pounds of food. If you are mixing ammonium chloride into water, you should give put one tablespoon of ammonium chloride for every cup of water.
Cheap ammonium chloride for goats
Now you might be wondering where the cheapest ammonium chloride is. We buy our Ammonium Chloride for goats from Amazon for under $20. This bucket is great because it can also be used for other livestock.
You can learn more about it in our guide on the best ammonium chloride powder for goats.
How to get goats to eat ammonium chloride?
There are two different ways to feed ammonium chloride to goats. In food or water (precautionary), or directly through a syringe into the goat’s mouth (remedy).
You should feed ammonium chloride to goats in a precautionary measure in order to prevent them from getting calculi stones in the future. For this method, you should put half a pound of ammonium chloride into every 50 pounds of food, and then mix it together. If you want to administer it through water, you can mix in one teaspoon of ammonium chloride into two gallons of water. Make sure to stir it thoroughly so that it dissolves into the water and doesn’t get stuck at the bottom.
If your goat already has calculi stones, we recommend feeding the ammonium chloride directly into the goat’s mouth (remedy). To do this, mix one tablespoon of ammonium chloride into one cup of water. Make sure you stir the solution so that the chloride gets dissolved. Then, take a syringe and feed the water directly into your goat’s mouth. You should do this daily for at least a weak in order to dissolve all of the calculi stones that are in your goat’s urinary tract.
If you have to give your goat a pill, you should check out my article on how to give a goat a pill.
How to tell if you goat has calculi stones
It is important that you diagnose calculi stones as quick as possible. The earlier you discover them, the easier it is to treat them. Goats with calculi stones typically display the following behavior:
- Restlessness
- Kicking at their bladder when they pee
- Loss of appetite
- Clear discomfort when they pee
- Weak stream of urine that dribbles instead of pouring out
- Bumps or swelling near the bladder
