Hello. I'm new to goats but read a lot online and books before I started with two pregnant does. Both mommies are doing great. One buck born on May 23rd has been wethered and is doing great. Twins, one buck, one doe, born on June 9th, were doing great. In fact the female, although she came out second, and remained in the sack for a minute or two before my mother-in-law told me over the phone she thought it was the placenta and described it to me, is doing just awesome. The buck was doing great, but I was watching his eyes. They seemed to be runny. His poops are still yellow. He obviously is still nursing almost exclusively. The doe is eating and nursing. I need to wether and ween the second buck, but because of his eyes I'm worried that this may be too much on him right now. He is very skiddish. I sit in the yard with them and he warmed up a little today. Yet, while the others will come to be rubbed and play, he just seems different. Today, more so. The weather here in Western NY is VERY wet! I had to move their whole yard yesterday because they were sitting in nothing but smelly mud! The poor animals. It just won't stop raining to dry the land out.
Should I wait on the wether and ween?
Should I treat with corid and give the coccidia vaccine?
Should I remove him from the other goats?
I have a friend who is purchasing both bucks. She wants to be able to bottle feed the second buck so that he warms up to her. (I really think she just wants to play mommy.)
Any suggestions, comments or answers would be greatly appreciated!!!
Theresa
Replies
Good point, Julianne. Most people don't wether bucks until they're two months old because of the risk of urinary calculi.
Another thing to consider is that you wethered that buck really young, before his urinary tract system had much time to develop. Because of this, he may develop urinary calculi and get blocked. It would be wise to add ammonium cholride or citric acid to his diet, and to give him very little if any grain. You know the old saying about an ounce of prevention. :)
Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you've written, but you really should not wean kids before they are two months old at the earliest. Some prefer to let kids nurse for 3-4 months. In fact, I don't wean wethers and does until they are sold. The longer they can nurse, the better. They are born with very immature immune systems, and the antibodies they get from their mother's milk is priceless. Weaning them has nothing to do with when they start eating other foods, as dam-raised kids start eating within a few days of birth.
Weaning also causes a lot of stress, and if you wean a kid that is compromised in any way, you'll be looking at problems with worms and coccidia.
You should not treat with any drugs unless you know that a kid is actually sick. There are very few drugs available to goats, so if you use them when you don't need them, you are one step closer to having those drugs not work for you when you do need them. This is true with dewormers, coccidiostats, and antibiotics.
There is no vaccine for coccidia. The only vaccine that anyone gives routinely to goats is for CDT, which is for clostridium C&D and tetanus, which is also a clostridium.