EEK! somebody shot my milk goat!
 

I'm pretty sure that she'll be ok, but I have a problem that I'm not sure how to solve. There's a BB in her teat blocking the milk from coming out. I can feel it right down at the hole, but it's to big to come out. I can move it up and get a bit of milk out, then the BB moves down and blocks the hole again.

Any suggestions? The only think I can think of is to try to make a small cut to remove the BB. I know she will fight that! I tried to move the BB with a magnet, but the BB won't grab hold of the magnet.

I've cleaned her up good and put triple antibiotic cream on. Any more ideas?


ETA: There is no vet available so I'm on my own with this problem.

Would something like this work?? http://www.cheappetstore.com/Farm-Li...r-40-pk-32396/

My neighbor boy must have paid you a visit........

(i have no idea how to get it out I'm afraid)

OMGs!!!!

I dont know what to do! I can't get past the fact that I have a short temper and someone SHOT your dairy goat !!!

I'm SO thankful that I have four LGDs, and Brandi has been KNOWN to bite those who jump my fences!!! Her and Kerwin would have went NUTS!!! (and I'd probably reacted as poorly as they would!!!!! *gurrrrr*

BIG HUGGIES TO THE GOAT MOMMA!!!!

-Joy

Do you see an entry wound? Someone would have to have been very close to get one embedded in her udder, I would just try to keep working it out the oriface before I cut on her.

Could you use one of the applicators that are for the med when you are drying off a goat or cow to GENTLY stretch the orifice?

Just got to ask how you believe it's a BB? Is there an entry wound? As Trey mentioned I find it hard to believe the BB came from a long distance shot. Rose has the best idea. Until you can find the penetration wound I would rule out a BB.

If there is an entry wound, can you work the BB back out through it?

Since she has a foreign body in her, are you giving her a tetanus anti-toxin shot (or something else) just to be safe?

get the doe on pen. get some tomorrow, inject that up her udder, then squeeze the bb out. it will come out, but you will need to be a little firm.

We had a Kinder doe that had what looked like lumps of rock salt up in her udder one year, the first year we bred her. This is what we had to do to get them out. They were huge, some the size of peas. but come out they did and the orriface was o.k.

The BB wasn't from a BB gun, it's a BB from a shot gun. I heard the shot, but by the time I got out there the shooter was gone. I found the wound where the BB went in, milk was leaking out of the hole. I put triple antibiotic on it. I milked her out and tossed the milk. She's asleep for the night so I'll work on it again in the morning. She seems to be doing ok for now.

I talked to a friend on the phone who suggested that I push the bb as high as possible, then lay her down and try to work it up to the entry hole to get it back out. I don't think that would work.

Oh my word. I would be fuming. Can't offer any helpfull advice I am afraid, but I wish you luck with it. Poor goat, is she Ok apart from the teat? Lots of TLC coming up I think :)

hoggie

Did you at least file a police report? If not, you may want to. What is it with all the animal shootings recently?

Well then I would check her over because if she got one piece of shot in her udder, she will have more in her body. Call the dnr(or it'sequvilent in oK and report it), file a police report, ask your neighbors who has permission to hunt their property and tell them what happened. Lead poisening would be a risk also I imagine, unless they were usining steel shot, which is why the bb maynot stick to the magnet.

#4 birdshot for example has 135 pellets contained in one shell. So yes it's highly likely that your goat has more than one pellet in her body. Lets pray that she wasn't the intended target, regardless this would upsetting and unimaginable. I had a calf shot a few months after I moved to TN. I went crazy and let everyone in my area feel my pain, and also let them clearly know that I was not going to tolerate this mindless act. So get the police involved, just for the scare factor if nothing else. I would put flyers in mailboxes and speak loud and clear to the locals who are usually in the know...Good luck and let us know the outcome....Sorry

