I am pretty sure that Tally is copper deficient. She is a black doe and has started to get rusty spots on her hind flanks, her skin is flaky and her undercoat looks to be shedding. She has fishtail but is not losing any hair on her face. She was really shiny and pretty but the last month or so she has just started to look awful.
My other two does are pregnant. They are getting MannaPro minerals now but it obviously isn't enough.
Where do I get COWP? I've read about everyone's results with it and I'm very interested in getting some but don't know where to find it.
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I'm sorry to hear about your finger. I've been bitten, so I know how sharp those molars are. I guess you missed my post about how you can just sprinkle the COWP on a couple tablespoons of grain, and they lick it right up. If they don't get it all right away, just sprinkle another tablespoon of grain on the COWP, and they'll lick it up.
Lori Adams said:
so I did the marshmallow thing this morning. Yeah....at least Tally got all of her dose, she gobbled hers up right away. I had to wrestle with Bethoron and managed to get one and a half marshmallows down her so she probably got enough. Aliana, on the other hand, bit the shit out of me. I managed to get most of one marshmallow down her so she got about 1.5 grams of the 3 I was trying to give her. Bethoron was able to get down 1.5 g in one and about half that in the other one.
Bethoron is about 50 lbs and Aliana and Tally are more like 60-70. I'm hoping it will be enough to do some good for Aliana and Tally. I wasn't worried too much about Beth but I dosed her too.
Ever been bitten by a goat??? I don't recommend it.
My left index finger is really hurting. She broke the skin and I will probably have to drain my fingernail later on today to get the blood out and relieve the pressure. I'm scared to bolus but next time I just might get over my fear. Dang goat.
I'm in central Va, about 45 minutes west of Richmond. Very weird winter here. yesterday it was in the 70s...bizarre.
I checked her gums and eyelids this morning and they are very pale. Aliana's tail looks like it is starting to split a bit so I put some mineral on their feed this morning and all the little turds ate around it.
I'm pretty sure I'm just gonna err on the side of caution and give them all the COWP when it gets here. The MannaPro that I use only has 1350 of copper in it so I'm just thinking it is just not enough.
She also has rusty spots in her black hair and that is a sign too, right? With her eyelids and gums being so pale and the definite fishtail I'm thinking copper is the problem. I really do appreciate everything Deborah, you are a gem!!!
I've never seen anything written about using it or not during pregnancy. It's a trace mineral, so there shouldn't be any issues with pregnancy. I usually give it to everyone before breeding and then as soon they kid, but I have given it to does during pregnancy if they seem to have a parasite or deficiency problem. You use the same amount regardless of whether they're pregnant.
They all shed at their own pace, and the more cashmere they have, the worse the shedding looks. I'm not sure where you're located, but if you're in Michigan or Montana, and she's shedding, that's bad. If you're in a warmer area, especially one that's been having the crazy unseasonably warm weather, I wouldn't be surprised that a goat is shedding early. I'm in Illinois and most of my goats don't even have much of a winter coat. It's weird!
I found it at Jeffers and ValleyVet. I ended up ordering from Valley Vet and it was $41.49 for the canister and a $7 handling fee. I would rather have it and her not get sick then not have it. Thanks Deborah!
So it is 1 gram for every 20lbs, right? If I were to give it to my pregnant ladies when in the pregnancy would I give it and how much?
The problem is that she is the only one that is shedding. It would seem to me that everyone would be starting to shed if it were the weather.
She already gets 1/4 cup sunflower seeds every day. She improved over the summer when we started her on alfalfa pellets and sunflower seeds but now her coat has gotten dull again, there is a lot of fuzzy undercoat and dandruff coming off and she definitely has fishtail.
When should I give it to the pregnant does and how much?
I usually buy it from Jeffers, but if you google Copasure, you might find other places to buy it. It's a calf bolus, and you break it apart and then put it into goat-sized doses -- 1 gram per 20 pounds. Although I have a scale that weighs in grams, it doesn't weigh that low, so I still use the gelatin capsules for portioning out the doses. Size 0 holds 2 grams and size 1 holds 1 gram, which is the one I use for kids. I still bolus kids (shove it down their throat) because like human kids they can be finicky and not always finish their food -- or even touch it, if they're not in the mood. For adults though I open the capsules and sprinkle the amount they need on a couple tablespoons of grain. If they don't get all the particles by the time they finish the grain, I sprinkle a little more grain on it, and they lick it up.
That said -- if you are in a warmer climate, and your goat is shedding, that's a good thing. They all look terrible when they shed. A copper deficient goat is actually more likely to NOT shed when it's appropriate. The first goat I had diagnosed with copper deficiency (liver level at 4 ppm, normal is 25-150 ppm), had not shed out her coat, and it was June! However, the fishtail and fading are symptoms of deficiency. If the dry skin doesn't improve after the copper, it's due to zinc deficiency. If you're in a warmer climate, you can rub sunflower oil directly onto her skin, but if it's still cold where you are, you could add a 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds to her feed every day.