Baby Goat...getting thin...PLEASE HELP....

trob1 · #21 12/12/06, 07:10 AM

If you are unable to post pictures here just email them to me and I will do them for you. littlewishesfarm@yahoo.com

PygmyLover · #22 12/12/06, 08:21 AM

beat me to it Teresa!

I had a little girl born to my Oberhasli and she never got to be the size of a full grown ober. at 2 /12 years old she was still the size of a ND. So it does happen. Molly (my goat) was a twin, was bottle fed on her mothers milk just like her brother but she just was stunted from birth (a tiny thing).

I think you have done pretty well for her, sometimes the little ones don't make it so I think she is doing pretty good.

CD/T is for endotoxemia (overeating disease). TO treat cocci you will want to use something like Sulmet or Albon. I have used Sulmet with good results. Corid is also for cocci but depleats the thiamine so I preferr not to use it.

fishhead · #23 12/12/06, 08:49 AM

I wonder if it isn't just the larger goats preventing her from getting her share of the food. I've seen larger goats keep smaller goats from feeding just because they could. They would stop browsing and go slam the smaller goat off the browse. Then go back to feeding.

Last summer I would lift the smallest wether onto the roof of the shelter to give him his grain. That seemed to help.

Mommyto5 · #24 12/12/06, 09:13 AM

Thank you all so much for your help. I went out to check on them this morning and we removed "Blessing" from the stall to feed her. We let her walk around the barn and she followed us like a puppy! We were feeding the other goats, before we removed her from the stall, and the largest goat went over to her and rammed her in the side. Blessing fell over, and couldn't get up. She actually just kept rolling! It was so disturbing to me! So, we immediately removed the other goat and put it in a stall by itself.

I took pictures of her, and the other goats today. Thank you so much for the offer to post them for me. I'll email you once I get back home.

Thank you, Terre d'Esprit, for all the links...and information! They sound like awesome resources. I'm definitely going to look into the course. I need to be informed.

I'll keep you all posted on her progress. I'm going to go to a feed store we found....where the owner is a specialist in animal nutrition. He's got a degree or something. But, anyway, we talked to him about our pigs and he was very knowledgable. So, I'm going to see if he can help us out with this.

Thank you again for your support!!!!! It has helped to calm me down!

Tracey

PygmyLover · #25 12/12/06, 09:23 AM

Is is possible to give blessing her separate pen with another more docile goat? THis will allow her to grow without having to fight for her life and food.

If you don't have somthing now I would really recomend you do, this goat needs a place to be safe but get enough exersize and place to roam.

Sweet Goats · #26 12/12/06, 09:46 AM

Tracey, WOW it sounds like I am reading a story of one of my goats almost two years ago. I had a goat I pulled from mom 20 hours after her twin brother and sister were born. She was in the house with us, and she didn't grow very well at all. We were really worried about her, and she stayed small, she didn't grow like everyothre goat we had.
We just spoiled her like crazy, as she went to the barn with the other goats, she was butted away from everything, and was always outside. We put her in a areaof the barn where she would be by herself and could eat all that she wanted. She was always fed extra grain, and anything else she wanted. Can you say spoiled???
Well after the next kidding season and those babies were weaned, we paired her up with one of those babies, now she has a friend, and she ended up taking First place in her class at the Colorado State fair. She is now as big if not bigger then those others born the same year. Matter of fact, we thik she might be kidding in a few months, (the darn buck thought she was really cute).
So there is hope. Don't worry so much about her weight, because if she was the runt she will grow at a different rate. I would fdo a fecal floaton her, give her extra grain and paper the heck out of her.
Good Luck. I love the name Blessing, ours is HOPE, we just prayed and Hoped she would make it through the night.

Sweet Goats · #27 12/12/06, 09:51 AM

Tracey, they need loose mineral. They can not get enough mineral out of a block, before it burns their tongue. I have about 9 different mineral feeders all around my barn, so they can get whatever they need whereever they are, along with baking soda.

DocM · #28 12/12/06, 10:00 AM

I use blocks (sweetlix) and loose minerals both. The blocks are always gone before I have to refil the mineral feeders. Nobody looks like they have ever had a burnt tongue.

Sweet Goats · #29 12/12/06, 02:35 PM

I am sorry, I was talking about the salt, or trace mineral blocks, not the sweetlix. I have one of the Sweetlix blocks. They are softer then the other ones.