Sheep and goats build up copper stores in their liver and dump it in times of stress.. Sheep, for whatever reason, are apparently more prone to build up lethal levels.. If I had to speculate, I'd say there are two main reasons why your Ewe has thus-far defied what's come to be accepted as "common wisdom."
First, shepherds have been experimenting with copper bolusing sheep on a regular basis for a while now to control barberpoles, and it works.. Copper oxide isn't very bioavailable, but the practice still goes against everything we've been told about sheep and copper.. Kinda leads me to believe that maybe sheep aren't quite as sensitive to copper as previously believed..
Second, I don't believe there's sufficient bioavailable copper in most mineral mixes to support a goat.
So if you combine a higher-than-thought level of tolerance with a lower-than-needed level of copper in most mineral mixes...kinda makes sense.
But, again...pure speculation.
First, shepherds have been experimenting with copper bolusing sheep on a regular basis for a while now to control barberpoles, and it works.. Copper oxide isn't very bioavailable, but the practice still goes against everything we've been told about sheep and copper.. Kinda leads me to believe that maybe sheep aren't quite as sensitive to copper as previously believed..
Second, I don't believe there's sufficient bioavailable copper in most mineral mixes to support a goat.
So if you combine a higher-than-thought level of tolerance with a lower-than-needed level of copper in most mineral mixes...kinda makes sense.
But, again...pure speculation.
