This should be reported & taken care of ASAP - Page 3 - Homesteading Today
You are Unregistered, please register to use all of the features of Homesteading Today!    
Homesteading Today

Go Back   Homesteading Today > Livestock Forums > Goats


Reply
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Rate Thread
  #41  
Old 07/31/07, 08:40 AM
Wendy's Avatar
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: SE Indiana
Posts: 7,310
There was a link to another picture. Apparently the original poster didn't like the fact that the second picture showed the goats to be in OK condition.
__________________
I can't believe I deleted it!
Reply With Quote
  #42  
Old 07/31/07, 09:11 AM
 
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Virginia
Posts: 362
I've been watching this one from a distance, and I too was not able to see the second photo to determine the additional goats BSC. However on this goat in question...

Regardless of what is posted here of the contrary, this goat is signifigantly underweight, and I too would be inclined to agree with Mygoat, it is a pygmy, or mix heavy with with pygmy. This goat should not be in this condition.
I have also looked into the other threads on BSC of goats, primarily dairy goats, and all things considered you can tell the overall condition of the goats in those are in good if not ideal condition. Dairy animals have a much different system of scoring then those who are not.

Revisiting this goat, and this thread you cannot miss the obvious condition of this goat. Is it a pregnant doe...hard to tell, the goat could also be packed full of worms, which from what I can see of the lot, and by fact that a second photo was at some point posted and confirmed pasture mates it's a conclusion you can also draw from. Either way both of these wreak havoc on the body and weight loss and overall condition can be expected, if other reasons exist to exacerbate either of these possibilities. It may not neccesarily be starvation as much as enviornmental health concerns, or general medical problems. The photograph is very poor in lightning and and resolution but it appears that the skin and hair is in fair condition. It does not look dull, pathy, dry, or appear there are any sores. With starvation, due to lack of total food, I would expect to see this. Again I am making this determinations from the small area you can see in the photo. It also appears that muscle mass and tone is lacking substantially, but with this view you could also assume that she may just have fallen ligaments from pregnancy, however I think there is by far more to it then that.

In my opinion this goat should be removed from the current area, undergo a thorough medical examination, be wormed, and put on high quality hay, and feed. Not to mention what steps would be taken if discovering unerlying medical conditions which I have do doubt would be found to some degree.

Lastly let me state that just because an animal is underweight, even severely so does not give grounds along to assume that starvation, abuse or neglect is the culprit. We had a geriatric gelding which we adopted shortly after he was rescued from a neglectful home. He was in good condition weight wise, but was stalled 24/7 with no clean bedding, long story short, lot's of abcesses, skin infections etc. Not to mention the LONG line of abuse he suffered throughout his life as was evident from scars and other injuries. He was also completely blind, be cause of sustained abuse and an opthamologic infection that set in. My point being...that after we got him he started to gradually loose weight, he started at the rescue as well but was assumed of stress. The weight loss continued, and when I had his teeth floated again to help alleviate the problem assuming it was part of the cause as special mashed high protein feed was not solving it, we noticed a growth. Long long frustrating story short, although we could never obtain a biopsy to confirm it, squamous cell carcinoma had sunk it's teeth in. Over a four month period he lost nearly 400lbs, for a total loss of 7 months of 500lbs. This was a 1100lbs gelding. We had him euthanized in September after he let us know it was time. He was bright, and happy and had a full appetite the entire time, and had a healthy wonderful coat and skin, although he had many patches that would litterarly fall off. So you cannot base your assumptions of an animals conditions for lack of care or concern on the human effort.

However if the situation is obvious, have thorough documentation and evidence to back your claim up. I hope you get additional photographs for us to see. I'm behind you on this one, it is easy to say "there is no reason for this" but again, will all facts considered, there can be. Let's see what can be established more in depth first.
Reply With Quote
  #43  
Old 07/31/07, 09:29 AM
ozark_jewels's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Missouri
Posts: 9,208
Yes...now we can only see the ribby goat and not that hefty ones that were in the second photo...hmmmmm.
__________________
Emily Dixon
Ozark Jewels
Nubians & Lamanchas
www.ozarkjewels.net

"Remember, no man is a failure, who has friends" -Clarence
Reply With Quote
  #44  
Old 07/31/07, 10:20 AM
Sher's Avatar  
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 1,009
Wow..gone for a few days and the place is jumpin'!

I can't see the other goats..just the black one. That being said..before people jump the gun and start getting people involved in a freaking nightmare..if the other goats are not "starving"..the various reasons mentioned above ..ie..hay shortage, drought, genetics, etc. had better be visited and revisited.

The standing joke here is Weezie. Eight or so yr. old Saanen..fullblood. She looks like she is "starving". Hello..she has looked like that for seven years..every time she has kids on her and/or she is lactating..whether for milking or kids.

Every year we worry that someone will drive by .. see darlin' Weezie and call someone out on us. WITHOUT looking at the FAT animals that surround her. She is far from being the lowest on the totum pole..she is queen.

She milks too much. She'd go two years easy and probably not drop off that much..without being bred. Its in her genetics to milk this 'abundantly'. When she is not being milked or does not have quads on her..she puts her weight back on.

Just saying..your heart might be in the right place..but God help those people if you bring agencies down on their head and all it was was something goat specific. At any given time..have ya had a rough lookin' goat..that you knew had a problem..but it still looked rough..what if your neighbor turned you in?
Reply With Quote
Reply




Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:30 PM.
Contact Us - Homesteading Today - Archive - Privacy Statement - Top - ©Carbon Media Group Agriculture