Hey guys,
I have an almost 6 month old ND doeling that is always bloated, I guess. She started doing this when she was only a few weeks old and I thought it was just a nice built rumen and she would deflate herself at night, but I have noticed that she in always round now. I call her my basketball goat because that is how she looks.
Should I worry about her? Seeing how she has been like this for almost 5 months maybe it is just the way she is?
Thanks!
Replies
I have 3 young doelings that have gotten coccidia so all the babies are being treated as a precaution which means so is Trinity. The vet suggested that we go ahead and worm the whole herd with Cydectin so I guess if it is worms, I will see a reduction in her "bloat" belly. She is not anemic and is in great physical shape so I am assuming she likes to stuff herself. She was even like this when she was on nothing but pasture. The hay we feed is from our pasture and is a mix grass with no mold so I do not think it is that. Not to mention that we have 23 other goats eating the same thing and she is the only one that does it. LOL
I will also go look for the previous discussion on this subject.
Thanks again!
With worms, you usually see improvement within a few days to a week after a successful deworming. When I ws thinking of switching to Chaffhaye because of our drought (no pasture and couldn't find hay), I was talking to others who use it, and they said their goats that would get hay belly on pasture or hay no longer got it after a week or two of switching to the Chaffhaye. So, unless you just have a goat that really likes to stuff herself, you would see a change fairly quickly.
Deb, may I ask, if the "hay belly" is caused from worms and/or poor quality hay and you deworm and provide a higher quality hay how soon would you possibly see the hay belly go away? Just curious :)
Deborah Niemann-Boehle said:
Bloat is a serious, acute, life-threatening condition. If your goat was bloated, she would have died months ago. Sounds like a hay belly, which can be caused by worms or it can just be the way the goat is. If she is anemic or has poor body condition, she might need to be dewormed. If her body condition is good and she is not anemic, then it could just be that she really stuffs herself because she likes to eat or because your hay is poor quality. Basically, she needs more nutrition, less stuffing. There was a discussion on this exact subject on here within the past week with a lot more details.