B-Vitamins (Thiamine and B12) are Essential for Goats!

Goat health can get pretty tricky, especially when you go out and find your precious friend in the corner, lying down and sick.

Understanding B-Vitamins in Goats

Understanding the significance of water-soluble B vitamins, particularly Vitamin B1 (thiamine) and Vitamin B12, is pivotal.

Unlike some animals, goats do not store B vitamins; instead, they produce them daily in their rumen. However, when a goat faces illness or a decline in appetite, ensuring an external supply of these crucial vitamins becomes imperative.

Dosage Information and Record-keeping

You can find all of the dosage information for any medication in My Goat Binder and be sure to keep good records of any medications you give.

A Sick Goat Stops Producing B1-Vitamins (Thiamine)

At some point in your goat ownership, you’ll come upon a goat that has become sick and is not eating or drinking. An active rumen produces B-Vitamins and when they aren’t eating and drinking, the B-Vitamin production stops. And when it stops, it is very serious. 

A young kid doesn’t have a fully developed immune system until they are about one years old and their rumen is still developing, if they go off feed, it is especially problematic. 

When a goat of any age is in a health crisis, they need help having adequate B-Vitamin levels. And that is where you can step in and help them. You provide these vitamins by giving injectable FORTIFIED Vitamin B Complex. It MUST be fortified or it won’t be adequate. Fortified Vitamins contain 100 mg/mL of Vitamin B1, which is thiamine. 

You can help your goat through their sickness by giving them thiamine. 

Goats and Thiamine 

Thiamine, a vital component for carbohydrate metabolism and normal neural activity, plays a really important role in goat health.

The onset of conditions like Polioencephalomalacia (Goat Polio) can disrupt thiamine production in the rumen, leading to metabolic slowdown, cell death, and brain swelling. A high carbohydrate diet with elevated sulfur levels is often a contributing factor. In such cases, injectable Fortified Vitamin B Complex, with a significant dose of 100 mg/mL of Vitamin B1 (thiamine), becomes a lifeline. It is crucial to promptly administer thiamine injections, remove high-sulfur carbohydrates from the diet, and facilitate the return of rumen flora to normal.

Thiamine deficiency poses life-threatening risks for goats, and administering Fortified Vitamin B Complex is a recommended approach, given its comprehensive B vitamin composition. So if your goat is sick and showing signs of this deficiency, then administer according to these directions: Dosage, at four (4) cc’s per hundred pounds body weight, should be administered intramuscularly every 12 hours, considering the wide safety margin of water-soluble B vitamins.

It is better to have too much than too little. 

Goats and Vitamin B-12 

Vitamin B12, a red injectable liquid, is essential for addressing anemia in goats, particularly those heavily infested with worms. While Fortified Vitamin B Complex is insufficient for treating B12 deficiency, direct administration of B12 injections can jump-start rumen function and aid in the recovery of anemic goats. You may end up needing to supplement with this for weeks or even months to get your goat’s anemia gone. 

For long-term treatment, incorporating B vitamins into the feed using swine vitamin premix or top-dressing with supplements like Show Bloom is an option, though direct administration remains the most reliable method. You may want to consider this option only because repeated injections, even when giving them in several injection sites, can become harder for you and the goat. 

In regions with cobalt deficiencies, crucial for B12 synthesis, ensuring its presence in mineral or protein/energy supplements is essential. Despite its cost-effectiveness, cobalt should not be overlooked, with a recommended diet concentration of 0.1 parts per million.

Get Help when Mixing Feed for your Goats

The nutritional needs of goats are complex, caution is advised against formulating or mixing feed without professional guidance. The intricate interactions of vitamins and minerals at specific levels require expertise to prevent inhibitions in nutritional uptake. In the realm of goat management, proper nutrition stands out as the most challenging aspect, emphasizing the importance of informed decision-making to ensure the well-being of these animals.

Learn all you can about goat minerals–they are so important to have out at all times for your goats!