Copper supplement/feed balancer

[BallyRoanBaubles]

Has anyone used a copper feed supplement to a black horse with 'fading' coat colour?

My fell pony is supposed to be jet black but has gone a very rusty colour over summer, hes jet black in winter.

It has been suggested he needs a copper supplement, hes currently on no hard feed.

Would a feed balancer be better or would this not have enough copper in?

 

[ycbm]

It's been a very sunny summer and unless he's been in a UV rug it's likely he has just bleached. I have fed my horses high doses of copper for years to counteract iron in the water and the dark ones still bleached in summer.

You won't know until next year if feeding copper works and if he is the right colour in winter that doesn't suggest he lacks copper, but is sun bleached. Unless he shows signs of anaemia, which is another symptom of low copper, I would perhaps blood test before feeding a lot of copper.
.

 

[BallyRoanBaubles]

It's been a very sunny summer and unless he's been in a UV rug it's likely he has just bleached. I have fed my horses high doses of copper for years to counteract iron in the water and the dark ones still bleached in summer.

You won't know until next year if feeding copper works and if he is the right colour in winter that doesn't suggest he lacks copper, but is sun bleached. Unless he shows signs of anaemia, which is another symptom of low copper, I would perhaps blood test before feeding a lot of copper.
.

Thank you, hes showing no other signs of anaemia. His legs below the knee are still jet black. I wasnt sure if as he gets hay in the winter this was helping the low copper.

Did yours bleach around the face? I will try and upload a pic.

 

[ycbm]

Does he have goggles? That would be more likely to suggest low copper.

If so, I'd suggest you contact Forageplus and talk to them, they are experts in this.
.

 

[JBM]

I’ve been suggested copper by a nutritionist
And you can either add a liquid to hard feed for a month
Or you can buy little tubes to give to them orally
I think it was 3 tubes one ever week for 3 weeks but could’ve been every second week..I’m going for the liquid so can’t remember 100%

 

[ycbm]

I’ve been suggested copper by a nutritionist
And you can either add a liquid to hard feed for a month
Or you can buy little tubes to give to them orally
I think it was 3 tubes one ever week for 3 weeks but could’ve been every second week..I’m going for the liquid so can’t remember 100%

If he's copper deficient a one off course won't stop that happening again. I'd still talk to Forageplus.

Personally, I feed the sulphates of copper and zinc that cost pennies, but it's not something everyone likes to do.
.

 

[JBM]

If he's copper deficient a one off course won't stop that happening again. I'd still talk to Forageplus.

Personally, I feed the sulphates of copper and zinc that cost pennies, but it's not something everyone likes to do.
.

Nutritionalist suggested pure copper supplementation 2/3 times a year
Barry’s coat looks great but he’s feet are sub par and his immune system isn’t great as he fighting rain scald so was more of a boost
He’s on a balancer now too with copper to keep it up

 

[CanteringCarrot]

I would blood test since it's simple enough. However, my horse has had good bloods before but I still felt as though he wasn't quite right or was still showing symptoms of a copper deficiency possibly zinc too. So I added copper and zinc and those symptoms disappeared. So while he was fine "on paper" the horse in front of me wasn't.

Excessive bleaching can be from the sun, but also from a deficiency. It's also important to rinse all sweat off because that can cause bleacing too, IIRC.

Mine is bay, but he's stayed a bit darker this year due to wearing a fly rug when they were out during the day, and then they switched to night turnout. So that helps too.

 

[BallyRoanBaubles]

Top two pics are yesterday, bottom left is winter, bottom right is April this year, shows how his legs are still jet black but his coat isn’t

 

[BallyRoanBaubles]

Thanks I will talk to forage plus.

I saw his breeder yesterday and he did the same when she had him and he was on very different grazing to what he’s on now. Would this point to more sun bleaching than copper deficiency? It’s just his face that’s throwing me.

My instructor thinks he’s possibly not true black and maybe a bay/brown, he’s down as black in his passport and his parents (I think) are both black, but I don’t know enough about colours etc to know if this is possible.

 

[SEL]

We're really low in copper and selenium around here - local farmers are a good source of knowledge because ours have to bolus cattle. I did do a specialist soil test which came back as low in copper and my hay is local too.

I feed progressive earth copper/zinc/selenium mix. It's a tiny amount and they don't get it everyday but one of mine can detect a teaspoon in her food so must smell odd.

I can't tell from your photos but the giveaway with copper is the spectacles around the eyes.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

Mine also got "fish hook hairs" when he wasn't supplemented with copper.

 

[BallyRoanBaubles]

We're really low in copper and selenium around here - local farmers are a good source of knowledge because ours have to bolus cattle. I did do a specialist soil test which came back as low in copper and my hay is local too.

I feed progressive earth copper/zinc/selenium mix. It's a tiny amount and they don't get it everyday but one of mine can detect a teaspoon in her food so must smell odd.

I can't tell from your photos but the giveaway with copper is the spectacles around the eyes.

He goes very light under his eyes, and almost down the side of his face to his muzzle but not above his eyes (Forelock covers this area)

Ive sent an email to forage plus Ill see what they say

 

[BallyRoanBaubles]

Mine also got "fish hook hairs" when he wasn't supplemented with copper.

Sorry youll have to explain that one ive not heard of that before

 

[CanteringCarrot]

Sorry youll have to explain that one ive not heard of that before

Basically curled hairs in the coat that look like fish hooks. My horse's weren't so extreme, but present nonetheless.

 

[BallyRoanBaubles]

Basically curled hairs in the coat that look like fish hooks. My horse's weren't so extreme, but present nonetheless.

Ahhh thank you , he doesnt have those, hes pretty shiny just not the colour hes supposed to be!

 

[BallyRoanBaubles]

hopefully this shows his colouring better than the other photos, looking closer he does have some fading above his eye