My black doe is turning rusty on her flanks. I understand this can be caused by a copper deficiency. When I bought her in September she had "fish tail" and her eyelids were pale, so I gave her 1 cc of copper rods (measured in a syringe with the tip cut off) and 30 days of oral iron, and her tail filled in and her eyes got nice and deep pink. Can I give her the copper again now? She is due to kid any day now.
She has MannaPro minerals free choice but mostly ignores them.
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Good catch, Julia! You would not give a doe supplemental iron if she had symptoms of copper deficiency.
Katie, did you say you also gave your doe oral iron over the last month? I'm wondering if that is causing problems since iron is an antagonist for copper-- their bodies can't absorb the copper if there is also too much iron. I had high iron in my water and had to copper bolus my goats every 3 months minimum. If they are showing signs again of copper deficiency, I would give them more COWP but definitely stop giving oral iron. One is counteracting the other.
Online, I usually get Copasure from Jeffer's.
I don't buy the Santa Cruz because they make claims that are not backed up by actual research, such as (1) the goats can't chew the bolus, and (2) their copper lasts a year. I've contacted them and asked for research, and they don't have it. Even worse, they pulled a pic of an x-ray of a goat's rumen from the web and claimed it proved goats shouldn't chew the copper. That picture is actually the picture of a rumen where the goat DID chew the copper in a marshmallow. As far as their "year" claim, that varies tremendously from one farm to another, and sadly, I've known people whose goats wound up copper deficient because they thought they shouldn't give the copper again for a year.
Where do y'all buy your COWP?? Thanks!
Excellent. I'm using the COWP for both supplemental copper and parasites, so I will wait until after she kids.
If the roots have faded, that's copper deficiency. If only the tips are faded, that could be caused by the sun. However, copper oxide wire particles (COWP) are also used for parasite control, and there have been no cases of toxicity reported when used every every month, up to four times a year. I give COWP to all of my does when they kid. I have given it to some a week or two before they kid, but it doesn't seem to have as positive effect on parasites when I give it then, so I usually wait until kidding just because I like using that for parasite control.