I recently bought a girl that shows signs of copper deficiency...rough coat, "fish-tail" shaped tail, etc.
My plan was to give her a bolus when they arrive in the mail. However I was shared by a fellow ND breeder/friend that I shouldn't do that. "I wouldn't bolus.. I would get manna pro goat minerals and leave out with free choice baking soda.. I would put 2 vitamin E capsules squeezed Over and in s series show goat chow 2wice a day to help with it as well. Bolus shortens life span and can choke a small goat. Not easy to do either..."
The breeder that I bought her from shared in her health information that she was last given a copper bolus in December.
I'd appreciate hearing some feedback. My little container of copper boluses will arrive today sometime and my plan was to (after a full night of not feeding) to give her one in the morning.
I DO have good loose minerals out for my goats (Baking Soda, Manna Pro Goat Mineral, Dolomite, and Kelp) so am hoping that maybe this will be a one-time dosing for her and that she will now do well with just having the loose minerals available to her.
They also are on good feed rations. Here is a link of me sharing what their diets consists of (for anyone interested). https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1064205903645640&id=1031674683565429
Thank you so much for your help!!
~Melody
Replies
Yes, it is.
Julieanne Cook said:
Love your mineral set up!
Thank you Julieanne. Appreciate the answer to my question regarding copper bolus protocol...I appreciate it. Also thank you for the link, I'll get it read. :)
It was discussed in another thread that you don't need to give copper bolus on an empty stomach.
Here's some more interesting information on copper's influence on parasite resistance. http://www.waldeneffect.org/blog/Goat_and_sheep_five-point_check/
Bit of a thread hijack, but is it normal for mineral consumption to increase later in pregnancy? Seems like I'm refilling minerals a lot more often with one doe due in a week and the other due in a month.
Deborah thank you SO VERY MUCH for your reply! I appreciate you taking the time to respond and to do-so so thoroughly. Thank you.
My thought is the same as your own, that it is far more risky NOT to bolus, than to give as needed. I did not question her suggestion, so do not know that they came from any actual study.
Thank you also for wanting to make sure on how we offer our loose minerals. We put each item in it's own separate feeder. (I share a photo of our set-up.)
As you can see, it's nothing fancy but it is available at all times and (with the board above) keeps it frees of being walked and pooped/peed in.
Thank you again, I am so glad to get your reply.
Have a GREAT day today!
I would like to know what study showed that bolusing can shorten a goat's life span. I have never heard anyone say that before. In fact, I've heard the exact opposite. I've been giving COWP to my goats since 2008, and they're living into their teens. My first goat died at age 14 1/2, which is pretty old for a goat, and I have four other retired does still kicking. I used to have goats dying from copper deficiency before I started using COWP, and I had the liver biopsies to prove it.
You do not have to bolus. I open the capsule and sprinkle the COWPs on a small amount of grain. If the goat doesn't get all of it, I sprinkle a few bits of grain on top of whatever COWP is left in the bowl. I may have to do that a few times, but it eventually all gets licked up. I know this works because we've continued to do liver biopsies to check mineral levels.
This goat is showing classic symptoms of copper deficiency, and giving 1 gram of COWP per 20 pounds has been shown in more than a dozen studies to be safe, even for sheep, which are much more susceptible to copper toxicity than goats are. Depending upon the farm, some people have found they need to give COWP 3-4 times per year. Loose minerals simply do not provide enough copper if you have sulfur or iron in your well water. In order to get enough copper from a mixed mineral, they'd be overdosing on other minerals, which would not be good.
When you say that your goats have baking soda, goat minerals, etc available, I hope you mean that all of those things are in a separate feeder and not mixed together so that the goats can pick and choose exactly what they need. If they are mixed together, that could be reducing the goats' consumption of the minerals.