Help!!! Goat experts input needed...

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Mya, my rescue, will not eat today. I got an apple core into her this morning, and this afternoon, I got her to eat two thin bread crusts dipped in a mix of probiotics, antioxidants, and digestive enzymes. She was lying down and chewing a cud when I went in, so she must've eaten some hay, maybe? But her alfalfa pellets were completely untouched, and she usually eats 1-3 lbs per day, free choice. Hay is in a rack that is always filled, and I tuck a flake into the xmas trees in the sunny spot behind the barn for all three to share in the morning.

She did not get up until I approached her this afternoon, and she did not come around the barn from the sunny spot this morning. She had never done that. She is always waiting at the gait, long before I get there, when she hears the house door.

History: She was badly underweight about 6 weeks ago when I got her, and we have her up to 2 lbs of barley, a cup of sunflower seeds, and maybe a pint of beet pulp (soaked overnight) a day, and lots of veggie scraps, as we eat a lot of veggies. So maybe 1/2 lb at least per day, carrot peels, apple cores, rutabagas, collard stems, etc. She has days where she eats enthusiastically, and days when she has to be offered food many times in order to finish the grain mix. Sometimes her poo is a bit solid, so she gets the probiotic mix and it is pellets by the next day. I try to get the probio's into her feed every day, but dh is not trainable in this regard, and he likes to feed sometimes. I don't complain when I am left in a warm bed with the dog and cats while he is out there in sub-freezing weather!

She is likely pregnant, due who-knows-when, probably third pregnancy.

Her breath smells funny....I think.

I saw her do one poo today and it was small, not pelleted, and a bit mucousy, but not diarrhea.

She is drinking, warm water.

We are leaving her in the hands of nervous, inexperienced friends! We have no goat vets here, and no goat friends....we are in the suburbs. My horse vet will charge me close to $400 to come out and say he doesn't know, call him in three days if she is no better. Been there, done that, can't afford that anymore.

Any input? She does not seem to be in any great distress, but she is digging a hole to sleep in today and yesterday, which is new behavior.

Her udder is not significantly bigger, nor is her.....external female parts.

 

[lupinfarm]

Have you had a thaw or very wet ground? Could she possibly have Coccidiosis? ... That is what it sounds like to me.

 

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We have a thick covering of ice and snow, have had for weeks. She does not have diarrhea, but her poo was not black beans today. I am gonna run out and take another look at her now, and separate her from the other two for the night so I can leave her with her own food and water with no competition. We built her a stall today with spaces between the boards so they can peek at each other. I will bring her a couple of leaves of kale from the fridge just to see her reaction.

 

[FarmerChick]

2 lbs of barley.....way too much.
honestly what you are feeling is way too much for one animal.

OK---goats need about 1 cup of feed. loose minerals and loose baking soda to lick on if wanted. plenty of good hay.......honestly they do not require more than that plus pasture of course and natural browse.

what you described for the diet is not a good one at all......but anyway. And being underweight you are feeding way too much.....like bringing back a starved horse, slow weight gain, slow feed introduction etc. Cause alot of food to a starving animal means trouble fast. Slow down on her reconditioning. I know, we feel for them and want to over feed but it doesn't help you one bit.

check her eyelids. are they true bright nice pink? Or are her inside eyelids pale? if pale towards white she is anemic and probably is loaded with worms and such. Anemia is very easy to happen and the inside eyelids tell the tale fast. Pull down the eyelid and check what color it is. It should be rosy red pink.

second, it could be cocci and there is medicated feed for that. I have a bag of medicated feed for summer time. Cocci is more prevalent in warm weather cause it thrives....in winter it doesn't happen as much.

cut back the grain and all now.....leave her with hay only. And water with electrolytes.

Do you have propolyne glycol? I use it always when goats won't eat. I hit them with a full big syringe into their mouth and make them take it....it gives a jolt back to them. Or goat Nutri-drench? I use that too. Basically you want to support her system with vitamins and glucose but not give her heavy feed.

Since the poop is still pellet and not diarrehea at this point you can't panic. Good hay and water and leave her til morning......then see if she will eat.

if bloat---offer her a dish of baking soda. just put it up to her face and see if she licks it...if she does it means she needs it now.


hope some of that helps you.....let us know

 

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Eek, another forum people told me to get her up to 3 lbs barley so I got her up to 2 (she ate 3 lbs a couple of times over the course of a day) over about a 2-3 week period. No wonder she takes some convincing to get her to finish it. No pasture or browse here this time of year, except pine needles.

