Agrimin Smartrace Boluses... anyone used them?

[HimmonBoerGoats]

My soils are pretty much deficient in everything but silicon—great for livestock production I'm sure—and my herd of boer (meat) goats have been struggling with nutrient deficiency for years. The vets were always adamant the problems were caused by mites, but I gave coseicure boluses last year and that fixed all the problems right up! Now the coseicure boluses seem to be discontinued though so I'm looking for something else and was hoping to try Agrimin Smartrace Plus... anyone tried the basic or these with their sheep? How do they do, do they keep them down? (We had a few cases of regurgitated boluses... thanks, goats) Also, can I use my coseicure gun or do I need to buy a whole new one—I'm assuming they're the same sort of size boluses.

Thanks!

 

[Northeastfarmer]

Smartrace 24/7 v animax tracesure

About to bolus the ewes and have always used smartrace 24/7 been offered animax tracesure They are smaller (should be easier to administer) but will they be as comparable? cant find the quantities in 24.7 thanks

thefarmingforum.co.uk

Have a read

 

[Woolless]

Smartrace 24/7 v animax tracesure

About to bolus the ewes and have always used smartrace 24/7 been offered animax tracesure They are smaller (should be easier to administer) but will they be as comparable? cant find the quantities in 24.7 thanks

thefarmingforum.co.uk

Have a read

It also might be an idea to find a vet that has some idea/interest in goats. Try the Goat Veterinary Society. It's a long time since I looked at the peculiarities of goat trace element supplementation but I would guess that copper is the only one that may differ significantly from sheep and would be dangerous if given in excess.

 

[neilo]

My soils are pretty much deficient in everything but silicon—great for livestock production I'm sure—and my herd of boer (meat) goats have been struggling with nutrient deficiency for years. The vets were always adamant the problems were caused by mites, but I gave coseicure boluses last year and that fixed all the problems right up! Now the coseicure boluses seem to be discontinued though so I'm looking for something else and was hoping to try Agrimin Smartrace Plus... anyone tried the basic or these with their sheep? How do they do, do they keep them down? (We had a few cases of regurgitated boluses... thanks, goats) Also, can I use my coseicure gun or do I need to buy a whole new one—I'm assuming they're the same sort of size boluses.

Thanks!

See other thread as posted above, but the regurgitation issue is a known problem with the glass Cosecure boluses, and the main reason I moved away from them.
It can be lessened by warming them to room temperature, prior to administration.

The Cosecure guns don’t quite fit any others iirc. Mayo and Animax Use the same size, but Agrimin are bigger and need their own. A lot have moved away from Agrimin purely because of the size, but they are certainly effective at correcting deficiencies.

 

[neilo]

Actually, scratch that, i’ve Just checked on my CoSecure gun & boluses.

The ‘adult sheep’ head on the Cosecure gun is too small for the Agrimin bolus, and too big for the Mayo ones.
However, if you have the ‘lamb bolus’ head to screw onto the CoSecure gun, it is a perfect fit for the Mayo (& presumably Animax) boluses.
Even if you haven’t got one, you might be able to source a new screw on head, more cheaply than buying a new gun?

 

[exmoor dave]

See other thread as posted above, but the regurgitation issue is a known problem with the glass Cosecure boluses, and the main reason I moved away from them.
It can be lessened by warming them to room temperature, prior to administration.

The Cosecure guns don’t quite fit any others iirc. Mayo and Animax Use the same size, but Agrimin are bigger and need their own. A lot have moved away from Agrimin purely because of the size, but they are certainly effective at correcting deficiencies.

I'd echo neil, the smartrace seem to really work compared to other's we've used, but they are a big bolus to administer

 

[HimmonBoerGoats]

Thanks everyone. The tracesure boluses mentioned in the above topic don't look great for me unfortunately as goats need copper on a comparable level to cattle, if not higher, and mine get severely copper deficient without the boluses. Just trying to see if I can find one with copper

 

[neilo]

Thanks everyone. The tracesure boluses mentioned in the above topic don't look great for me unfortunately as goats need copper on a comparable level to cattle, if not higher, and mine get severely copper deficient without the boluses. Just trying to see if I can find one with copper

They all do boluses with (4g) copper included as copper oxide rods. The Animax ones have to have a separate small capsule given at the same time, but both fit in the gun together. Agrimin and Mayo have the copper included.

