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We have been raising Icelandic sheep since 1999. In those years we have discovered that this breed of sheep has a special need for adequate amounts of selenium in their mineral. Please note that most standard sheep mineral mixes available on the market have as little as 20ppm of selenium added. We have found that our sheep do best when they are on a mineral that has 90ppm of added selenium. We used to buy a selenium premix and add it to the locally purchased sheep minerals, but found that to be inadequate for mixing. After some research and doing the "math" I found that I could purchase sheep mineral from Pipestone Veterinary Supply that already had 90ppm of selenium added and ship it in for less than I could buy the local mineral with inadequate amounts of selenium.
Additionally, because healthy, well fed, Icelandic lambs can grow at very fast rates, they need some boost of selenium as well. To insure that they have enough selenium to grow well and not succumb to White Muscle Disease as summer heat & humidity comes on, we give our lambs 1/2cc of BoSE (injectable selenium with Vitamin E) that we purchase from our veterinarian. When the lambs are 6 weeks old and receive their first CD/T vaccination, they receive an additional 1cc BoSE injection and we monitor them closely through the summer and they usually receive a 3rd injection of BoSE by the time they are 10-12 weeks old. |
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