Sick goat?

[Kathy'sKID]

We've noticed some abnormal behavior from one of our goats, I thought maybe someone here might recognize what it is? Or what to do for her? Anyways, She is a 3 year old Alpine Nubian cross, kidded for the first time this March. Her kids were weaned a couple weeks ago and she seemed to be doing fine. The first thing we noticed off was this morning at milking, she brought in only 1 lb of milk as apposed to her normal 3 lbs. She has a loss of appetite, not eating much at all. At tonight's milking she brought in only 11 oz. she seemed very dreary and kept wanting to lie down. Everything else seams ok, as do her pasture mates. Any ideas? Should we quarantine her, or do you think the added stress of being away from pasture buddies might make things worse? Any help/advice is appreciated.

[Bearfootfarm]

Has she been wormed since giving birth? They are very susceptable to worms then.

[Kathy'sKID]

Yes, all our goats are wormed with an herbal wormer on a weekly bases. And we also use a special wormer just for kidding.

[cowgirlracer]

milk fever???

[fishhead]

Temperature normal?

[Kathy'sKID]

Her temperature is low, 99.9F last night, 99.5F this morning. We think maybe she has chills? We had a good cool rain day before yesterday and she got caught out in it. But would that make her milk production drop so much? We brought in only 5 oz this morning. I went ahead and quarantined her, we gave her a heat lamp because she seamed kind of cold (in 87' weather?).

[goatkid]

When a goat's temperature drops that much, she is seriously ill. There are several things that can cause both the drop in temperature and loss of milk production. She needs a vet ASAP. If you have any injectable calcium, give her some right away, as well as some oral propyline glycol. You're either dealing with milk fever, some type of advanced infection or a rumen disorder, from my experience with goats.

[livestockmom]

I agree with GoatKid...a low temp and chills in warm weather...do you have a vet good with goats? Is she grinding her teeth? Nice pink eyelids?

[Patty0315]

I would worm her with a chemical wormer like Ivormectin . It will cover internal and external parasites. I would give vit b shots . Red Cell and also antibiotics . Electrolytes in her water also . A vet might be a good idea.

[Kathy'sKID]

Ok well, last night her temperature was back up to 102.3, But then this morning it was at 100.5? She was more active yesterday and this morning, then she was the day before, her eyes look normal. I picked up some Electrolyte and Probiotics yesterday, I'll get it in her today, and I'll look for some calcium while in town today. She hasn't been grinding her teeth at all, that was one of the first things I looked for. She is eating very little, but mostly uninterested. For us, vets are always a last resort, good experienced goat vets are just not something we have in our area.

[cowgirlracer]

A friend's goat had milk fever a month or two ago; it of course came on during the night of a weekend so vet's weren't an option for her either. She was able to help her goat out using Tums. Just a thought.

Anne
Cowgirlracer

[susanne]

kathy have you done a fecal check to see if the herbal wormer is working? how do her inner eye lid look like? should be a dark pink color. anemia because of parasite overload can make a goat listless, tired and not wanting to eat.
have you changed her diet reacently? different grain mix? new hay?

[homebirtha]

I would be really worried if it were my goat. The low temp and the sudden drop in milk supply is very bad. My first thought though is milk fever. She needs calcium, like CMPK, and propolyne glycol too.

I would also do a fecal to make sure the herbal wormer is actually working. But you need to start doing something FAST!

[Jillis]

I concur, get a fecal done. You may need a chemical wormer, especially if she has been stressed.

[Kathy'sKID]

I might look in to having a fecal done, although I am quite positive it is not worms, her eyes are good color, droppings normal, and no weight loss.

She is doing better! I gave her probiotic yesterday as well as ACV in her water, and that seamed to really help. Her temp last night was 101.3 and she gave 14 oz of milk, still low, but better then the 4 oz she had given that morning. I found something called Calcium Drench at my farm store, it contains the calcium, propylene glycol, & vitamin B so I went ahead and started treating her with that. This morning her temp was 101.8 and she brought in 12 oz of milk. She is also eating her hay well. If she keeps this up I may put her back in with the heard tomorrow. Thank you for all your help and advice, I'll keep you posted.