Seriously? A cup? Preggers and skinny? Amazing she is still alive....

I keep baking soda free choice, and "someone" ate a bunch overnight, I noticed that first thing this morning. They have minerals and salt free choice. I can only get horse hay here, timothy, so that is in the rack and alfalfa pellets for her (set too high for the pygmies, now it is in her stall nice and low).

Not much available, even at TSC, for goats here. We have three TSC's in towns that I go into regularly, and maybe pelleted wormer, that is about it labelled for goats. Had to order the minerals elsewhere.

She ate the kale leaves (2) and is still alert, up, and interested in what I am doing, insisting I scratch her itchy spot between her horns.

Her belly seems too big....bloat? Off to look that one up again....eek. And during the Superbowl when everyone is offline....

 

[FarmerChick]

there is no way I would be feeding 3 lbs of barley.
no way I would feed 2

goats do not require that much grains.

they need good hay and minerals with little protein grain support.

Preggers? I must have missed that one. Is she close to kidding? If so then she needs maybe 2 cups of grain with some sweet. Her body when preggers needs small protein and glucose. Which normally she would get grazing...but what I feed when close to kidding is 1 cup grain pellets, 1 cup sweet feed per goat. But the sweet feed I give when they are abouit 2 weeks or so from kidding.
And I have big boer goats, not smaller type goats.

did you check her eyelids yet? just wondering.

 

[FarmerChick]

Overeating disease (enterotoxemia) is only one of many rumen-related diseases which can kill a goat. In this illness, the goat consumes so much feedstuffs that the bacteria are used up and the remaining undigested material cannot be processed, turns toxic, and kills the goat by poisoning the animal from within. Hence, the name "entero" (from within) "toxemia" (toxicity/poisoning).




goats will do this---definitely if you let them!

 

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No, haven't checked her eyelids yet, will need help from dh who is off at watching the Superbowl with friends tonight. He offered to stay home but I know he enjoys the game more with companionship to yell with and eat junk without my disapproving looks! So I reassured him and said go have fun. Now I am worrying more and more about Mya.

I don't know when she is due, she was a "semi-rescue" in that I found her on craigslist and when I went to look, I just handed those people cash and took her away as quickly as possible. They obviously fell on hard times quickly, self-employed types living hand-to-mouth and suddenly both with unexpected surgeries and ICU stays this year, trying to disperse the animals quickly at a bad time of year. Friendly, sweet animals all competing for one big round bale. Mya must've lost that competition a lot, as she was desparately skinny.

She was running loose this summer with a Boer and another doe, they don't know when she was bred. Neighbors did chores, sporadically, it looked like. Sad case.

She looks like a Boer/Alpine/maybe Toggenberg cross.

She got up when I approached the barn around 6:45 or so.

 

[freemotion]

Overeating disease (enterotoxemia) is only one of many rumen-related diseases which can kill a goat. In this illness, the goat consumes so much feedstuffs that the bacteria are used up and the remaining undigested material cannot be processed, turns toxic, and kills the goat by poisoning the animal from within. Hence, the name "entero" (from within) "toxemia" (toxicity/poisoning).




goats will do this---definitely if you let them!

EEEEK!!! Did I kill my goat trying to save her?

 

[FarmerChick]

no it probably isn't her problem.
My goats have days they don't eat....and yes I panic big time!!
a non-eating goat is not a good thing...LOL....not eating means some trouble is happening! If they don't eat, then yes, something is wrong but it could be something very minor.

You shouldn't need DH for checking her eyelid. Is she manageable? I just walk up to my goats and pull down their eyelid and kinda turn it out to check the color.....they always let me do this with no problem.

My last goat abouit 1 year old jsut stopped eating one day, and I watched, gave her all the stuff I know how to do and she passed away that night.

Goats go fast. UGH......but no don't worry. You didn't kill her or anything like that.

You have to remember those rumens are a balancing act. The best you can do to feed a rumen animal is good hay first.....grain second and snacks third. It is just best for this type of animal.


hang in there....I am sure she will be fine. My older goat that I like stopped eating one day, I gave her some probotics and some glycol and when I checked her later she was off eating in the pasture with the herd.

But when they don't eat...whew it is scary! I know....many times over...LOL

Worse thing is trying to figure out why.....ARGH.....they "look" fine ya know!