# Newbie confused about copper



## ejwallace (Jul 11, 2010)

We are new to sheep, and I am really confused about feeding sheep copper. I had read several places about copper toxicity in sheep, and that it should be kept out of sheep mineral licks. But now, in reading "Natural Sheep Care" by Pat Coleby, she mentions the importance of putting copper in a lick, and lists all of the benefits of making sure sheep are getting enough copper (resistance to worms, coccidia, etc.) Copper Sulphate is one of the four ingredients she gives in a lick recipe to be available to the sheep at all times. Can anyone enlighten me on this? We live in the Pacific NW, and maybe it is just something in my area?
Thanks!


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> should be kept out of sheep mineral licks


If you buy minerals MADE for sheep, they will have the right amount of copper.

I'd be leary of homemade recipes



> The mention of copper (in any form) as a deworming agent should automatically send up a red flag to most sheep producers as most producers understand sheep's sensitivity to copper.
> 
> Copper has anthelmintic activity and has been historically used as a deworming agent in sheep; however, its use was discontinued because of toxicity issues. This is the situation with many "natural dewormers." They have anthelmintic properties, but in effective doses to kill the parasites, they risk toxicity to the animal


http://www.sheepandgoat.com/articles/revisitingcopper.html


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## Olivia67 (Mar 6, 2008)

Sheep need 5ppm (parts per million) but any more than that is stored in their liver and when they are stressed it is released and it will kill a sheep. Are you sure that you read this homemade recipe about sheep and not goats? I've read many homemade recipes for goats because dairy goats need something like 1200 ppm and I've read that is almost impossible to overdose a dairy goat with copper...don't know and wouldn't try it but I do know that the mineral I give to our goats has at least 1200 ppm copper in it and they get it every day. Call you extension office and find out about your soil minerals in your area and that will let you know if you need to be concerned about copper for your sheep. More often, is seleniem defeceny that is why we give every kid and lamb a tiny bit of BoSe at birth to prevent white muscle disease. If you give your sheep a mineral from a local feed store it is usually balanced just for sheep in your area but by all means talk to your feed store too. 

Yes there have been places like Australia that tried to give their sheep a lot of copper to help with parasite loads and a lot of their sheep died in that experiement. It doesn't take much to stress out a sheep and it could happen when you're away at work, a stray dog could pace the fence, catching them up to trim their hooves, even breeding all cause them enough stress that if they had an overload of copper in their liver, would be released and they would die.


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## birchtreefarm (Jul 22, 2007)

ejwallace said:


> We are new to sheep, and I am really confused about feeding sheep copper. I had read several places about copper toxicity in sheep, and that it should be kept out of sheep mineral licks. But now, in reading "Natural Sheep Care" by Pat Coleby, she mentions the importance of putting copper in a lick, and lists all of the benefits of making sure sheep are getting enough copper (resistance to worms, coccidia, etc.) Copper Sulphate is one of the four ingredients she gives in a lick recipe to be available to the sheep at all times. Can anyone enlighten me on this? We live in the Pacific NW, and maybe it is just something in my area?
> Thanks!


A LOT depends on where you live, and therefore what minerals/trace elements you have in your soil and water. And a lot depends on what kind of sheep you have. Icelandics for example, as well as some other northern short-tail/primitive breeds seem to require more copper than is usually provided by standard sheep minerals. In fact, the sheep mineral mixes I can get around here don't have ANY added copper, and one (Dumor) says right on the bag that they add extra Molybdenum to bind up any copper that might be in the sheep's diet, though they don't tell you how much Mo they are adding. Well, thanks, but that's not doing me any favors. I have to add either cattle or goat minerals to get the copper level up enough, or occasionally feed some goat pellets.

Sheep DO need copper. They just don't need a lot compared to other livestock, or maybe it's more precise to say that they cannot handle a lot of copper like other livestock can. They store excess in their liver, and then if a sudden stressor comes along (like being chased by a dog or something) the liver dumps all that copper into the bloodstream and... dead sheep.

But there are so many interactions between Cu and other metals/minerals that it's important to know what you have before you can make informed decisions. If you butcher an animal, you can send a liver sample for testing to find out the level of Cu present (and other elements). You can have soil tests done, as well as testing your hay, and your water. I know someone who has to add quite a bit of Cu to her mineral mixes to overcome the high levels of Mo and other things that are present in her soil and water. Otherwise, her sheep and other livestock get badly Cu deficient. But that's the situation where she lives. Someone else's might be quite different.

Pat Coleby's mineral mix is dependent on the idea that the sheep won't take in what they don't need. And if they do need Cu, they'll eat some. (Doesn't she recommend putting out the components individually, rather than mixed together?)


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## LibertyWool (Oct 23, 2008)

birchtreefarm said:


> A LOT depends on where you live, and therefore what minerals/trace elements you have in your soil and water.


Don't forget what you feed in your equation. If you feed hay you purchase, you don't know it's level of copper unless you test it. If the fields have been fertilized with chicken or pig manure, then it likely has too much copper already. If you feed a sweet feed that has molasses, you are adding copper there, even if it is not listed on the label. So you really have to have the total picture, or you could go down the wrong path.


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## mariaricarto (Jul 1, 2010)

I also read that it is dangerous to put sheep on pastures that have been fertilized with chicken manure because of excess amounts of copper. Is this correct? I am concerned about this because I keep chickens in with the sheep, they share a shelter.


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

> I also read that it is dangerous to put sheep on pastures that have been fertilized with chicken manure because of excess amounts of copper.* Is this correct?* I am concerned about this because I keep chickens in with the sheep, they share a shelter.


It's dangerous IF you'e using *large amounts *of manure as fertilizer.

I doubt that having a few chickens in with your sheep will make any difference


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## bergere (May 11, 2002)

I raised Heritage chickens and ducks as the same pasture as my sheep, and never had a problem.
It does tend to rain a lot in the NW, as washes ...ah... stuff away.


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## TNjohn19 (6 mo ago)

DO NOT USE COPPER SULFATE!!
We purchased four sheep from a breeder, and when we left she sent us home with a walnut tincture and copper sulfate as a dewormer. The sheep slowly died one by one of copper toxicity (we had a necropsy done). She also recommended the book "Natural Sheep Care" by Pat Coleby (where she got the recipe for the dewormer). Bad decision. Ivermectin is a much better choice. I would recommend the book "Storey's Guide To Raising Sheep" by Paula Simmons & Carol Ekarius. It is a very thorough and informative book for beginners.


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## 1032swiss (Nov 24, 2021)

I was told that hair breeds can handle higher levels of copper than wool breeds, but don't have specific numbers for you.


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