Hi everyone.
I was hoping someone could help me figure out what is wrong with my almost 4 year old buck. All of the sudden he has a thin clear discharge coming from his penis all the time. His belly is always wet. I immediately thought of urinary calculi but I kept watch and he is urinating and he doesn't seem to be in any distress, however, he is NOT going to the bathroom as often as he was. Use to be every time I turned around he was peeing, but I had to watch him for a while to make sure he was going to the bathroom. He is eating a cup of Purina Goat Chow in the morning and a half a cup at night...only because that is what he has always been fed by his previous owner. I just kept the same feeding schedule. He also gets Orchard hay free choice. My goats are on dry lots. I have had my goats for three years and NEVER had worms so I feel like this is a good choice for them. We do occasionally throw trimmed oak, cedar, and maple branches in to their pens as a treat. We have no vets in this area that know and treat goats, so before I make the three hour trip to the nearest University...I thought I might ask all of you. Any thoughts or advice is welcome. Thank you.
Peggy
Replies
Peggy, I think if he has an infection of some kind, his temperature would be up. Have you taken his temperature? It should be between 102 and 103.5. It's not good to be on antibiotics if it's not necessary (just like in humans) as they build resistance to them when they are needed. If he doesn't seem sick (not eating, high or low temp, etc) he's most likely fine and needs no intervention. You sound like a good goat mama who is very careful with her animals and I can relate!
As far as food goes, I don't like to see my bucks lose weight but they do if I only give them hay especially in winter. To remedy that I give them some beet pulp as well and my bucks stay in great condition without having to give them grain. Some people won't give them beet pulp because it is GMO but in my opinion it's better than seeing them get thin and not thriving. I won't risk giving more than a little grain.
Thanks Julia. I have begun to reduce both of my bucks grain as you suggested. I took them off of it once before and they lost a lot of weight. It alarmed me, so I gave them it back. I will try to wait it out this time and see if they get use to it. I know that they pee on themselves all the time, but this may be a sperm leakage. That's more what it looks like. I have never had him have this and it concerned me. I washed him up today and hopefully it will allow me to see better what it going on. I started him on Oxytetracycline oral antibiotic in his water just in case. I was told to give him it for 10 days. We will see if that helps him. Thanks for your advice.
Peggy, I would take him off the grain or reduce it to just a 1/4 cup twice a day. Too much grain is not good for bucks and can cause serious problems. He just needs good quality hay, minerals, and water. The discharge is probably from sperm leakage and he's wet from peeing on himself and nothing to worry about. I would definitely take him off all or most of the grain to prevent problems.