My sweet buck, Earl Grey arrived at my farm in the fall with severe mineral deficiencies-- faded and really rough coat. It took months of copper boluses and also BOSS each evening (his skin was terribly dry and flaking) but his recovery is remarkable! Just thought someone could benefit from seeing what a difference it can make in a mineral deficient goat. This is him in November:
This is Earl after 4grams of copper boluses in November and BOSS each evening over a period of 3-4 months:
The only thing about him that was red before all of this was his beard and his feet. What a difference!! Also, note the sheen in his coat and it's SOFT too! Note that he STILL has a fish tail. He may still have a ways to go.
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Think I ordered mine from Jeffers. And yes, I gave him a slightly higher dose to start (6 grams) and my buck went from the first picture to the second in 3 months after that initial dose.
Whoops! I missed the rest of your Q!
You might want to give more than the min. dose to start, but the link I shared is for adult sized goats. I break open the capsule and sprinkle it into grain to give it. You can give it more often if needed, but most people try to dose every three months. That's how long the wire lasts in the rumen, I believe. COWP (Copper Oxide Wire Particles) is literally very small bits of copper oxide wire. They embed in the walls of the rumen, and are slowly dissolved/absorbed into the system.
Angela lesh said:
Seeing pictures like these were the reason I started bolusing. (along with Deborah's advice to do so) It's amazing what a difference you see! He really does look nice.
Julia @Woody Glen Farm said:
They are MUCH easier to find than they were two years ago!!
http://www.amazon.com/UltraCruz-Copper-Bolus-Supplement-adult/dp/B0...
I thought I edited that! Yes I gave him 4g of copper-- actually 6 gr because I gave him only 2 gr bolus one week then realized I hadn't given him enough and I have him 4 gr two weeks later and then thought "oh know, I hope that's not too much!" but he has done fine and that was in January. He was also very thin and either grain or alfalfa seemed to upset his rumen even in small amounts, so I started giving him a cup of beet pulp with a handful of BOSS once per day and I sprinkle one tablespoon of Manna Pro Goat Balancer on it too. I do that for the added ammonium chloride since I'm giving him grain (boss). Anyway, it seems to have worked and now he's a beautiful healthy buck!
Also I've done as you and Deborah suggested and give all my goats the copper sprinkled on their grain and make sure they all get only theirs. They eat it right up!
LOOKING GOOD!! Just to clarify... did you give the 4 grams of copper bolus every evening? I don't think you did... but it sounds that way in your first bit.
Did you mean 4 grams of copper bolus 3 months ago, and BOSS every night? He's looking GREAT!