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Mineral Buffet for Goats: The Complete Starter Kit 20 Minerals (non-GMO) + Salt

$160.00 USD $139.00 USD Save $21

The Non-GMO Free Choice Enterprises mineral buffet system, repackaged in smaller sizes for smaller herds! Order the complete starter kit at a savings and get free shipping to help you get started! 

The BEST Minerals for Goats

We've been using this system in our own dairy goat herd for over three years.  They have never been healthier and we have thousands of herds across the country saying the same.  I sell them because I firmly believe these are the best minerals for goats and I will never go back to a blended mineral system.

For more info, see our page on why we chose mineral buffet and our tutorial for building your own mineral buffet feeder.  See ingredients and labels here.  

Have questions?  Join The Mineral Buffet on Facebook to get real user experiences, ask questions before you buy and get support when you're ready to set up the system.

This table details exactly how weight (in pounds) of each mineral you will receive in each size starter kit.

Mineral Small Medium Large XL
Boron (B) 1 2 4 8
Calcium (CA) 1 2 4 8
Vitamins C&B (CB) 1 2 4 8
Alkaline Neutralizer (CL) 0.5 2 4 8
Cobalt (Co) 1 2 4 8
Copper (Cu) 1 2 4 8
Iron (Fe) 0.5 2 4 8
Iodine (I) 1 2 4 8
Potassium (K) 1 2 4 8
Magnesium (Mg) 0.5 2 4 8
Manganese (Mn) 0.5 2 4 8
Molybdenum (Mo) 0.5 2 4 8
Sodium (Na) 1 2 4 8
Acid Neutralizer (OH) 0.5 2 4 8
Phosphorus (P) 1 2 4 8
Plain White Salt 1 2 4 8
Sulfur (S) 1 2 4 8
Selenium (Se) 1 2 4 8
Silicon (Si) 1 2 4 8
Vitamins A, D, E (V4) 1 2 4 8
Zinc (Zn) 1 2 4 8
Retail Value $160 $295 $529 $1,089
Total Weight 17 40 80 160

Note:  The herd sizes are very approximate.  You may find that your small herd consumes a lot more of one mineral than another larger herd might, but these sizes give a rough estimate to help you pinpoint where to get started.  You can reorder in 2#, 4#, 8# and 25# sizes of each mineral on the reorder page after you see which specific minerals your herd needs most.

Shipping: The small kit was designed to fit in USPS shipping weights so we can get it to you quickly. It typically arrives within 5 days across the country.  All larger kits will ship UPS and take 7-10 business days.

How soon will I need to reorder?

Consumption varies greatly between herds and we've found it is not possible to anticipate which minerals a specific herd will need, but you'll find that many of these will not need to be reordered for quite some time.  We have users still using the same original minerals a year later because their goats consume hardly any.  You will find that you'll have about 5 or 6 top minerals you'll need to reorder fairly quickly but as your animals get into balance, they'll consume less and less, or switch to another few favorites as their needs change.

Oct 2024 update: Life got too busy and I stopped tracking consumption, but approaching 3.5 years in on this system, I hardly refill my minerals.  It's a larger up front investment that leads to longer term stability.

Is this safe for _______?

According to FCE, the mineral buffet is safe for all species which makes this system ideal for mixed species herds.  That's one of my favorite parts, not worrying if my sheep or goats are getting enough!

 

Thanks to our awesome warehouse team, we now provide SAME-DAY shipping Monday-Friday on in-stock orders placed by 12p Pacific Time. During a storewide sale, due to higher than normal sales volume, orders should be shipped within 1-2 business days.

Mineral Buffet Starter Kits and orders for small items will ship via USPS; mineral reorders and large orders (25lb minerals, 40 and 50lb kelp, etc) will ship via UPS for the most part. 

Store Availability

✓ Available for pickup

  • Chewelah Warehouse

    703-B N 7th St E, 99109, Chewelah, United States

    +15099369016

    Usually ready in 24 hours

Order within the next 23 hours 11 minutes to receive it. Estimated delivery is between Wednesday, 25 Dec and Wednesday, 01 Jan.

