Whoa! Big belly! What happened?

[ahahahni1]

I took two of my goats and tied them out back to eat the grass. I also put some buckets of water out there. Anyway about 4 hours later I hear Blubonnet yelling. I run to her and see her sides just sticking out. It was just so weird. I am new to goats and had never seen anything like it. She seemed upset so I ran to get my hubby. He knows about sheep so I assumed he knew what to do in this case. He said she had water belly and prolly just ate or drank too much. He said she is yelling cause she is full and ready to get back in the yard. Is that all it was? Why did she get like that? And was she really hurting or just yelling to get back in the yard? Can this "water belly" hurt her? How can I prevent it again?

[CGUARDSMAN]

bloat...too much grass

[fishhead]

Are you sure it's not bloat? I've never seen anyone post anything about a goat drinking too much water.

If it is bloat I would give some mineral oil and watch to see that she is chewing her cud. Walking her might help too.

Are they up to date on their CD/T shots?

[goatmarm]

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[jen74145]

Wha they said... we've found a turkey baster works in a pinch to get the Mylanta down, and little goaties vehemently protest at the taste of cherry ylanta. Get the plain.
Rubbing her sides and patting her back can help, and making her walk, too.

[Sweet Goats]

First off, NEVER change a goats eating habit like tha, so fast. I would not let them out for more then like 20 minutes to start, and slowley increase the time. Like the others have said, it is bloat. I would use baking soda first. Make a paste of baking soda and water, form it into a ball the best you can and push it in the back of her mouth. She will spit most of it out, but she will get some. I would do that several times. Keep her walking. Vegetable oil is fine to use also.
How is she doing now?

[fishhead]

Bloat can kill in case you aren't familiar with it.

Some probiotics might help too. If you don't have it you can try to steal some cud from another goat. Watch your fingers if you try.

[ahahahni1]

She was better this morning when I checked on her. Hubby said she'd be fine in the morning. I was freaking out and he was like "no big deal". So in other words she pigged out and by morning she was able to chew her cud and get it digested better?

[Gailann Schrader]

No, it's actually more serious than that. She most likely stuffed herself with green grass. And it proceeded to ferment in her gut. And fermentation makes gas. They can't expell it the way we can (and do). And they can't throw up the way we can (and do). Ever seen the Monty Python sketch where the guy eats just one more thin mint? And explodes? Yeah, only goats can't explode like that...

Basically? You escaped having a dead goat.

Realistically? Avoid doing that again.

Give mineral oil (to slick it going through), massage, keep her up moving around to keep the gut working (you can paralyze a gut if you aren't careful), and keep Pepto and/or Kaopectate around for the diarrhea she may have later - some is ok. A lot is not. NEVER NEVER NEVER Immodium or Immodium generic. It WILL paralyze the gut and you WILL KILL HER DEAD. No fixes.

[ahahahni1]

Whoa! I didn't know it was that serious. I will get some today from the store and a turkey baster too to get it down. Fermentation sounds about right. So is that why they burp a lot. Oh my gosh it SMELLS!

[Idahoe]

My goats did this early on, soon after I brought them home. They'd been tied up at their previous owners, had minimal access to fresh grass and leaves. So when I let them out to browse they all came back HUGE. I also thought something was wrong, but the next day their bellies were normal again.

When a goat is not USED TO eating fresh grass and browse, it causes them to bloat. Apparently neither yours nor mine got TOO MUCH, but it was close.

Fresh grass and browse at this time of year is higher in nitrogen than it will be as the season progresses. To a goat that's been eating dry hay or pellets all winter, new fresh grass is 'too rich', and if they gorge on it (they will, who'd blame them) they can get bloat.

So they need to transition to fresh grass gradually. Make sure your goats get a tummy full of hay BEFORE they go out and eat fresh grass for the next couple of weeks. Then the impact of all that nitrogen won't hit them suddenly and cause bloat.

In my experience, my goats get much bigger tummies eating browse than dry hay. But I was told this is normal. And yes, she must not have been truly bloated to an emergency point, and was able to take care of it overnight herself. Just go gradually to fresh pasture and they should be fine.

[DQ]

I would let my pygmy doe out ot browse during the day last summer, and a few hours later she would wander back with a huge belly. in my opinion, for her, it was completely normal. the same thing would happen when I would cut and throw willow branches in the goat pen, which she found to be particularly yummy. I don't know wether your goat has bloat or not but from my understanding part of the benefit of being a ruminant is that they can eat large amounts and then finish chewing it later (thats way over simplified but you get the idea). if you are new to goats (and I'm not anywhere near an old hand) maybe that is simply what happened and you just don't have a good handle yet on normal vs abnormal behaviour etc... or maybe I dont! there is an old saying with horses that if you look at one long enough it will look lame, I think its similiar with any animal in that if you are really looking hard for something to be wrong you will eventually find something, real or imagined. I can't imagine that any of the above treatments would hurt and you might want to be safe rather than sorry.

[DQ]

http://arbl.cvmbs.colostate.edu/hboo...s/tympany.html

this is great article on bloat, it should help you identify wether your goat is bloated or just has a big tummy. even has a pic! but its a cow. it is applicable to goats though

[fishhead]

Have they had their CD/T shots?

Free choice baking soda is good to have available to help with upset rumens.

[ahahahni1]

yes, we gave them their shots 2 weeks ago and it had that in there.

[mygoat]

Ok, as some of you said, you'd let your goats out to graze and it would come back huge. Yes, this is normal, all it was is a full rumen. In your case, it wasn't bloat. Some goats will not bloat, others will. You can tell if your goat is bloated because it will usually seem in obvious pain, constantly lay down, etc. Also, if you tap the LEFT hand side of your bloated goat, it will make a weird rap noise, rather like a drum, because thier stomach is full of air. I found that putting my doe in the milkstand with a cinderblock below her front feet and massaging and hugging (sqeezing) her gut helped her to burp well. I also gave dish soap, veggie oil, and baking soda. (why dish soap? I have no idea. My vet told me to use it... )

[fishhead]

Dish soap breaks up the bubbles in the foam so the gas can escape easier.

I thought it might be bloat because the goat was bawling.

I patted the sides of mine daily last summer so if one ever got bloated I could tell the difference by sound and tightness.