Copper in trace mineral salt block ok or not for deer and elk ???

[Greybeard]

The ingredeint labels on most trace mineral salt blocks state that the blocks are intended for livestock but because of the trace copper content they state that the blocks are not intended for sheep. Does anyone know if blocks containing copper are ok for deer and elk? Greybeard/

[Just a Hunter]

My multivitamin has 4mg of copper per tablet

I doubt seriously there is anything to worry about in giving deer a standard trace mineral block, but if it will ease your mind
go ahead and buy one made for sheep.

The most common difference in these blocks is the lack of Copper Sulfate and
Yellow Iron Oxide.

PS: You might do a search for a MSDS on a deer trace mineral block or go to your local sporting goods store and see if the deer specific blocks have copper or iron oxide
in it

[Laturkeyhtr]

I wish Herne was still frequenting this site. He has a good understanding of copper deficiency as he area in England is deficient in copper.

Personallly, I have never read anything about any cautions using cattle minerals for deer. I use a cobination of red salt mineral mix for cattle along with a dicalcium phosphate as it is cheaper to use than those formulated strictly for deer.

[Greybeard]

I had some spare time yesterday and spent a few hours trying to find out about copper and deer nutrition/toxicity. I don't think that this has been studied directly. References that suggest copper is required by deer generally adddress local soil conditions where copper is rare and actual nutritional studies with cattle that determined that trace amounts of copper were required for cattle. Several commercial mineral supplements for deer do contain trace amounts of copper and several others do not contain copper. I suspect that trace amounts of copper are needed by deer. Humans require trace amounts of copper.

Toxicity studies with sheep showed that sheep were sensitive to copper (too much copper can cause health problems in sheep) compared to cattle which were less sensitive. Thus mineral supplements for sheep omit copper while supplements for cattle and horses contain copper.

So are deer and elk more like sheep or more like cattle relative to possible copper toxicity? I don't believe that this has been studied. Greybeard/