Veterinary case
Five Texel sheep poisoned by pig feed with copper
⚠️ This information is provided for awareness only and does not replace an examination by a veterinarian.
🤖 Summary produced automatically from the scientific publication cited at the bottom of the page.
A new sheep farmer fed his Texel ewes a copper-rich pig feed, and three of them died.
What happened?
A farmer new to sheep farming mistakenly bought a compound feed containing copper intended for pigs to feed his five Texel sheep (one ram and four pregnant ewes). Six weeks after starting this feed, the first animal, a pregnant ewe, showed signs of illness and died two days later. A week later, a second animal died with similar signs. The farmer then stopped giving this feed, but three weeks later a third pregnant ewe died despite the feed being removed.
What did the vet find?
The sick animals showed loss of appetite, weakness, visible yellowing of the eyes and skin, dark urine (a sign of red blood cell breakdown), abdominal pain, and stopped rumen function. A blood test showed massive destruction of red blood cells. Necropsy of the dead animals revealed generalized yellowing, an enlarged spleen, a pale damaged liver, and dark brown kidneys, confirming copper poisoning.
What did the vet do?
ℹ️ Treatment given to THIS animal, decided by its veterinarian. It is not a prescription: never apply it without veterinary advice.
As soon as the farmer suspected a feed-related problem, he immediately removed the copper-contaminated feed from the diet of the surviving animals. No specific curative treatment is described for the animals already affected, because the disease had already caused severe, irreversible liver and kidney damage.
What happened next?
Three out of five animals died, two of them even after the contaminated feed was stopped, because the internal damage was already too advanced. The two surviving ewes showed only mild signs, fully recovered, and gave birth to healthy lambs.
Advice for the farmer
Never feed sheep, especially sensitive breeds like Texel, a compound feed or mineral supplement intended for another species such as pigs or poultry, because its copper content can be toxic to sheep.
Source
- Source
- PubMed Central
- Title
- Chronic Copper Bilysinate Poisoning in Five Texel Sheep: A Case Report.
- Authors
- Pivariu D, Oros AN, Tabaran A, Caloni F, Bolfa P, Nagy AL.
- Year
- 2024
- DOI
- 10.3390/life14111363
- Licence
- CC BY