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Total price: $240.48 $219.48

Contact us

Contact us regarding this product.

Complete Care for Happy, Healthy Goats

Tailored Goat
Nutrition

GoatCare offers a wide selection of specially formulated feeds and supplements designed to ensure your goats receive optimal nutrition for health, growth, and productivity.

Healthcare
Products

From dewormers to vaccines, GoatCare provides trusted healthcare solutions to keep your herd strong and thriving, helping you prevent and treat common goat ailments.

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Whether you're a small homestead or a large operation, GoatCare offers knowledgeable customer support and resources to help you make informed decisions for the well-being of your goats.

Durable Equipment & Supplies

GoatCare stocks high-quality equipment and supplies, including feeders, fencing, and grooming tools, built to withstand the rigors of daily farm life and support efficient goat care.

Unlock Optimal Goat Health withMineral Buffet

Discover the revolutionary Mineral Buffet system, a game-changing approach that allows your goats and other livestock to choose the minerals they need to thrive. Unlike traditional blended mineral mixes, Mineral Buffet offers each essential mineral separately, giving animals the freedom to self-select based on their individual requirements.

Backed by proven results and real-world experience, this system takes the guesswork out of mineral balance, ensuring your herd stays healthy, balanced, and productive through every life stage and season. Join the movement and experience the difference with Mineral Buffet

Learn more

What Makes Us Different

At GoatCare, we are dedicated to providing goat owners with premium products that ensure the health, happiness, and productivity of their herds. Whether you're raising goats for milk, meat, or companionship, we offer expertly selected feeds, healthcare supplies, and equipment tailored to meet the specific needs of your goats.

With a deep commitment to quality and sustainability, GoatCare is your trusted partner in nurturing a thriving, healthy herd. From everyday essentials to specialized care, we have everything you need to give your goats the best

Have you ever had a craving for salty chips, gotten your fill and found the smell or taste of those same chips is suddenly off putting? 

Another example is consuming human cell salts and that's the closest parallel I can find to explain how it is with animals.  If your body needs a particular cell salt, it will taste sweet and desirable to you. 

My naturopath instructs her patients to consume a cell salt until it no longer tastes sweet - that's your body telling you it has enough of that particular cell salt.

It works identically in livestock.  When they are deficient in a certain mineral, that mineral will taste good to them.  When they've had enough, it no longer tastes good. 

This concept is sound with the Free Choice mineral system because there are no taste enhancers or additional ingredients they might want to consume purely for taste. 

Again, looking at my own herd's consumption, you can clearly see that they will consume a particular mineral for a time, then stop for a period before often picking up that same one again in another month. 

We're approaching two years on this system with consistent results.  There is simply nothing "tasty" to drive over-consumption in this system, though I have heard reports of consumption concerns with other buffet style minerals. 

My discussion here is based solely on my experience and research into the Free Choice system, which is unique among the buffets. 

(As a fun aside, I am working on personal mineral deficiencies and the ones I know I'm deficient in are the minerals that smell appealing to me when I'm filling bags.)

Mineral buffet is ideal for sheep and is the solution for running mixed species herds/flocks because each animal consumes only what it individually needs and nothing more. 

Sheep actually need copper, just not as much as goats, for example.  That's what makes this system so perfect, because there is no risk of over-consumption in regular feeding conditions.  

This image shows one of my Katahdin/Blackbelly ewes, the last in the line of them to arrive at the feeder after I refilled copper.

Because in this system they are never forced to consume any mineral, their taste buds will keep them in balance. 

Not having to worry about whether or not each animal is getting enough of each mineral is one of the things I love most about this system, because it takes all of the guesswork out of mineral balance, which brings me to the next point: who really does know what they need?

Animal nutrition science has come a long way, but I would like to suggest it has yet a long way to go still. 

One of the most formative factors in my own decision to go with mineral buffet came from reading Kathy Winters' story.  She had severe losses from copper toxicosis when feeding goat formulated products.  As in, her goats died from copper toxicosis while being fed "goat minerals." 

