I am a new goat owner - have 3 NDGs - 2 doelings, 1 soon-to-be-wether. Have had them at home for a little over two weeks, they are all 2 months old now (plus a few days). I have lurked on this forum and on Fias Co. site a lot and learned much.
This morning, I went to give the kids their bottles, and the largest (and usually hungriest) doeling had what looked like diahrea under her chin. I got a warm, wet washcloth and washed it off. She had NO interest in the bottle. I waited an hour and just went out to try again. She is actually spitting up this brown-liquid looking stuff and still doesn't want to eat (no surprise).
I'm assuming that maybe she ate something she shouldn't have???? But, here's the rub - I have no idea what that could have been. There are only the standard weeds (none on the 'poisonous' lists) in their pen, and, while I had her out with me last night in the garden, she was only eating grape leaves and strawberry leaves (we don't use pesticides or herbicides). But maybe she found something somewhere? We have good quality hay available and fresh water...she likes to eat dirt sometimes....HELP!
Should I call the vet?
Thanks in advance for any insight you can give!
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Yep! I'd love to try the meat maker, but I can't find it anywhere around here. My options are the Mana Pro (thankfully I love it!) or a sheep mineral, or cattle mineral without nearly enough copper. Makes the choice easy. :)
Margaret Langley said:
Yea Patty, at my TSC 8#s of the MannaPro is $11, vs. The 20# of sweetlix meatmaker at the feed store which was about $17 I think the last time I bought it! Big price difference and I much prefer the larger bag!
Yea Patty, at my TSC 8#s of the MannaPro is $11, vs. The 20# of sweetlix meatmaker at the feed store which was about $17 I think the last time I bought it! Big price difference and I much prefer the larger bag!
Janet, that is one of the great things about this site! If you look up something online you usually get one persons opinion. But here you get a lot and can weight them out and pull out the info that seems like it will work best for you and your herd. Having so many people and also in such diverse locations, usually means that we can get to the bottom of almost anything! I personally have found no source on line about anything that compares to this forum!
I've used Mama Pro minerals for a long while, and I love it. It has high quality, chelated minerals. They absorb well, and the goats seem to like it. The breeder I bought my goats from switched to Mana Pro a couple of years ago, after reading the ingredients in my bag, and she feels it's made a positive difference in her herd. Hopefully it will work well for you too. The only thing I don't like about the Mana Pro minerals is that it comes in such a small bag.
In about 4 months, Deborah's book will be out! :) Until then, this site is pretty awesome, and loaded with info and fast answers. :)
Janet Dowell said:
I am starting to realize that I need to do my own research on all goat topics...people are well-meaning, but then I find out their method is not necessarily my chosen method....there is a lot to learn! I hope my little ones survive me!
Thanks for the additional info. Rain seems to be close to normal now...took about 6 ounces happily (after your last message, Deborah, I decided to offer 3 oz. increments - she took 2 of those about 2 hours apart, and now we are done for the night.)
While I was checking her over tonight, I noticed that her chest & area immediately under the chest (between her front legs, etc) was stained with the vomit/spit up stuff. I'm don't know how I missed that this morning, but I'm rather glad I did, as I would have totally freaked out. For now, I'm going to go through the pen again, looking for whatever she might have grabbed (there are the two others that I don't need finding the same thing).
The man at the feed store recommended Manna Pro loose minerals for goats. It was all they had, so I took it, just to get something out there, but I will look for the Sweetlix Meat Maker.
I am starting to realize that I need to do my own research on all goat topics...people are well-meaning, but then I find out their method is not necessarily my chosen method....there is a lot to learn! I hope my little ones survive me!
We don't have any goat minerals available in our area so I do use a cattle mineral labelled as high copper & selenium, but I'd prefer a goat-specific mineral if I could get it. I do still have to use COWP to top up their copper requirements.
I would put the goats back up! She probably should have a regular mild diet of hay etc. As I said before, to much of something they are not use to is not good and with her having problems it could make her worse again!
Just like Deb said, that even her milk should be in small amounts spread out until she gets better!
On the minerals ... saying "cattle minerals contain x" is like saying "bread contains x." Every brand is different. There are some cattle minerals that have far less of everything than goat minerals. It depends on the brand, and then there are different formulations within brands. Sweetlix makes five or six different goat minerals and about a dozen different cattle minerals, and they all have different levels of different nutrients. Sweetlix Meat Maker loose minerals works well for most herds. Sweetlix Copperhead cattle mineral does have a lot more copper, but it has less of other nutrients with which we've had deficiencies, so I'm not crazy about the idea of having those nutrients decreased. If you can find a loose mineral with at least 1500 ppm copper, that should be good.