 

[HimmonBoerGoats]

Thanks, I'll have a look and see if i can find them

 

[HimmonBoerGoats]

How much bigger are the smartrace compared to the cosecure boluses? Cosecure I managed without too much difficulty but goats can be real buggers when it comes to cooperating

 

[scottish-lleyn]

My uncle has goats and gives his a regular mayo 5 in 1 and a 4g copper cap at the same time.

 

[JHT]

My uncle has goats and gives his a regular mayo 5 in 1 and a 4g copper cap at the same time.

Is that a 5 in 1 with copper and then a 4g copper as well? So 8 grams of copper? I’m just about to Bolus some goats today- have just started giving them some concentrate with added copper and the difference is amazing- think they are very deficient.

 

[neilo]

How much bigger are the smartrace compared to the cosecure boluses? Cosecure I managed without too much difficulty but goats can be real buggers when it comes to cooperating

I’ve not used Cosecure for years (not since finding a lot of lamb boluses on the ground one year) but, looking at the gun alongside an Agrimin bolus, I’d estimate they would be about 5mm bigger diameter, and about the same length from memory.

There is a picture of the Animax & Agrimin alongside each other on the other thread, sat in a grubby hand. The Mayo ones are the same diameter as the Animax ones, but a bit shorter.

 

[scottish-lleyn]

Is that a 5 in 1 with copper and then a 4g copper as well? So 8 grams of copper? I’m just about to Bolus some goats today- have just started giving them some concentrate with added copper and the difference is amazing- think they are very deficient.

Yes

 

[HimmonBoerGoats]

Wow, that's a lot of copper! I only give mine a sheep dose so that I've got leeway to give calf nuts too without overdosing

 

[JHT]

That does seem a lot of copper! I’ve just done 50 with Mayo 5 in 1 bolus and Welsh Drench with copper. What a job! Feel like I need to go and lie in a dark room now! I’ve bolused 10’s of thousands of ewes and lambs but doing goats it a nightmare. They are pretty small in the throat (and I’d consider the Mayo bolus the easiest one to administer) and squirm and wriggle like fish! Only another 50 to do tomorrow - god help me!

 

[Al R]

I’ve not used Cosecure for years (not since finding a lot of lamb boluses on the ground one year) but, looking at the gun alongside an Agrimin bolus, I’d estimate they would be about 5mm bigger diameter, and about the same length from memory.

There is a picture of the Animax & Agrimin alongside each other on the other thread, sat in a grubby hand. The Mayo ones are the same diameter as the Animax ones, but a bit shorter.

If I remember right the cosecure(zincosel) lamb Bolus was 16mm, which is the same size as the Mayo 4-1 ewe Bolus, the Mayo 4-1 lamb Bolus is 12mm I think.

yes the cosecure lamb Bolus head will do the Mayo ewe Bolus BUT their ridiculously priced (£75?), wear the plastic gears out inside and are incredibly long and awkward to use compared to the £25 Mayo Bolus gun which is a joy to use as it’s nice and short and is cast/metal.

 

[HimmonBoerGoats]

Thanks Al, I'll bear that in mind. At the minute I'm only using adult boluses, but will be looking to bolus the kids at some point in the future too—I gave some 8 month old kids Coseicure boluses this time because it said it could be given to 30kg+, but oh my god, it took hours and we couldn't even do all of them.

 

[Al R]

Thanks Al, I'll bear that in mind. At the minute I'm only using adult boluses, but will be looking to bolus the kids at some point in the future too—I gave some 8 month old kids Coseicure boluses this time because it said it could be given to 30kg+, but oh my god, it took hours and we couldn't even do all of them.

Cosecure lamb used to say 16kg, doing lambs when they average 16kg means there would have been a fair few under 16 and heading towards 10kg - 3-4 weeks old and they took them fine.

If your doing them for the first time after 12 weeks I would just give them the adult one!