My sheep are very robust and healthy. They are not deficient in copper or any other mineral. I eat my sheep and all livers are perfect. My lambs are born in April and May and raised on pasture. We do not feed grain to our sheep. Parasites thrive with moisture and heat. Lambs do not acquire natural immunity to parasites until they are four months old. So to raise lambs during the months May - September requires timely treatment for parasites. There has been much research involved with copper that has included veterinarians. Copper sulfate was used to de-worm sheep before the modern de-wormers came along. The biggest advances today are scales and accurate dosages compared to the "old timers" usage of copper sulfate. We have raised over 2000 lambs now with success.
There are risks with copper sulfate with sheep. It is important to know if your environment is copper "rich" or "poor". For example: Purina has a molasses protein tub marketed towards both cattle and sheep that contains copper. Many feeds as mentioned have copper added to them. Forage also has copper levels. You must know all the sources your sheep are getting copper from. The message I am making is sheep need less copper than other livestock but it is still essential to their health. A sheep does not need to be deficient in copper to benefit from copper. Because of the unknown variances in environment the standard position is "sheep should avoid all copper". So get informed about your environment and the copper levels in your sheep and make an informed decision. The liver of a sick sheep will be depleted of copper. The liver of a copper poisoned sheep will have an abundance of copper. A sheep that is not sick or poisoned and is representative of the entire flock is the best candidate to have a liver checked for copper levels. For liability reasons I would expect veterinarians not to recommend copper sulfate usage. In this era of litigation they really have no option. It is also the reason I will close this post with the statement "use copper sulfate at your own risk." Mark Wintermute -----Original Message----- From: Blackbelly [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Elizabeth Radi Sent: Sunday, August 23, 2015 6:11 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Blackbelly] Blackbelly Digest, Vol 11, Issue 44 I really would consult with your veterinarian if you would go the route of Mark. One way to tell if your sheep are deficient, is if one dies, or when butchering, have the liver checked. Liz Radi Nubian goats Nunn, Colorado --- [email protected] wrote: From: "Mark Wintermute" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Blackbelly] Blackbelly Digest, Vol 11, Issue 44 Date: Sun, 23 Aug 2015 14:51:21 -0500 I would agree that feeding any grain supplemented with copper is a bad idea. I am also hesitant to feed fish meal which is a animal protein to sheep. Although I do not know of any prion disease or such that would transfer from aquatic to ruminant livestock. Copper is essential though to livestock. Environment is part of the equation in how much copper is metabolized by sheep. Also, the breed of sheep determines the sensitivity level to copper. IN MY OPERATION I feed a cattle mineral block with copper along with a plain white salt block to my Barbados Blackbelly sheep. I also dose my sheep with a 10% copper sulfate solution at 1cc per every 10 pounds of body weight along with either Cydectin, Safeguard, Valbazin or Prohibit. The addition of the copper sulfate solution with the de-wormers makes them more effective. And it is unlikely that parasites can build a resistance to copper. I have been doing this for 15 years and have yet to lose a sheep to copper poisoning. I also put a very small dose (less than a teaspoon) of copper sulfate crystals into 30 gallon poly tubs of drinking water for the sheep. This keeps algae out of the water and stops mosquito larvae from hatching. It will not kill any larvae that is pre-existing in the water. I top off the tubs with water along with the rain until I start seeing algae or mosquito larvae and then repeat the process. Water has been precious here and I cannot be dumping it out several times per week. This is what I do. It is up to you to test and evaluate what is effective in your operation. Mark Wintermute -----Original Message----- From: Blackbelly [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jim Isbell Sent: Sunday, August 23, 2015 12:01 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Blackbelly] Blackbelly Digest, Vol 11, Issue 44 Copper sulfate. Copper poisoning is the (main) reason you need sheep-specific feed versus goat or poultry feed. I know several folks who have run sheep and cattle together...and lost sheep because they got after a cattle mineral lick that had copper of some kind. _______________________________________________ This message is from the Blackbelly mailing list Visit the list's homepage at %http://www.blackbellysheep.info