As for someone successfully raising goats and doing something that may not be the best practice, there are a couple of things that could be happening. Some people just get lucky, and what they are doing works on their pasture with their water and their animals. But it won't work in most other places. The other thing is that success is defined differently by different people. Some people are perfectly content having to put every kid on a coccidiostat to keep them from all getting coccidiosis and dying. I personally don't consider that a successful breeding program, and when I was in that position, I kept tweaking my practices until I had kids that were healthy without needing routine drugs. Now that you have goats, you'll have to decide how you define success.
I hope Rain continues to improve -- and stays away from whatever made her so sick!
Replies
I have more (non-vomit-related) questions, but I am going to go to bed and start fresh on the site in the morning.
Much appreciation for everyone's time!
Yep! I'd love to try the meat maker, but I can't find it anywhere around here. My options are the Mana Pro (thankfully I love it!) or a sheep mineral, or cattle mineral without nearly enough copper. Makes the choice easy. :)
Margaret Langley said:
Yea Patty, at my TSC 8#s of the MannaPro is $11, vs. The 20# of sweetlix meatmaker at the feed store which was about $17 I think the last time I bought it! Big price difference and I much prefer the larger bag!
Janet, that is one of the great things about this site! If you look up something online you usually get one persons opinion. But here you get a lot and can weight them out and pull out the info that seems like it will work best for you and your herd. Having so many people and also in such diverse locations, usually means that we can get to the bottom of almost anything! I personally have found no source on line about anything that compares to this forum!
I've used Mama Pro minerals for a long while, and I love it. It has high quality, chelated minerals. They absorb well, and the goats seem to like it. The breeder I bought my goats from switched to Mana Pro a couple of years ago, after reading the ingredients in my bag, and she feels it's made a positive difference in her herd. Hopefully it will work well for you too. The only thing I don't like about the Mana Pro minerals is that it comes in such a small bag.
I'm so glad Rain seems to be feeling better. :)
In about 4 months, Deborah's book will be out! :) Until then, this site is pretty awesome, and loaded with info and fast answers. :)
Janet Dowell said:
I am starting to realize that I need to do my own research on all goat topics...people are well-meaning, but then I find out their method is not necessarily my chosen method....there is a lot to learn! I hope my little ones survive me!
While I was checking her over tonight, I noticed that her chest & area immediately under the chest (between her front legs, etc) was stained with the vomit/spit up stuff. I'm don't know how I missed that this morning, but I'm rather glad I did, as I would have totally freaked out. For now, I'm going to go through the pen again, looking for whatever she might have grabbed (there are the two others that I don't need finding the same thing).
The man at the feed store recommended Manna Pro loose minerals for goats. It was all they had, so I took it, just to get something out there, but I will look for the Sweetlix Meat Maker.
I am starting to realize that I need to do my own research on all goat topics...people are well-meaning, but then I find out their method is not necessarily my chosen method....there is a lot to learn! I hope my little ones survive me!
I would put the goats back up! She probably should have a regular mild diet of hay etc. As I said before, to much of something they are not use to is not good and with her having problems it could make her worse again!
Just like Deb said, that even her milk should be in small amounts spread out until she gets better!
On the minerals ... saying "cattle minerals contain x" is like saying "bread contains x." Every brand is different. There are some cattle minerals that have far less of everything than goat minerals. It depends on the brand, and then there are different formulations within brands. Sweetlix makes five or six different goat minerals and about a dozen different cattle minerals, and they all have different levels of different nutrients. Sweetlix Meat Maker loose minerals works well for most herds. Sweetlix Copperhead cattle mineral does have a lot more copper, but it has less of other nutrients with which we've had deficiencies, so I'm not crazy about the idea of having those nutrients decreased. If you can find a loose mineral with at least 1500 ppm copper, that should be good.
As for someone successfully raising goats and doing something that may not be the best practice, there are a couple of things that could be happening. Some people just get lucky, and what they are doing works on their pasture with their water and their animals. But it won't work in most other places. The other thing is that success is defined differently by different people. Some people are perfectly content having to put every kid on a coccidiostat to keep them from all getting coccidiosis and dying. I personally don't consider that a successful breeding program, and when I was in that position, I kept tweaking my practices until I had kids that were healthy without needing routine drugs. Now that you have goats, you'll have to decide how you define success.
I hope Rain continues to improve -- and stays away from whatever made her so sick!
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