Hi guys, I have some copper questions for 3 of my goats
1 doe I purchased last fall & when I gave her a copper bolus she managed to sift it to the bottom of the grain and not eat a lot of it...I couldn't get her to eat it, wasn't sure exactly how much she had consumed and therefore not sure how much to try and re-give her. I'll be honest this just kinda got swept by the wayside because I had so much crazy personal stuff going on I just kinda thought, she got some & I am sure she had a copper bolus in her old herd.
Just bought another doe from this same herd last month. She is white, but very rough coat. I asked the owner when had she had a copper bolus and I find out she doesn't believe in doing that. So above doe had not had any bolus for at least a year prior to me buying her. I did them both beginning of this month, got them both to successfully eat about 90% of it.
doe #1 still shows signs of deficiency- hair color change. Doe #2's rough coat is improving already. Do the signs just not go away that quickly or can I do them again in a month...or is that dangerous?
#3 is a buckling I bought. He was a bottle baby who is weaned now at 4 months. He is small, scrawny. Breeder stated that he got a bit of calf manna in his grain for copper & minerals. I assume by that statement that she does not do a copper bolus, but I am emailing her to check. Can/should I do one at that age?
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Okay...well maybe I'll come up with some kind of happy medium and do them in 2 more months or something.
For the does ... several studies did give boluses after one month, and they had no issue with toxicity. I did that only once with a La Mancha doe and she blew her coat. Kind of scared me, but she was fine.