Ear Wax in Goat

[MrHank]

We have two LaMancha does that have suddenly developed a huge amount of ear wax. It's just 1 ear on each of them but it's a huge green glob of stuff coming out. Is this normal or possibly ear infection???

[Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians]

Green means infection. Because of the way Lamanchas ears are, and mostly seen in crosses of, their ear canal doesn't drain well. Does will paw at their ears to dislodge the wax. When you get your does up on the milkstand once a month to trim feet or their once over, soak a wash cloth in peroxide and apply it to the ears, scrubbing with a massaging motion, letting some of the peroxide into the ear cavity to fizz out the wax. After doing this in your does drop in some pennicillin. Monthly it keeps their ears in good shape, you need to do their ears daily for about 5 to 7 days.

If any swelling comes down the side of their face, or they are unbalanced they need antibotic shots. Vicki

[MrHank]

Thanks Vicki. This is the first time we've ever seen anything like this in their ears. We've only got 3 LaMancha's the rest are Boers. So do you just put the injectible penicillian in their ears or are there some kind of special pen. drops you buy? Sorry for all the ??? we are just new to all this. You guys have been a great resource. Thanks for all your help!

[Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians]

Just clean the ears, syringe out some pennicillin and using the needle carefully above the ear, you can use it to apply the meds deeper in the ear because it's such a thin stream. If that freaks you out than just take off the needle and drop it in. Massaging a lamancha ear and one of your boers, you can see in the crosses mostly, that the lamancha ear does not have the right angle to drain naturally. They can get huge puss pockets on their cheeks, around their eyes, and actually get paralysied because of this. The infection goes into the brain and swells it.

So busy work for about a week...clean the ears, apply the penn...and watch them. Vicki

[MB]

Gross story alert! We have Lamanchas and had maybe only noticed some crust around their ears. Well the first time we ever had them on the milk stand for hoof trimming an interesting thing happened. One of them ran out of food and while I turned around to grab some branches he must have been struggling. Well their little alien heads don't fit back trough the head clamp thingy but I guess it did put enough pressure on his little ears and it caused a FOUNTAIN of toothpaste like pus/goo to shoot all over the place. I have never seen anything like it!

[Alice In TX/MO]

OK, that was perhaps the grossest story I've ever read on the board.

[MB]

oh you should have been there!

[MrHank]

Thanks everyone. Even for the graphic story. Their ears are already looking better.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Wouldn't you know that my LaMancha now has ear crusties. URK. I have the drops, and I'll put them in this evening.

[MrHank]

I'm sorry to hear that Rose. Knock on wood our girls ears are doing O.K. right now.