Because many areas of the country are copper deficient, goats often need supplemental copper. Jeffer’s carries Copasure copper boluses, large pills filled with copper oxide wire particles. Copasure kills barber-pole worms, strengthens hooves, and gives the goats’ coats a beautiful, sleek, shine.
Firestone Creek Farm has some good info on administering copper boluses to goats here: http://www.freewebs.com/firestone-creek-farms/information.html#copper
Wow. Was it hard to get those goats to swallow the boluses. Eventually, I found a new way to administer them: cut off the end of a 3cc syringe, put a small piece of marshmellow on either side of the bolus inside the syringe, put syringe as far back into goat’s mouth as possible, and push in the plunger. That times 10. done. no more copper bolusing ’till February! 🙂
Another way to dose standard sized goats is to hide the bolus inside a piece of banana.
Note: Hoegger Supply now carries Copasure at a lower price than Jeffers.