Sharing our copper / selenium problem ...Sept. update / pics pg 8

[redtailgal]

.

 

[Ariel301]

Rolls,

I hate that your pretty goats are having such an issue. Its gotta be frustrating.


After re-reading this post, I remembered something and wanted to share it with you. Maybe it will help, maybe not.

I took a couple orphan doelings a few years back and raised them for a friend of mine. He had a pretty large hered of mutt goats. Some were pigmyish, some were nubianish etc. He has since moved away and we dont talk that much.

After looking the the pics of Penny, I knew I had seen a goat that had a skin condition like that before, and it was his herd. So I called him and asked him about it.

His whole herd lost their hair in patches, and had really dry flaky skin under it. He said he ran the blood work, copper was good, selinium was good on everything he tested. He got no answers and it eventualy cleared up on its own, until the next year when it came back.

He quit using ivermectin all together, just on a hunch, and has not had the problem since.

The only difference that I see in his goat and yours, was that a couple of them had a couple sores that were oozy.

I dunno. I feel for you.

That sounds awfully like ringworm to me-the whole herd was losing hair in patches, flaking, and there were some oozing sores...very typical of ringworm. I can't see the whole herd being allergic to ivermectin. :/

 

[SuburbanFarmChic]

It would also depend on how, and I hate to say it, but how inbred the herd was.

I love draxxin as an antibiotic but there is a genetic predisposition to getting an injection site abscess from it. I'm currently trying to breed away from that tendency but I have confirmed it in several related vs unrelated goats and ones from a certain line are prone to getting injection site issues.

 

[RPC]

Just wondering how Penny is doing? I hope her hair has come back nicely and she is all back to being beautiful.

 

[Roll farms]

Penny looks good. I tried to get her pic earlier this week, and when I stepped away from the milk stand to snap it, she hopped off and ran outside.
Then commenced a hot, sweaty goat chase and just when I was ready to give up, she came up to me like, "Hey, put me back in the barn before Puffy eats all my hay."
I really didn't feel inclined after that to brag on Penny much.

eta....funny, she has the barest tail tip ever, you'd *swear* she was copper deficient, BUT too much copper can mimic signs of too little (which is how she kept getting extra to begin with).

GOATS...ugh.

 

[Roll farms]

So...if you didn't know any better, and looked at Penny......

You'd swear, b/c of the lighter reddish area and fish tail, that she was low on copper. That's how I got into this mess to begin with....

(To spare you from reading the whole thing, if you're new / missed it last time...when I saw these signs this spring, I bolused her...then she went bald. Had her levels tested and they were wayyyy high.)

She def. looks better now than she did.

Patch however...is going bald...again. The vet is stumped. Her copper and selenium levels were fine and dandy. She's in good condition. No creepy crawlies....She just likes going bald...?

 

[ksalvagno]

Knowing what Penny looked like before, she looks great! I'm using Rex Brand Wheat Germ Oil on my goats. I was having problem with rough coats. Didn't have hair loss but skin was very flaky and coats were very rough. After 4 weeks I saw improvement. After 6 weeks, everyone was looking great. Everyone is still looking great. I have backed off a bit from giving them the wheat germ oil daily but they are definitely doing better.

 

[MissyP]

My vet told me that zinc deficiency can also cause skin problems such as fish tail, hair loss and poor coat. You can find a zinc supplement called Zin Pro at goat world.com

Getting blood tested for a mineral screening is definitely to way to go, though copper toxicity will not show up as copper is stored in the liver.

 

[BlondeSquirrel04]

In reference to high levels of copper, aside from loose minerals, what else contains copper?

One of my 10 goats has a crappy coat. Went from a furball over the winter to looking like a dog with mange now. She's my best milker at around 10# a day, and aside from the rough/thin coat, she's fine. I just had her on a 5 day course of Pen G to prevent infection in a lacerated udder. Cut went right through into the milk! Thankfully, she healed beautifully with no infection. Don't think whatever is causing it is infection related.

I wormed her w/ Ivomec a week ago, and gave some BoSe about 3 days ago. I was going to give some copper, but now I'm afraid because of some people's results are coming back too high.

 

[ksj0225]

This is an old post! Great for reference though.