Re: good point of view: Copper and Zinc in Goats

[Guest guest]

I don't know how this relates to CAE but I can comment on the

Copper/Zinc issue:

We recently went through a copper deficiency here in our herd. The

signs were the hair at the tip of the tails falling out and the hair

around the eyes of the black goats turning gray and several of the

goats hair turning white over their backs.

I finally figured narrowed it down to two problems. The first was

Zinc that I was feeding them and the second was a sulfur block that

had been left over from the horses. Both Sulfur and Zinc inhibit

copper uptake. The Zinc and Sulfur block were removed from the diet

and copper was added in the form of bolus to each animal.

Within two weeks the hair began growing back on the tails and at 3

weeks the color was returning to the hair.

As far as toxic, too much copper is toxic to sheep but for some

reason not the same for cows and goats. This is why we don't feed a

sheep mineral mix here but do feed a cattle mix.

Here is the site that I learned all of this on:

http://www.saanendoah.com/copper1.html

There are some really good pictures at this site as well as research

information.

Jessi

Lucky Hook Grade A Dairy

Moses Lake, WA

>

> Viruses respond to zinc intake and zinc is highly effective in

stopping

> colds, flus, etc.....I give my goats zinc.....it is much less

toxic than

> copper............TA

>