baby goat not feeling well question

DownHome · #21 03/04/10, 10:30 AM

The only tetracycline I have is the powder we use for the chickens. How much do I give her? and will it mess up her intestinal flora.

downhome

susanne · #22 03/04/10, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by betsy h.

'high temperature'- not necessarily......

I've had goats in this incarnation since 1994. In all that time, last year was the first time I have ever had a case of joint ill.

It started in a few days old buckling after a big rain storm. I noticed he wasn't keeping up with his mates and he began limping on a hind leg. He did not want to eat as much and I took him aside to medicate and feed. He would walk kind of tucked up like his tummy hurt, and after about 48 hours, I noticed his back leg stopped hurting and he began limping on a front leg. Keep in mind this was after bio-mycin, etc. And he and all the other kids had been given all the usual meds and precautions at birth.

The stuff went systemic and he ended up limping on all four legs at some time or another and both front knees pumped up pretty well during this. I kept him on antibiotics and banamine, plus b-complex, and while he did get better, for the most part, he did not grow out. By this time he had really captured my heart and was one of my little shadows that always followed me around. Then one day, I found him dead at about 2 months old.

His dam was CAE negative, he never had a temperature and his litter brother never showed any signs of any illness whatsoever.

that doesn't tell anything. did you had a necropsy done?
if a kid has a systemic infection, she would have high fever and would not want the bottle. this would be vet time, and he probably would prescribe nuflor or naxcell/excenel.

if the temp is normal, there is no need for antibiotic.
what kind of milk does she get? a bit of baking soda and yogurt would be my choice.
did you had her in the house all the time? do you have children that acidently had let her fallen whe picked up? her limping sounds more like an injury to me and the constipation is just coincidentally at the same time.
watch her temperature and limit her milk intake but more frequent.
i bet she will be fine in no time.

betsy h. · #23 03/05/10, 04:21 AM

There are bolus pills usually at feed stores for this- commonly called 'scours pills'- if you have Jeffers catalog, it should tell you the size of the pills.

As for a dosage, what I would give my kid may not be what you would give yours- the package probably says mix with such and such tons of feed- which is why I keep aeuromycin feed through crumbles around. Feed stores carry these in smaller bags now too.

Tetracycline boluses are designed to cure scours, and as such won't 'mess up' flora so badly they have a hard time regaining it.

While I do not have a dose for you because I do not use powdered for babies, you might try 1/8 teaspoon in 3ml water and a dosing syringe if you have it. Otherwise, use a 3ml syringe with no needle, carefully. DO NOT GIVE IMMODIUM FOR SCOURS- it will stop their rumens.

betsy h. · #24 03/05/10, 04:24 AM

Suzanne, AGAIN, not necessarily. Everyday, all around us, we see things that should be this way but are in fact another way than we have seen before. Just because one person has not seen it their way does not make it that same way for another person.

Starsmom · #25 03/05/10, 06:41 AM

I had one get bad scours and I gave him Scour-Ease by Manna Pro. This has all the electrolytes, vit/minerals, etc as well as antibiotics to clear up any problems there. It took about 1 or 2 feedings to see a dramatic improvement and by day 2 totally cleared up. This is not a water, it is a milk product, so they are still getting their milk. I like it much better than electrolyte water in bottle kids and lambs that scour. It comes in a bright orange individual packets that make up 2 quarts. I found it at Runnings.

IndianaWoodsman · #26 03/06/10, 10:33 AM

I discovered that you HAVE to give CD&T and BoSe within 5 days of birth. I had been waiting about 3 weeks to make sure they were up and going and then one day I lost 2 in a matter of hours. They were fine and a couple hours later they were laying on their sides, struggling to get up and crying like they were in pain. They were only 10 days old. I was told that I needed to have given the 2 vacc's within a few days. I began doing that and never had anymore issues. Everybody I talked to (including vets) said it sounded like tetnus.

Vets around here are dog & cat and/or large animal only and the folks with goats and sheep have to fend for themselves.

If all the producers in this area got together we could write a great Goat Home-Remedy book!

DownHome, how is she doing?

mpete · #27 03/06/10, 11:25 AM

foamy yellow poops? could it be cocci?

DownHome · #28 03/07/10, 11:44 AM

She has moved on to semi formed brown goat poops. She still walks a little hunched like she is guarding her tummy, but she can get up by herself and walks around faster than she had a few days ago.

But she is still not a normal wanna play all the time baby goat. She is still in the kitchen. We have had a couple of nice weather days, so I put her out in the barn, but she is the only one out there and she mopes around.

downhome

Minelson · #29 03/07/10, 11:53 AM

I'm glad she is doing better. I wouldn't leave her all by herself

She needs a buddy so she is not stressed. What is her name ?

Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians · #30 03/07/10, 01:25 PM

I agree with Betty, although any kid of mine that got joint/navel ill would be on naxcel and banamine. I had never heard (like Susanne) of joint/navel ill not being a kid who was critically ill, swollen joints, high temp...until a dairy here, they are on my forum had several kids limping. No other symptoms at all, not even the joints were swollen. They used Baytril (their vet perscribed it and not only that had them using it over other day, I KNEW those kids were doomed)...but guess what, they are fine. The baytril worked, and so we now know that there is indeed navel ill in kids that is just limping and no other symptoms (well except a huge white cell count).

I think her bump on her umbilicus is your give away.

I boil my goats milk, well 200 degrees...just to boiling so no that is not what caused this. Vicki

Backfourty,MI. · #31 03/07/10, 07:15 PM

So glad she's doing a little better.

I am wondering how does a baby goat get joint/naval ill if the naval is dipped & she has been kept in the house? Now I'll have 1 more thing to worry about.

betsy h. · #32 03/07/10, 08:05 PM

And Baytril is one of those 'verboten' drugs to use in a food animals EXCEPT if your vet prescribes it. It will save lives when nothing else can.

I'd like to keep track of that particular strain of joint ill, so if other have seen it, let me know.....

Glad to see he poops have gotten more semi-formed. Keep up the good work and do not give up.

garyh141 · #33 03/07/10, 09:34 PM

DownHome, when you bottle feed, do you rub her butt? I was told to put on a soft glove and massage their butt while they are drinking their bottle. This stimulates their poos. They didn't tell me if I was supposed to do this until they were several days old or until they were grown. They also didn't tell me I didn't have to continue bottle feeding every 3 hours until they were weaned either. Some things you just learn the hard way HA!
I don't have a suggestion about the limping or what it might be. Bump on the navel -- could be tetnus or the navel ill.
Hope she is feeling better. It's bad enough to have her head boo boos, but to add a sick tummy....have you given Vit B (can't remember if you mentioned that in the posts)?
Sandra

mpete · #34 03/16/10, 12:46 PM

How is she doing?