Copper in diet

[Southern by choice]

Alsea- I have a site I will try to retrieve (in my bookmarked folders LOL- I have a bajillion) it gives all the levels for small ruminants also toxicity levels as they can mimic deficiency.
Hopefully it posts... it is in a book... one day I'm going to get this book! LOL

http://books.google.com/books?id=1F...AQ#v=onepage&q=iron toxicity in goats&f=false

 

[babsbag]

You also have to know where your hay is coming from if you don't buy it from a local farmer. Most of mine comes from outside of my county and while my county is fairly decent with selenium and copper the neighboring counties can be pretty dismal. My goats' diet consist primarily of alfalfa and not local browse so knowing my mineral levels doesn't help me much.

 

[Southern by choice]

You also have to know where your hay is coming from if you don't buy it from a local farmer. Most of mine comes from outside of my county and while my county is fairly decent with selenium and copper the neighboring counties can be pretty dismal. My goats' diet consist primarily of alfalfa and not local browse so knowing my mineral levels doesn't help me much.

You are right on there Babs... Our county is high in copper and very good in Selenium but we are off the charts for iron and other minerals. The counties to the East of us are pretty much deficient in everything a goat needs. I stay away from hay that isn't in my county or my sister county.

Of course we do the blood testing on our goats so we can see how everything is working together.

 

[OneFineAcre]

You also have to know where your hay is coming from if you don't buy it from a local farmer. Most of mine comes from outside of my county and while my county is fairly decent with selenium and copper the neighboring counties can be pretty dismal. My goats' diet consist primarily of alfalfa and not local browse so knowing my mineral levels doesn't help me much.

You definitely have to know where your hay is coming from. I'm in a border line county. Southern is west of me good on selenium and copper. My county is marginal. But, if my hay comes from east of me.... Very low on everything.

 

[alsea1]

My hay is local. Within twenty miles of my home

 

[Jered Norris]

I live in Kansas and even though we are not copper deficient area I give copper boluses to my goats but if you do live in an area deficient in copper check the ingredients in your pellets or grain to make sure the there is at least 40 to 50 ppm of copper in it (I usually add goat balancer pellets into my feed just in case). Also if it doesn't work you may want to check for coccidiosis and signs of liver fluke.

 

[alsea1]

Thank you Jered. I will check those things as well.

 

[Southern by choice]

Alsea, Jered made a good point and I had forgotten all about flukes. One doe that we had come in (Kiko) was LOADED with flukes.... funny thing is most vets around here say "there are no flukes here" oh brother... anyway I have some links from my website I am posting here... the map is a good one. Since you are in a high moisture area and may have lots of snails.... here ya go.
BTW- the doe was treated with Ivermectin Plus 3 treatments (orally) each one given 10 days apart.
the following are other links that may be helpful :

map and egg pics-goat-link.com/content/view/152/#.UfObNdLOuuI
story and info- www.dairygoatjournal.com/87-1/the_liver_fluke/
meds chart-www.dpi.vic.gov.au/agriculture/pests-diseases-and-weeds/pest-insects/liver-fluke

 

[alsea1]

Yes. We have slugs, snails, salamanders you name it

 

[Southern by choice]

Those links are good... we are loaded too. That is why we have ducks and geese to keep it down. We have to really watch for lungworm here. Since the geese and ducks no issues. Unreal here... thousands of snails, slugs, lizrds, skinks salamanders.
Frogs and toads... they bring in the tapeworm too.