Okay, folks, I have a bizarre potential problem brought on by my own carelessness though I didn't realize it was. The last bag of sunflower seeds I put into 3-lb. coffee cans which I put in the hay manger on the end because they fit there so well. At that time, I had a bale of hay on top though later I cut off the twine and kept putting flakes of hay into the other manger where the three older ones eat their hay.
All was fine until tonight. I thought something was odd when I went out to close the outside doors because all four girls were in Dancer's night stall, happy as can be even though it is a small area. Two were on the floor and two on the bale of straw. Not a single one got up to come to me to ask for a treat. I thought they looked quite cozy so didn't disturb them, just closed the doors. Later, I went out to milk Capri and all four were still in there, very content. I started putting them where they needed to be and noticed two coffee can lids on the floor! The little stinkers managed to get to the cans from the night-stall side; of course it was no trouble for those smart girls to figure out how to remove those lids. Fortunately, the two remaining cans tipped on their sides with the lids against the end of the manger so they weren't lid-removable. However, the four of those girls managed to eat TWO 3-lb. coffee cans of sunflower seeds - this after carelessness on my part yesterday of leaving the lid off one in the yard that they managed to get to as I set it too low.
They are happy little sunflower seed eaters. However, I am wondering if that many at one time can cause any problems. *If* they ate equally, it would be half a can per goat. Help! Can I expect anything other than perhaps a day or so of clumpy poop?
We are starting the barn foundation tomorrow so by the end of the year, these things are unlikely as the goats will not have access to feed storage areas. Alfalfa pellets are in milk cans so they are not accessible to them on their own.
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Just saw this post and am so glad the girls are all fine! We have had a ridiculous number of grain accidents, and so far (knock on wood), the worst thing to happen was diarrhea for a few hours, which went away on its own. A pound and a half of sunflower seeds doesn't sound like that much anyway. Don't be too hard on yourself. Goats are brilliant when it comes to getting into any type of grain or seed.
Update: All four girls seem to be fine today though most of the day Capri, my senior doe, looked like she was going to have at least quints she was so big and round. I know she isn't pregnant (blood test) so apparently some extra air in there because of the sunflower seeds. She has acted normal and been eating normally all day so I didn't panic, and tonight she is her "regular" size again. Baby was nosing around in the manger after I put her to bed so there must have been seeds fall out of the can so perhaps they didn't really eat all of them and some went into the straw under the manger as the cans tipped over and they fought ever them. Either way, lesson learned and sunflower seeds will be out of reach, not just covered over with a bale of hay. Of course, that would have worked if it had remained a full bale of hay, twine in tact. Oh, well. Goats are smart and owners are not always.<g>
I would *think* all you'd need to worry about is loose poo... but I don't know that for a fact. If I didn't have someone to ask, I'd be pretty sure that was all though. :)