If you search her Facebook page for "toxicosis," you'll see many posts that outline her story, one of heartache and loss, by feeding what the "science" said she should. 

Just consider some of the many variables that impact a goat's mineral status and ask yourself if it's possible that a single blended mineral solution can accurately, scientifically provide for every goat's needs:

  • geographic region
  • forage mineral status
  • goat's life stage
  • pregnancy
  • breeding
  • lactation
  • seasonal forage changes
  • seasonal environment stresses
  • grain mineral content
  • goat's health status

These are just a few of the factors that affect the mineral status of each individual goat and as we can see in the consumption section, this changes drastically from month to month. 

I'm no scientist or nutritionist, but I've been raising goats for 15 years and I can see by my own data collection that the system we've collectively been using, one of blended, one size fits all minerals, is not possibly adequate to address all of these factors. 

It is for this reason I am convinced I will not go back to a blended solution for my herd.

When I was first looking into this system, it caused me endless frustration that no one could answer one simple question for me: How much will my goats consume on this system? 

I just wanted a rough ballpark so I could budget somewhat, but I couldn't even get a ballpark.  What?! 

Still, I'd heard so many positive things about long term gains that I decided to go with it anyway. 

Now, I understand the difficulty based on my own consumption levels and the widely varying consumption of herds I sell to all across the country. 

The factors I listed above play a huge role in consumption and since those are so different in every single herd, it's not possible to even guess at how much each herd will consume of mineral buffet.

With that said, I decided that I could at least track and publish my own consumption and I've been doing so since April of 2022.  My initial blind guess was that my herd, which consumed about 20 pounds of loose mineral mix per goat per year previously, would consume about half that in buffet and in February of 2023 as I write this, it looks like that estimate will be pretty close, though perhaps a touch low.

To see exact numbers, take a look at:

The logistics of getting started are a bit of an obstacle but there are a lot of options for setting up a feeder in small or large spaces or herds. 

I have the equivalent of about 40 Nigerians and use these feeders.  They are strong enough to withstand a northern winter (and a heaping pile of goats) but small enough to be dragged around the pasture. 

We put one in the buck pen and one in the doe pen and I store small containers beneath for easier refilling.

Those are overkill for very small herds though, so I worked to design a couple of smaller ones that utilize rabbit cage feeders and work great for a couple goats, rabbits or other small animals/numbers.

I didn't intend for this to be a sales page, but folks have been asking how to find the product pages, so I will include them here.  You can order all 20 minerals, plus plain white salt in a "starter kit" that contains one pound of most minerals, and two pounds of the most popular ones. You can also order two, five, or twenty-five pound refills.

Note: my rebagging service is intended to help small herds gain access to this system.  If you have a larger herd or are able to deal in larger quantities, I encourage you to go straight to Free Choice to purchase a pallet.

I hope this has helped answer some of your questions about mineral buffet for your animals.  If not, don't hesitate to get in touch or, better still, join our goat group where this kind of thing is talked about regularly.

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Customer Reviews

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I
Ivette Armstrong
Love it!

My goats were all over it! I think this is a game changer. Fast delivery and well packaged.

User picture
M
Mary Duh
Mineral

The mineral buffet is the best for our goats. Ordering is super convenient. We receive our order in a very timely fashion. The packaging is well done and labeled nicely.

L
LORI a COLE
WOW! My girls have never look so good!

So glad I purchased the mineral buffet! My girl's coats just sparkle & shine!! They've gotten to be so sassy! lol.

J
Jona Pease
Goat mineral buffet

Received my minerals and salt in the mail, very prompt shipping considering we are in Alaska. I am currently creating a mineral buffet bar station to put them out for the girls. Hope to complete the that soon so I can put it in their barn and see how they do.

S
Sharon Shepard
Mineral Buffet

This honestly is the best purchase i have ever made for my goats. I love watching them walk in , sniff and walk around the buffet and make their choices unbelievable!!!

Mineral Buffet for Goats: The Complete Starter Kit 20 Minerals (non-GMO) + Salt

Mineral Buffet for Goats: The Complete Starter Kit 20 Minerals (non-GMO) + Salt

$160.00 $139.00

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