We just got back from a 10 day holiday. I had boarded my three does with another Nigerian goat lady in my area. The three of them did really well with her 12 goats and I picked them up and brought them home yesterday.
All three were quiet yesterday but didn't seem sick. They stayed in their shed rather then grazing out in the field.
Today, two seem normal but one doe still seems lethargic. She normally stands on her head for a taste of grain but was not excited about it. She is eating and drinking. I'm not sure if it's just taking her longer to settle back in or if she picked something up from the other goats while being boarded? This lady worms and vaccinates.
Thanks for any insight.
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I have seen raspberry leaves at Whole Foods in the Chicago suburbs. I buy all of mine in 1# bags from Frontier Herbs online.
Maybe you could ask the lady to keep your does in a separate pen or stall? If I were boarding, I wouldn't put strange goats in with my goats anyway, even if they had been born here.
Kim Nelson said:
Thank you for the help. The doe seems much more herself. I think it was the change of environment that did it. She is the oldest of the 3 and the dominant doe. I think being put in a strange environment with 12 new goats was hard on her. Unfortunately, they have to go back for another 10 days of board. Hopefully, it's not as tramatic this time! I have had a hard time finding someone to look after the girls at my home.
Are the rose hips and raspberry leave something you can buy dried at the health food store?
Thank you, Deborah, for posting this. I am going to give my girls a bunch of raspberry leaves and rose blossoms; perhaps it will help with the stress from all the noise. :-(
(The neighbors have been going at it for nearly two hours now and likely won't let up for another two hours as it's only 10:00 p.m now and this is less than 200 feet from my three girls. They are all huddled up together and don't even get up when I am out there with them. No way of explaining to them it will be over soon.)
If they get too much grain, that should clear up within about 12-24 hours. Coccidia takes about three weeks to go through its life cycle and start to cause a problem, but most adults have some coccidia in their system anyway, and they don't have a problem with it. Stress does take a bigger toll on some goats than others, and some get completely freaked out by a change in environment. Being moved twice in ten days could be very stressful for some goats. Probios or yogurt might be beneficial to support the digestive system. Perhaps some rose hips for her immune system. You might want to check her eyelids or run a fecal to the vet to be sure that parasites didn't get to her. Some goats will be doing fine with a certain level of parasitism as long as they are not stressed, but once stressed, it really makes them sick. Just a few things to think about.
Not sure how long it takes for that to show up but it would not necessarily have come from the other place. They could have had it before they went there. It is common for them to have it and adults will often not seem sick therefor you may not even know. It could also be a number of other things causing this. I recently had a problem with it in one of my does and am real sure that it was from my giving her way to much grain. I wish I could tell you all the reasons but I simply can't remember the list tonight. I can understand your concern and will see what I can dig up. I can tell you there are other post about this on here if you want to do a little digging.
Further to the above...
I noticed tonight that the doe has soft stools... like dog poop. She is eating but not with gusto. She is not herself. She comes over for pets and comfort but no real energy. I put some baking soda in their shed. I am wondering if maybe it was a change of diet that could have upset her. When I went to pick the girls up, all the goats were browsing in the woods so maybe a different plant or weed. In reading other posts, a frequent cause of diarrhea or soft stools is coccidiosis. Would that show up this quickly? The other two does have normal stools.