I would get the police involved ASAP. That is not a jokester, it is someone with an ax to grind against society or a grudge against you. Someone who lives nearby and HATES goats bawling, for example, and has no communication skills to work with you? I've read that those who will do violence to domesticated animals can easily escalate to people. Do you have children ?? // I would not try to work a BB back to the opening unless it is very, very close. The hole has likely already started to heal, so you'd just be interfering. I would round up extra hands. Restrain the goat by tying with soft clothes. And maybe a dog muzzle. Someone squeeze tightly above where you feel the pellet, the way you close off to strip a teat if there is mastitis. Then try to work it out with your fingers, or get a pair of very thin locking medical forceps that are long enough to reach. Good luck. Let us know how this ends up, yes? Sue

It's wise to report it - perhaps someone else in the area has had problems as well.

What are shotgun pellets made of? Could this cause lead poisoning?

Gailann, lead or steel. 90% of shot shot is lead. Steel is generally used for duck/goose hunting...Actually it's law.

That's what I was thinking...

Could one pellet be enough to "ruin" the milk from that side for ingestion by humans?

My coach got shot while bird hunting when he was a teenager. The shot was under the skin on the side of his head. It will probably just wall itself off. If there is only one in her I don't think someone was shooting at her unless they were an awfully bad shot. Maybe Dick Cheney was passing by. Sorry couldn't pass that one up.

It would depend on the distance. Shotgun pellets spread out the farther they go. One BB could still be a result of a shot aimed directly at the goat. I've shot squirrels that were killed by being hit by just a single BB.

A goat is a little bigger then a squirrel though !!!!!!. You would think she would have a few more in her if she had one. Unless someone actually did shoot at her with a pellet or bb gun instead of a shotgun. Some of those are pretty powerful anymore. Course she said she heard the shot so that would rule that out.

Spinner, how's the goat doing?

I was think the same thing. How is she?

Update:

She's doing well today, acts normal like nothing happened. The bb is still blocking the milk. I move it up and get a couple of squirts of milk that pushes it back down, then repeat the process until I get the pressure off.

Making a police report would do no good in this area. I live so far out that this is a self police zone. I have a loaded shotgun by the back door and if I hear another shot, I will immediately fire off a shot of my own. I probably wouldn't see anyone, but a answering shot is discouraging to anyone who happens to be in the area. If I don't see them, they probably won't see me either. It would make them think twice before coming around this area again.

It was probably a squirrel hunter that took a wild shot. If they seen that they hit a goat they probably ran away and won't come back for a while.

I have talked to several people about how to get the bb out and they all say that her body will probably take care of it. Thanks for the link silentcrow, I'll check around locally and see if anyone carries them.

I keep checking the site for infection. Does anyone know if it's safe to give a goat activated charcoal? It would be impossible to keep a poultice on the wound, but I could give it internally to ward off any possible infections.

It is very safe for goats and I've used it more times than I can say. I'm not sure it would do any good for her problem to give it internally, but it won't hurt her. If your worried about infection, she probably should get a round of Penn. As much as I like activated charcoal and don't use antibiotics unless I have to....I think Pennicillan would be more successful in this case.

Spinner, is their any vet bear you??? even a few hours away?? If she was mine I would have a vet just look at it. I know alot do their own vetting, but lead is nothing to mess with, even if it isn't in the udder!

"A self police zone" wow never heard of that before....You must be living dangerously, but in a way that type wild west self governing lifestyle may not be all that bad. Good luck with the goat.

Topside, we aren't officially a self police zone, but we are so far from any organized police that when we make a police report they take it over the phone and we never see them. We don't have much crime here b/c everyone knows that everyone else has loaded weapons behind their doors, in their trucks, etc. I guess you could say it's a bit like the old wild west, but in a modern way. It's really a very nice place to live.

Spinner sorry to hear you doe got shot. I hope you can get the BB out soon.

Good Luck with her.

*bump*

Keep us posted on how she's doing, if/when you get the BB out and if "they" come back...

Kaza