I know I'm a pest but I'm worried

[Minelson]

I think Gretta may be bloating at night. A couple times now when I have gone to check on her at 7pm or 10pm she seems so bloated. The first time it happened I thought that she was going to go into labor soon but the next morning she was acting fine. I looked into what bloat was at that time cuz she was eating so much that day. When it happens her left side is a little bigger than her right. She is breathing hard and chewing cud. She has baking soda..and I offer it by hand when this is happening and she might lick a little. She is fed alfalfa and grass hay. I cut back on the alfalfa cuz she just seemed to be gorging herself with it. The grass hay is always available. I feed her a cup of grain a day...1/2 in the morning 1/2 at night. She gets a little bit of BOSS with Mollys imune support and vit E and a cracker with a bit of corn syrup around noon. I don't know. Maybe she is just so pregnant...but she definatley acts different at night and tonight has got me worried. Oh! and she has a little tiny bit of foam on one side of her mouth. Should I be not letting her have access to however much grass hay she wants? Should I give her some oil? Any help would be appreciated. I know I sound like a nut case

[southerngurl]

Which side is huge?

[Minelson]

She is better now. Both sides are huge because she is pregos. But I have noticed that the left side is bigger sometimes! (rumen side... right?) But now I just checked on her and she is up and about...looking for food...eating hay. But these episodes worry me and I'm wondering if I'm feeding her wrong.

[fishhead]

As long as she's chewing her cud she's also releasing gas so I wouldn't worry.

You may want to calibrate your ear and hand by patting her left side and the left side of all the goats every day until you know what a normal rumen sounds like. That way if one does start to bloat you'll recognize the difference in sound and feel.

I don't think a constant diet of unlimited grass hay is a danger for bloating.

[Jcran]

How about some free choice baking soda; easy, cheap and a great preventative...works for me.

[Minelson]

She has free choice baking soda. I'm wondering if she is just eating to much for being so pregnant.

[AnnaS]

I think she's fine, and what you're seeing is a combination of pregnancy effects and extra observation.

When does are heavily pregnant, there much less room in there for the rumen and it tends to stick out. Rumens will normally get larger and smaller depending on stage of digestion. They are basically compost piles and generate a lot of gas as part of the normal digestive system.

Ruminants use this gas to propel balls of cud back up the throat for rechewing. Bloat happens when the gas can't be burped or expands too quickly. As Fishhead said, if she's cudding, she's good.

She's probably breathing hard for the same reason-no room. The babies (and that full rumen) don't leave much space for lung expansion.

Sounds like you're taking great care of her.

[Minelson]

Thanks everyone...AnnaS, you are right about the extra observation...my hubby says I'm so obsessed I'm making things up. I don't think I'm making things up but probably making mountains out of molehills. Now today I can shift my obsession off of bloat and on to the weather...below zero windchills with a high of 6 degrees and tonight - 11. UGH! Wed we are supposed to have warmer weather near 40!! This is the first time I'm hoping she will hold off on having the kids!

[fishhead]

Just have some warm towels ready for the kids and a bucket of warm molasses flavored water for her.