Advice please

I have owned goats for around ten years. I just recently got 2 Wethers. They were born at the end of March. My vet just retired and it's impossible to find a vet around here that will take goats. They seem to only do horses and cows...one receptionist said "there's no money in goats so find another vet."

The problem is their manure. It's clumpy and I can't understand why. I haven't been giving them corn...they just get hay and some minerals. The man I purchased them from told me to lay off the feed, so I did. He said it could be the hay that I purchased because I bought it from Country Max? It has been raining here ...could it be the wet grass? I did give them a small amount of safegaurd.

Any advice would be appreciated and thank you in advance.

Hi there Jill!

How long have you had them? How much do they currently weigh? What breed are they?

Clumpy poop could totally just be the change in environment and what they are now eating in pasture/browse. But this could also be a pre- cursor to coccidiosis. So keep a close eye on them. Goats between the ages of 1-6 months, especially those experiencing stress of moving and/or being weaned are at high risk of developing it.

At this age they really should be on a good quality goat grain for the extra nutrients while growing. And I would go ahead and use a medicated one to help keep coccidia levels lower during this transition to their new home. 1-1.5% of their body weight daily is a good ration for most brands. I personally like Purina Goat Grower.

Check their lower eyelid color. If it is red or dark pink and they have a good body condition I would not worry about worms at this time. But again, stress lowers immunity and makes them more susceptible, so keep a close eye on them.

For the Safeguard- or any dewormer- never underdose because that simply gives the worms exposure and an opportunity to form resistance. A low dose will not kill worms. Anytime you give a dewormer it needs to be with intention of killing as many worms as possible, because any that survive will likely start producing offspring that are now resistant to that dewormer and eventually you will end up with a product that no longer works for you.
tammy

Replies

Tammy Gallagher July 5, 2022 at 2:08pm

Hi there Jill!

How long have you had them? How much do they currently weigh? What breed are they?

Clumpy poop could totally just be the change in environment and what they are now eating in pasture/browse. But this could also be a pre- cursor to coccidiosis. So keep a close eye on them. Goats between the ages of 1-6 months, especially those experiencing stress of moving and/or being weaned are at high risk of developing it.

At this age they really should be on a good quality goat grain for the extra nutrients while growing. And I would go ahead and use a medicated one to help keep coccidia levels lower during this transition to their new home. 1-1.5% of their body weight daily is a good ration for most brands. I personally like Purina Goat Grower.

Check their lower eyelid color. If it is red or dark pink and they have a good body condition I would not worry about worms at this time. But again, stress lowers immunity and makes them more susceptible, so keep a close eye on them.

For the Safeguard- or any dewormer- never underdose because that simply gives the worms exposure and an opportunity to form resistance. A low dose will not kill worms. Anytime you give a dewormer it needs to be with intention of killing as many worms as possible, because any that survive will likely start producing offspring that are now resistant to that dewormer and eventually you will end up with a product that no longer works for you.
tammy

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