Help me puzzle out copper bolusing

Ok.....I too was sooooo very confused by it all......after Liz's horrible results with the copper sulfate, I decided to not use it........the boluses are not that hard, I ordered the calf 12.5 gram boluses from Jeffers and I bought my capsules off ebay,but I have been told you can get them at any herb store or like GNC......I don't have those choices (I live in the boonies)....anyway, the capsules were very cheap....then I also bought a digital gram scale for like $5.00 including shipping off ebay also........the dosage I was told is 1 gram per 22 lbs......it was not hard to break the boluses down into smaller capsules.......the dog pill gun was very cheap at a pet store, $3.00.

Also, the capsules I ordered where size 000, which full I think will hold a full 3 grams........so on bigger goats you might have to give a couple or three.

Hope this helps, Denise

 

I just emptied jout some of my vitamin pills -- I didn't need many capsules and did want to buy a hundred!

What happened with Liz and the copper sulfate?

 

She lost a doe from using it .

 

Yes, it was very heartbreaking for Liz.......she was trying to do the right thing for her goaties.....that same week I was getting ready to order some sulfate also.......I guess the sulfate releases into the system faster, where as the boluses are a slow release.

 

Correct, the sulfate gives it all at once and the copper rods in the bolus stay in the rumen and slowly release copper.

 

I get a couple of the cattle boluses from a friend of mine that has a dairy. I empty them into a plastic baggy. And i dose using the "pinch" method. I just sprinkle a little over their grain. Usually i try and stick a little bit of beet pulp on top of the grain and then put the copper over th top of that because it sticks to it. I have never had to give more then two or three pinches per goat.
beth

 

1 gram per 22lbs is what I've always followed...I'm a sucker for bribe's :greengrin: JK, if you need some copper just PM or email me

 

A goater acquaintance just lost a doe to copper sulfate, so you really have to watch that.
Beth, don't the copper rods need to be swallowed whole to be effective? It seems like your method would have at least some chewing involved.

 

The rods are really tiny, I have top dressed them onto grain also. I don't see how they would get chewed up. Especially by my does, who inhale their grain. :greengrin:

For now, though, I just put a pinch of copper sulfate in each batch of loose minerals I put out - maybe 1/8 tsp per two cups of minerals.

 

According to the research I've read, the point of the capsule is to place the rods in the rumen where the gelatin then dissolves and the copper is most effective. Without the capsule the rods would go right into the first stomach and not do the job.

 

Do you have a link to where you have read that?

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

This one says gelatin dissolves in the rumen (first stomach), which is what I'd expect. I can't figure out how/why a gelatin capsule would stay together until it reached the second stomach?

 

Well if it means anything- when I bolus I usually get 1 out of 5 boluses actually down the throat without them somehow chewing it up :roll: - and it always makes a difference even with them chewing the capsule- if they have any signs of deficiency its gone within about 2-3 weeks.

 

Oops- my bad. What I meant was the rods need to settle in the abomasum, not the rumen.

 

Please check out this site regarding copper bolusing. It is great and Sharon (the breeder) worked with a vet and did a study with her herd on it! GREAT INFORMATIVE SITE! :- ) Even has X-rays of the copper inside the goats! http://www.goatspots.com/copper.html

 

Yum.. rice krispies... LOL

I love her site... I always go there for questions I have about herd health and management. If I can't find info there THEN I search online. :- )

Jess
Faint-Hearted Ranch
www.faintheartedranch.net