# Can Red cell be a supplement for goats



## boerboy (Oct 7, 2012)

It turns out my goat herd is low on selenium, copper. There is certain amount of worm load but only certain goats get poor lamacha score.

I give them quality alfalfa plus grains only during winter and early spring. Lose mineral whole year.

Can I just give red cell as a supplement instead of 
1) selenium vit E (or) BoSe
2) copper bolus

Because each floz contains
36mg copper
0.65mg selenium
11mg zinc
120mcg vit b12

Anyone use red cell as supplement due to your soil being low on copper/selenium?


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

Copper oxide rods are found to be most useful when supplementing copper because they have a long term effect (~3mon as a dietary supplement) and also have an effect on parasites. To my knowledge, it's the only form that is effective as part of a parasite prevention program, the rest pass too quickly through the GI to be effective. I use it around stressful events or if I have to deworm in between (rare) - pre breeding and pre-kidding as associated with stress in life.

while it contains selenium, it *depends* if it is effective. It depends if your area is deficient and if your minerals or if your feed are also supplemented with selenium (many are in areas that are deficient in the soil) I personally choose to supplement with BoSe 2x per year in breeding stock - pre-breeding and pre-kidding. (1 month before breeding and 1 month before kidding, to be exact - same time as other management events so it's no additional handling). This is in addition to some being present in my feed and mineral mix as well. Because too much Se is toxic, (more is not better), many feed/mineral labels say that the product should be the only source of Se in the diet. 

IIRC, red cell is pricy and probably not the most effective method of supplementing copper or selenium. It is an iron supplement for those low on the FAMANCHA score that are anemic and may benefit from additional iron supplementation. I would be worried that dosing regularly would be 1. expensive and 2. excessive in iron.


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