Secondary copper deficiency tends to be more responsive to treatment than primary copper deficiency. Insufficient weight gain, poor appetite, and weight loss are seen in copper-deficient goats of growing age. Adults display more subtle signs of copper deficiency. They are generally unthrifty, anemic, poor milk producers, and sometimes have diarrhea. But the most visible sign of copper deficiency in adults is loss of hair color.
Copper is essential for melanin production that causes hair pigmentation.
Hair decoloration occurs when the copper-containing enzyme is missing. Control of proper copper levels in goats is critical. Find out why the goat is copper deficient. Goats metabolize and store copper much differently from sheep. Severely copper-deficient goats are sometimes given copper boluses which attach to the inside of the body and slowly deliver copper at a predetermined rate.