Goats and Copper: Rehabbing the Copper Deficient Goat

This article is written for the wildsteaders with a goat yet lacking a trust fund that facilitates a cadre of employees and a dedicated veterinarian. Captive goats, unlike sheep, need high amounts of copper in their daily diet. Goats that forage unfettered are very hardy and resourceful and will often find natural resources for their health. A captive goat does not have that option. If supplemental copper is not available for a captive goat, it will live, but not robustly. Fortunately, a copper deficiency is easy for a person to clearly identify and more importantly, it is easy to remedy. A copper deficient goat does not necessarily have to be culled, addressing that particular health issue in a goat can be done with time, patience, and the cost of copper supplementation.

Here at Mossygoat Farm, we acquired a full-grown buck near the end of last year. Thrifty wildsteaders often get animals in a roundabout way and that is how this buck arrived here. On arrival, the buck was showing signs of copper deficiency but otherwise sound. The goat was without a human endowed name, so the buck (figuratively) named itself. Stinkbug is a mini-Alpine cross buck and he joined Mossygoat Farm in November 2022. Anyone familiar with buck goats, and the pungent smell they bring, will probably get a good chuckle with his truthful name. We are fortunate his temperament is non-aggressive and happy go lucky. But that is not why this article is being written. Stinkbug expressed visible signs of being copper deficient. Currently Stinkbug is now fully rehabbed. Included below are the typical signs of copper deficiency expressed with goats as well as what to expect when rehabbing copper deficiency.

Signs of Copper Deficiency

On arrival at Mossygoat Farm Stinkbug was expressing all the typical signs of copper deficiency:

• Brown coat on black goats

• Rough coat

• Loss of hair around eyes

• “Fish tail”

• Worms

• Weight loss

• Other parasites, in Stinkbugs case this was goat lice

Pictured below is an underweight Stinkbug on his first day at Mossygoat Farm.

Rehabbing Copper Deficiency

The first step in rehabbing a copper deficient goat needs to be to give the goat a copper bolus based on weight. A copper bolus is a pill filled with small copper rods that slowly dissolve over the course of 8 months to a year in the digestive track. Four grams of bolus are given per 100 pounds of weight. Do not overdose the copper bolus because too much copper can also be toxic. It’s really easy to give goats the bolus, but if you are uncomfortable with using a bolus gun, try ritz crackers and peanut butter. Give the goat some ritz crackers to make sure they like them first. Then spread some peanut butter on top and add the bolus. We use about half a bolus pill per cracker, so each goat gets several crackers.

Pictured below is Stinkbug, halfway through his rehab. The missing hair around his eyes is beginning to grow back, it took about four months for the new hair growth to be obvious and another two or three months for the hair to be full length. His rough brown coat can be seen growing in shiny and black. It should be noted that much of his long, thick older coat had been cut off. Signs of goat lice are still present below, as seen around his eyes on his back.

Even with the copper bolus, make sure your goats are getting adequate daily copper in the form of formulated goat feed or goat mineral. Plants containing a high amount of copper can also be fed. Chicory is an herb that prolifically grows in many areas and is high in copper. Non GMO soybeans are also higher in copper. If copper deficiency is a problem despite proper supplementation, check your pasture and water for common copper antagonists that block copper absorption. Iron and Sulpher are two common copper blocking minerals found in water. Calcium can also block copper absorption. Many dairy goats eat a diet high in alfalfa for the calcium, and these goats may need a higher daily intake of copper than goats not on an alfalfa diet.

Deworming your goats should also be a priority if they are recovering from copper deficiency. Copper plays a large role in a goat’s worm resistance and resistance to other parasites such as goat lice. Assume your copper deficient goat is also parasite laden and worm accordingly per weight. Holistic livestock management practices do not only use herbal products but also use chemicals and drugs as needed for the health of the goat. Although herbal dewormers can be a healthy addition to holistically managed herds, there are situations where chemical dewormers should be used and severe worm counts, and rehabilitation are one of those situations. Cornel University has a handy chart for dewormer dosages. Ivermectin horse paste can also be used with a dose of 3 times the weight. If your goat weighs 100 pounds, dose the ivermectin for a 300 pound horse. The difference in dose is due to the fact that horse’s have a single stomach and goats are a ruminant. All goat wormers have milk and meat withholding times associated with them which can be found at the Farm Animal Residual Avoidance Database. If you run a certified organic herd, make sure your timing is correct in giving these dewormers and otherwise rely on herbal.

Below, a fully rehabilitated Stinkbug at a proper weight and with full hair around his eyes. This picture was taken 9 months after we acquired him.

Rehabbing copper deficiency will also bring greater energy. Below is Stinkbug full of energy and pep.

Be it for meat or dairy, goats can be a wonderful addition to the wildstead. Don’t forget that on top of daily copper, goats do require good fences! Fencing is probably the number one problem new goat owners face, with copper deficiency and worms the number two problems.

We wish everyone happy wildsteading with happy goats!