Sea Kelp A Healthy Choice for Dairy Goats:

Sea Kelp
A Healthy Choice for Dairy Goats?

By ennifer Stultz

Information from North American Kelp Products:

It seems the list can be endless when looking for a product to give dairy goats the edge in the milk room and the show ring. An all natural product that seems to be making a postitive impact in more and more goat herds is sea kelp. Yvonne Robinson, Applegate, Oregon, feeds it regularily to her goats and said the health benefits are readily apparent.

"I noticed a better hair coat after I started feeding it and the bone didn't show through on the tail after only a few weeks," Robinson said. "I felt my goats needed more mineral and vitamins than they were getting from their regular ration and this was the anwer for my Nubians."

Robinson, who learned about feeding sea kelp from another Nubian breeder, Betty Longman, said it wasn't hard to feed, it wasn't very expensive, and it made a positive difference in the health of her dairy goat herd.

According to information from North American Kelp Products, which sells animal grade SeaLife Kelp Meal, the dried seaweed fulfills requirements in animals for trace elements that are often lacking in land-grown feeds and pastures (due to erosion or leaching), and standard mineral mixes.

SeaLife is a rich and dependable source of 60 minerals and elements including iodine, 21 amino acids, and 12 vitamins (including A, C, B12, thiamin, and vitamin E or tocopherol). Because the minerals are in plant tissue they are easily digested and assimilated. Many of the trace minerals contained in SeaLife are essential for producing enzymes which in turn promote healthy body functions.

The North American Kelp website stated that technical research and farmer and breeder observations indicate a variety of benefits from the consumption of kelp meal - all evidence of good health and productivity. Specifically for dairy goats, those benefits might include: improved feed utilization as it is an excellent source of iodine which helps regulate metabolism, more overall production (e.g., milk, weight gain), reduced breeding problems, reduced incidence of white muscle disease, increased milk butterfat levels with fewer fluctuations, reduced incidence of mastitis, reduction of susceptibility to milk fever, enhanced coat and hair sheen.

SeaLife Kelp Meal is an animal feed supplement made from the seaplant Ascophyllum nodosom. It is harvested from the cold, clean waters of the Maine coast and the live plant is quickly dried at a low temperature to preserve its valuable vitamins, minerals, trace elements, amino acids, and alginates. It is dark green in color with a light salty flavor. Feeding rates for goats should be approximately two percent of the standard grain ration.

Specific properties are detailed in the charts.

Minerals and Elements (%)
Aluminum .193
Antimony .00014
Barium .00128
Boron .0194
Calcium 1.904
Chlorine 3.68
Cobalt .00123
Copper .00064
Fluorine .03265
Germanium .00001
Gold .00001
Iodine .0624
Iron .08956
Lantanum .00001
Lead .00001
Lithium .00001
Magnesium .213
Manganese .1235
Mercury .00019
Molybdenum .00159
Nickel .0035
Nitrogen .0624
Phosphorus .211
Potassium 1.28
Rubidium .00001
Selenium .00004
Silicon .1642
Sodium 4.18
Sulfur 1.564
Strontium .07488
Thallium .00029
Tin .00001
Titanium .00001
Tungsten .00003
Vanadium .00053
Zinc .00352
Amino Acids
(as gms of amino acid nitrogen / 100 gms of protein nitrogen)
Alanine 5.0
Arginine 11.8
Aspartic acid 8.7
Glutamic acid 5.3
Glycine 5.7
Leucine 8.7
Lysine 4.1
Serine 3.3
Threonine 2.7
Tyrosine 0.5
Valine + Methionine 14.0

Trace or Undeclared Amounts:
Beryllium, Bromine, Bismuth, Cadmium, Carbon, Cesium, Cerium, Chromium, Gallium, Hydrogen, Indium, Iridium, Niobium, Osmium, Oxygen, Palladium, Platinum, Radium, Rhodium, Silver, Tellurium, Uranium, Zirconium

Components (%)
Protein: 5. 7
Fat: 2.6
Fiber: 7.0
Moisture: 10.7
Ash: 15.4
Carbohydrates: 58.6

Carbohydrates (%)
Algiic acid: 26.7
Laminarin: 9.3
Methylpentosans: 7.0
Other sugars: 11.4

Vitamins (mg/kg)
Ascorbic acid (C): 500 - 2000
Tocopherols (E): 150 - 300
Carotene (A): 30 - 60
Ba: 15 - 50
Niacin: 10 - 30
K: 10
Riboflavin: 5 - 10
Niacin: 2 - 5
V: 1.5 - 3
Thiamin: 1 - 5
Folic acid: 0.1 - 0.5
Folinic acid: 0.1 - 0.5
Biotin: 0.1 - 0.4
Vitamin B12: 0.004