Goats like salt in any form, but many owners are unaware of how to feed salt to their goats. You must not misuse, overuse, or underuse salt. Also, it shouldn’t be provided in a way that it becomes difficult for the goat to consume it. In this article, you will get answers to most of your queries about feeding salt to your goats.
What is Salt?
Salt is simply sodium chloride (NaC1). So, when we say salt, we are referring to the mineral called sodium. It is a reactive mineral. Therefore, when goats consume it, its body splits it into sodium and chloride.
Salt Supplements for Goats
Salt is an important supplemental food for your goat. As a supplement, it is available both in the block and loose forms. Salt can be of pink, white, tan, or gray color, and may contain added minerals.
Do Goats Like Salt Blocks?
Salt is a crucial supplement for goats. But, it is a tricky question whether goats like salt blocks or not. It usually depends on the goat because some goats can chew salt blocks properly, while some cannot. It all relies on the way you feed salt.
How to Feed Salt Blocks to Goat
If you go for bigger blocks, it will get rejected by the goat. On the other hand, smaller blocks are easy to chew, and goats generally like it. It is a fact that goats like salt, and if you feed your goats sale-free minerals as a supplemental food, add salt blocks to make it more nutritious for the animal.
Why Goats Don’t Eat Salt Blocks?
The problem lies with the goats’ tongues. They have very smooth tongues in comparison to cows, which have rough tongues. That’s why goats cannot obtain a sufficient supply of salt from salt blocks. Cows can lick the salt blocks quickly and receive a full day’s supply of the mineral. However, goats fail to lick as much salt off the block. That’s why they reject the blocks.
Potential Harms Associated with Goats Eating Salt Blocks
To get a better salt supply, goats will bite the block to turn it into smaller chunks. Biting can potentially injure the goat’s TMJ or the temporomandibular joint. This joint is the connecting point between the skull and the jaw, and the only paired joint in the goat’s body. Any injury caused to this joint can affect spinal alignment.
Additionally, a majority of the salt blocks are created using binding agents. Binding agents are an unnecessary and unhealthy addition to the goat’s diet except for the pink Himalayan chunks. Moreover, salt blocks usually contain added coloring or flavoring, and there’s a variety with added minerals. Added minerals are non-chelated, and the goat’s body will find it difficult to absorb and excrete them.
Therefore, we suggest that big blocks of salt should be avoided. It isn’t healthy for the goat to chew on salt blocks, mainly due to the TMJ’s risk.
Loose Salt vs. Salt Blocks for Goats
In comparison to salt blocks, loose salt is a better option because goats can consume it easily without the risk of injuring the TMJ or receiving unnecessary binding agents. It is essential to feed salt to the goat. It helps in maintaining the necessary mineral-fluid balance between the exterior and interior sides of the cells in the animal’s body.
Why Should You Feed Salt to Your Goats?
The goat body’s cell structure is such that it has a higher proportion of sodium on the outside and more potassium on the inside. When the body transmutes sodium to potassium to maintain the balance, salt levels in the goat’s body drop considerably. If you feed salt to the goat, the blood salt levels will not fall, and the cells will stay balanced.
