Help! Sick Goat!

Raftercat5 · #1 08/12/06, 07:36 PM

Please help! Our milker has projectile diarreah. I opened a new bag of grain for her yesterday. It's the same kind she had before it ran out. But, this new bag had gotten wet when we bought it a few months ago. It was stored in a dry barn, but some of it was clumpy in the bag, and I threw that away when I opened the bag. She balked at it at first, but then chowed down like there was no tomorrow. You know what I mean...goats have such wonderful table manners. Anyway, today, she was clumping alittle bit. Tonight, I noticed on the stanchion she had a dirty back end from diarreah. She ate some of her grain, but then acted like she didn't like it. I took it away and gave her favorite to her - wet beet pulp. She ate that ok..no problem. As she was wolfing it down, she coughed, and SPLAT! Diarreah on the wall 3 feet behind her. Ewwww. Her udder and teats felt very warm, so I know she has a fever. Could all this be from the grain? We're getting her new grain in the morning, as soon as the store opens. We'll dump the old grain. We gave her 30cc of Nutri-Drench and also 10cc of Probios, thinking maybe it's scours. Could it possibly be poisoning from plants in our woods? Should she be treated for coccidiosis now, or should we wait? She's eating hay just fine, and acting normal every other way. I think I'm going to check on her before going to bed tonight. Are we doing everything ok? Or is there something we may have missed?
- Kathy

fishhead · #2 08/12/06, 08:20 PM

I wonder if it isn't moldy grain. It doesn't take long for mold to form in hot humid weather.

Does she have an elevated temp?

goatmarm · #3 08/12/06, 09:45 PM

---

goatmarm · #4 08/12/06, 09:53 PM

---

Raftercat5 · #5 08/12/06, 10:12 PM

Goatmarm: Thanks....I'll pick up some Mylanta tomorrow when we go out to the feedstore. The more I think of it, the more I think it WAS the grain. I guess we'll dump it all in the compost pile. (eww...that's 2 bags, 50 lb. each...a hunk o' dough!)
Better than a sick goat, tho.

Fishhead: Yes, the goat does have an elevated temp. I didn't actually take her temp, tho, as her back end already looked rugged. I didn't want to be sticking anything inside THAT...but she was really hot to the touch. Doesn't seem right for her to have a fever if it was moldy grain, tho, does it? I'm still gonna throw it all away, just in case. The other 2 goats are fine, but they don't eat as much as the milker that is sick. Will keep y'all posted. Thanks.
- Kathy

Jillis · #6 08/13/06, 06:01 AM

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't spoiled feed a way for a goat to contract listeriosis? This can be quite serious. Why don't you PM Vicki McGough? She is always willing to help out.

Faithful Heart · #7 08/13/06, 06:45 AM

Listeriosis has different symptoms, but I do believe it can come on from feeding moldy feed. It's not an illness that came to mind for me in this instance.

It's symptoms are - Depression, decreased appetite, fever, leaning or stumbling or moving in one direction only, head pulled to flank with rigid neck, facial paralysis on one side, slack jaw, and drooling, abortions.

fishhead · #8 08/13/06, 01:13 PM

I don't know if moldy hay would cause an elevated temp or not but I would still check just to have it eliminated from the list of questions.

Listeriosis is not something you want to see. I lost a little wether from what I'm pretty sure was listeriosis and it was awful. He didn't have any diarreah but he did have an elevated temp.

To me it sounds like fungus in the grain but I'm not a good person to ask.

Raftercat5 · #9 08/13/06, 01:40 PM

Hi everyone. Thanks for trying to help. I looked up listeriosis, and I'm sure that's not it. Her appetite is great. She's normal in every other way, except for her diarreah. This morning, her fever was gone. I'm not sure if she had any more diarreah, but I didn't feed her any of her regular grain. She just got some beet pulp and BOSS, along with plenty of fresh hay and a couple of handfuls of cracked corn (she loves it!). She also browsed in the woods. I don't think there's anything in there that she hasn't had before. Agri Supply is closed on Sunday, so we'll have to wait until tomorrow. Maybe it'll be better for her to not have any grain anyway. She seems to be doing ok. I'm going to go check on her as soon as I finish on the computer. (I worried about her all night!)
- Kathy

Raftercat5 · #10 08/16/06, 02:00 PM

All's well with the goat now. She doesn't have diarreah anymore and she's back to her ol' self. I'm glad I had people in this board to talk to about it. You all helped. Thank you!
- Kathy