I'm concerned about one of my goats. She is 2 years old, was a first freshener this year and is pretty thin. She was small when we bought her in April, but I assumed she would start gaining by now. I was looking at a link (can't remember where I saw it, maybe a post here somewhere...) about the levels of condition in goats. She seems like a level 1.5 or 2. I can feel her ribs, her loin area is sunk in and I don't feel a lot of meat back there. Her sternum skin is able to be pinched. Her eyelids are pale, not white, but pale pink. Her poo looks fine, normally formed pellets (no rice). She eats fine, chews her cud, acts pretty normal etc. I did a fecal on her and the other goats. She and one other have barber pole eggs, but I also found tapeworm eggs in hers (only hers) as well. I was giving her an herbal dewormer, but decided to try something different as I haven't seen a change for the better. So I gave her a dewormer from TSC with Morantel Tartrate as the active ingredient (they eat it in their food) as the other choices were rather overwhelming, honestly. I also gave all the goats a copper bolus as it was about that time. Then I added selenium and the Sweetlix minerals free choice along with kelp and baking soda (the goats are loving these!). Wondering what else I can do or if it's just a waiting game for the minerals and dewormer to take effect.
Anyhow, any ideas you all have would be appreciated! She was the first goat we bought and is super friendly... like another kid around here.
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Valbazen can throw off the gut flora, and so can worms, so your theory is probably on target. I'm glad she's on the mend! It's always amazing to see how quickly they bounce back!
Just wanted to thank you all for your input on this. I'm still not certain what happened but Angel is finally on the mend. Today her milk started to come back up, after going down to being almost dry, and she was fighting to get some grain again. I'm SO thankful!
My "theory" is that her gut flora was thrown off by the second round of Valbazen. She was walking, eating hay and drinking, but not chewing her cud and I wasn't hearing any noise from her tummy like normal. That reminder - the four things to watch for - was very helpful and kept me from freaking out completely about her temps (once Deborah reminded me of that!). She was very slow, sometimes seemed a bit confused (or maybe I was misunderstanding her and it was more disinterest than confusion). I started off giving her Probios, but not seeing much of a change I started to give her some A,D,E and B12 gel that had probiotics in it and just a bit of nutridrench daily. After that things started to slowly improve.
Anyhow.... thanks again! I don't know what I would do without this group! :D
I didn't know that they fluctuated like that. I guess I'll just have to keep a close eye on her. Thanks so much!!
Goats are not great at regulating their body temp, which is why most books give a range rather than a solid number like 98.6 for humans. Usually their temp is about 101 to 103, although it can be as high as 104 in a healthy goats sometimes. So, you always look at their temp as part of a bigger picture. I haven't seen one at 100 that was okay though. Maybe it was an error? I'm glad it's 102.6 now.
Yes, some goats are less resistant to parasites than others. This is why you should NEVER deworm a whole herd as was recommended 10-20 years ago. Even if you have a goat that is very sick, the rest are usually fine. Research has proven this, and I've found it to be true in my herd.
I just took her temp again and she was back up to 102.6! Is this goat trying to stress me out or what!!!? Thanks for the reply, Deborah. I'm not sure what's going on, but am thankful her temp is up. Maybe the Probios is helping?
I haven't seen her chewing her cud as often. I maybe saw her do it once the whole time I was out there. And no gurgling tummy like normal either.
Thanks ladies!!
My Internet has been in and out (mostly out) yesterday and today, so I haven't been able to keep up with messages. This sounds like a sick goat, and I don't know why your vet wouldn't be concerned. That temp is too low, and personally I'd get her to the vet. Did you explain that she's off feed and acting confused and lethargic and has a temp of only 100? Those are all very bad signs. If she'd just freshened, I'd say milk fever, but this far into lactation, it's probably just a very heavy load of parasites. I've seen it lots of time. A falling body temp means the body is shutting down, although I once managed to save a buck whose body temp was so low it didn't even register on my thermometer, so hopefully you can still save her. The most important thing is to make sure she has water. Dehydration can kill them quicker than anything, especially if it's hot. If she won't drink, then you can try using a drench syringe to get water into her, if she can still swallow. Sorry to throw out so much at you, but this is serious. As the vet professor said to me years ago -- and I say in my book -- if a goat is eating, drinking, walking around, and chewing their cud, they're probably fine. She isn't doing that.
Thanks Julieanne. I was thinking the same thing. I called and they are swamped today, but he did talk to me on the phone a bit and said to just give her Probios and I can bring her in tomorrow morning if she doesn't look any better. He didn't seem that worried. Maybe I'm overreacting?? I don't know. I did put her in a pen with her buddy goat that is separate from the others, just to give them free access to food (away from the herd food hog). Her poo is not quite normal... pellets pressed together and I heard her cough a bit today which is not normal for her.
I think you need the vet. Something is really wrong.
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