Omolene 200 contains copper. You shouldn't feed any amount to sheep.

Have you tried contacting Purina Mills about the safety for goats?

fauna67 I am going through the same thing! I had goats on Nutrena Triumph 12 horse feed With 20ppm copper. Goats need copper. Then I got a lamb and in the same area with greedy goats tried to feed her Showmaster By Acco feeds that has 15ppmm copper. So I don't think copper is a no-no, it's just high amounts of it. Now I just mix the feed and both eat it. The loose minerals have to be no copper. I use sheep minerals now for both not cow!! I do feed just a little grain to all and lots of alfafa hay and fresh braches of privet hedge,gum trees,yopon that I cut every morning on my property.

Sheep do need copper, but in very limited amounts. Some breeds (most notably Finns) can handle more than others. Normally it is available in sufficient quanity in trace amounts from regular hay and grain.

Copper poisoning can happen as an acute attack from ingesting a large amount of copper all at once.

More often, because sheep do not excrete copper very well, excess amounts build up over time (days, weeks, even months) in their livers. Then some stressfull event occurs and you have a dead sheep. There may be no preceding symptoms.

Omolene 200 contains "at least 55 ppm." Purina Mills doesn't give any upper limit. Do you know the amount of copper that occurs naturally in the feed in your area? Are you adding extra copper to a relatively deficient feed, or to ones with high levels? In some areas feed naturally contains up to 15 ppms.

Thanks for all the responses. I have not checked with Purina yet...would seem the obvious thing to do wouldn't it? :-) It was just I was getting the feed over a weekend...had the animals and didn't want to feed someone I wasn't supposed to (and since I just got the sheep and the goats don't know as much as I should yet!).

Hi

I have over 1,000 goats and have been raising them for years. We also ran sheep for many years on the ranch.

I never feed my goats, goat specific feed, as it is twice as expensive as cow feed, and even some horse feed.

We use an alfalfa pellet that has added corn, and feed grass hay that way they get bulk, and protein. Whole corn is an excellent reasonable grain to feed in the winter but is to hot in the summer.
With sheep the main concern is over eating and copper.
Corn is safe for sheep, and a good grain, you can also buy a 3way or Corn Oats Barley with molasses sometimes called sweet feed.
If they are on pasture, and in the winter you can also supplement them with a protein block which is very cost effective, and allows them to get not only protein but salt and minerals. (Be sure you get sheep blocks if you are feeding to both as they do have added copper.)

Also before feeding any grain sheep have to be vaccinated for over eating.

Sarah "My Small Farm Expert"