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sheep minerals contain copper


Jan B
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Hi All,

I had a friend buy some sheep minerals for me at her local Agway since the nearest feed/grain store to me stopped selling them. When I looked at the content label today, I noticed that it contains a "minimum of .3457 PCT" copper. Is this amount likely to cause a problem with my sheep?

Jan in Mass.

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Jan,

 

Sheep do need copper. They just need a small amount of it. I have not seen copper shown as a percent, usually it is in parts per million ppm.

 

If your mineral is formulated specifically for sheep you are probably good if not I wouldn't use it.

 

Here is a link about copper for sheep.

 

http://www.merricks.com/tech_copper_req.html

 

.3457% is equal to 3457ppm which would kill a cow.

 

Look at your label again and see if it says 0.3457 ppm? They usually switch from % to ppm as you go down the mineral ingredients.

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I'm not sure if this is the case with your mineral, but I saw a feed labeled recently that said something like 8ppm copper. Further down on the tag it said "no added copper". With the feed, I am assuming that the copper number they had listed was the copper naturally occurring in the ingredients. Since other minerals in the mix shouldn't contain trace amounts of copper. Maybe it's a number the mineral maker feels is safe for sheep. Most horse feeds have several hundred ppm copper.

 

Emily

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I think the overall limit on the whole diet -- hay, pasture, grain, whatever, plus mineral -- is something like 30 ppm for most breeds of sheep. Some breeds, like Texels and Cheviots tend to retain copper better than others, and need less copper and are more susceptible to copper toxicity. Other breeds like the Scottish blackface tend not to retain copper, therefore need more and are less susceptible toxicity.

 

The 7 ppm level of copper in the mineral mix won't cause toxicity, but it certainly won't correct deficiency if that's a concern. I think you want to be in the low teens in the whole diet.

 

Just checked the Merck article above, and it sites a range of 12 to 36 ppm Cu in the whole diet as being the target range for sheep.

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We have copper veins that run through our county so I look for stuff, everything, with absolutely no added copper. Testing both soil and forage is a good idea, plus water sources.

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