I have tried so many things: different minerals, Replamin, copper sulfate, to no avail. So I finally broke down and first changed their diet (I had some concerns about the molasses covered guck they were eating), and then, yup, I bolused.
That did it. Take a look:
Dulcinea May 1st of this year.
Dulcinea today.
HELLO!
No, I can get over the difference either.
Minerva, May 1st of this year.
Minerva today.
The coats of all the goats are smooth and shiny, like goat satin. It seems the deficiencies were so bad that nothing else worked. From now on, I will need to bolus to keep their conditions up.
I did not bolus them with the bolusing gun however, I popped those capsules open and hid the rods inside dry papaya, which they all pretty much eat without chewing. That's the only way it worked. The holdout? Cynthia.
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| Cynthia is the uni-horn with the hay on her head. Olive's in front of her. |
It took me a couple of weeks to get her to take her copper, and I had to hide it REALLY well so she didn't taste it. So right now, she pretty much looks the same. In a couple of weeks I expect that will change, as it took a few weeks before the other girls started to look better.
But there you go. After all the aggravation, bolusing was the answer.
And I only want to have white goats from now on.
The end.
Geez. Maybe that's why my black Riversong is now brown. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, I am learning so much about goats! What a difference the copper made!
ReplyDeleteTyche--It shows up on the upper rear legs first, and kind of progresses. If that's the case, then yep, that's what it is.
ReplyDeleteMary Ann--There's so much to know, just keep learning as you go. I do!
Okay....we bolus twice a year with the "gun"....next time we are hiding it in papaya or something else...that sounds awesome!
ReplyDeleteIt seems to work the same, and there's less stress--on me!! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a fantastic difference! I have the same problem and found the same solution - bolusing! Getting those babies down them is another story.....
ReplyDeleteLeigh--I know what you mean. That's why I didn't bother, and hid it in food. I read an article that said it's the same effect if you bolus or if you feed it to them in something, so I went with the less stressful route.
ReplyDeleteOK two things, 1) that is AMAZING. The difference is crazy. I can't stop looking at the pictures in amazement. Good going for you! and secondly as someone with a lot of white goats, only problem is every bit of dirt and mud shows up! LOL :)
ReplyDeleteHa! You know, you're completely right! When we had Cleo, since she was a Boer and mostly white, all I could think is "Man, that goat is DIRTY!" All. The. Time. The difference is amazing on those two, I agree. I guess I can't shortcut the copper treatment!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea! How is it I have never heard of this?
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of using a bolus for copper. Great idea. We can't put copper mineral out because we have sheep. Never thought of doing this for our goats. Great idea :)
ReplyDelete