thanks for the information, i did not realize that it was so old.
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
I'm glad you shared this. I have really mixed feelings about this website. More than 10 years ago when we were having trouble with copper deficiency, this was one of the only bits of information I could find about the problem. I'm very thankful that it existed because without it, I'm not sure I would have ever figured out what was happening with our goats.
However, that page has not been updated since January 2007, and so much has been learned since then. At this point, I really wish they'd take the page down -- or at least change the date to very large type -- because people keep reading it without realizing how old it is or that a lot of the info on there is now known to be incorrect, such as saying that the copper cannot be chewed. There is now a published study on chewing vs bolusing, and there is also a goat owner who had their goat x-rayed a week after letting them chew the bolus, and you can see that the COWPs are still there. It even says that chewing the copper changes the specific gravity, which is simply impossible.
I also don't like the fact that they show such extreme examples, especially without stressing that many goats will die before they look like that. I never had a goat with legs that looked like that one, but I had goats dying from deficiency. I also never had a goat lose that much pigment from its hair. The only goats I had that went completely white were those that were cream or light gold, so it wasn't an obvious as a Toggenburg that turns white.
It's always interesting to read historical science information. We just have to be aware that whatever it says may not be the best info at this point in time.
I'm glad you shared this. I have really mixed feelings about this website. More than 10 years ago when we were having trouble with copper deficiency, this was one of the only bits of information I could find about the problem. I'm very thankful that it existed because without it, I'm not sure I would have ever figured out what was happening with our goats.
However, that page has not been updated since January 2007, and so much has been learned since then. At this point, I really wish they'd take the page down -- or at least change the date to very large type -- because people keep reading it without realizing how old it is or that a lot of the info on there is now known to be incorrect, such as saying that the copper cannot be chewed. There is now a published study on chewing vs bolusing, and there is also a goat owner who had their goat x-rayed a week after letting them chew the bolus, and you can see that the COWPs are still there. It even says that chewing the copper changes the specific gravity, which is simply impossible.
I also don't like the fact that they show such extreme examples, especially without stressing that many goats will die before they look like that. I never had a goat with legs that looked like that one, but I had goats dying from deficiency. I also never had a goat lose that much pigment from its hair. The only goats I had that went completely white were those that were cream or light gold, so it wasn't an obvious as a Toggenburg that turns white.
It's always interesting to read historical science information. We just have to be aware that whatever it says may not be the best info at this point in time.
Replies
thanks for the information, i did not realize that it was so old.
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
I'm glad you shared this. I have really mixed feelings about this website. More than 10 years ago when we were having trouble with copper deficiency, this was one of the only bits of information I could find about the problem. I'm very thankful that it existed because without it, I'm not sure I would have ever figured out what was happening with our goats.
However, that page has not been updated since January 2007, and so much has been learned since then. At this point, I really wish they'd take the page down -- or at least change the date to very large type -- because people keep reading it without realizing how old it is or that a lot of the info on there is now known to be incorrect, such as saying that the copper cannot be chewed. There is now a published study on chewing vs bolusing, and there is also a goat owner who had their goat x-rayed a week after letting them chew the bolus, and you can see that the COWPs are still there. It even says that chewing the copper changes the specific gravity, which is simply impossible.
I also don't like the fact that they show such extreme examples, especially without stressing that many goats will die before they look like that. I never had a goat with legs that looked like that one, but I had goats dying from deficiency. I also never had a goat lose that much pigment from its hair. The only goats I had that went completely white were those that were cream or light gold, so it wasn't an obvious as a Toggenburg that turns white.
It's always interesting to read historical science information. We just have to be aware that whatever it says may not be the best info at this point in time.
Thanks for the link!