Mystery, goats died...why?

Olivia67 · #1 05/20/08, 08:07 AM

O.k. it's not me but someone who is interested in buying my two baby wethers whose goats have died. I would like to know why they died before I sell them my two Nigerian boys. Here's the story, they put them on grass, the goats stopped eating altogether, the goats hair fell out around their ears, then they were treated for bloat, then they died within two days. Does copper defiency cause hair loss around the ears? We are in northern Illinois, our frost is over with for the most part but eating grass after a frost causes founder right? I don't think they goats foundered but I'm not completely sure. The husband has already buried them and they won't pay for a necropsy. What do you think about this mystery? Does it sound like a poisonious plant? I asked them to call the extension office and see if someone could come out to look at their property for poisonious plants but that hasn't happened just yet. My friend's goats had severe copper defiency and the La Mancha did have hair loss but I'm not sure exactly where. Now that their copper is back up they are all doing fine again. Any suggestions are welcome, I hoped some brainstorming might be helpful.

Olivia67

susanne · #2 05/20/08, 08:10 AM

could be so many things and without more info or having seen the goats it's mood to speculate.
if you don't have a good feeling about selling them your kids, then don't.

Togg Lovers · #3 05/20/08, 08:52 AM

I don't know what it could be maybe someone with more experience will come along and offer some suggestions. But I wouldn't sell to them if they aren't even concerned enough to make sure this doesn't happen again.

crazygoatgal · #4 05/20/08, 09:25 AM

If the husband doesn't have a good reason for not wanting to dig them up, I would be very cautious about selling them my animals and you sound like someone who really cares about her goats. Good luck and as my friend Jillis says "go with your belly barometer."

Backfourty,MI. · #5 05/20/08, 10:03 AM

I can't tell you why the friends goats died, I just wanted to say I wouldn't sell them mine!

Sweet Goats · #6 05/20/08, 10:26 AM

It could be from several different reasons. Yes Copper is a cause of hair loss. I have a goat that has NO hair on her ears, and some left on the face. They are running tests to see if it is a Zinc def. That is what it is looking like and YES a friend of mine had 4 goats die from a zinc def.
Look up poisonous plants, print the list (it is VERY LONG), and have her go around her property to see if they have any of that.
If that is ALL the information she gave you, thn I would wonder what she MIGHT not be telling you.

GUTS SAY IT ALL. Go with your gut.

Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians · #7 05/20/08, 11:12 AM

Digging them up now would do absolutely nothing, necropsy is done on fresh bodies only, or fresh frozen.

Hair falling out around the ears and stop eating, sounds like soremouth. Takes about 2 days for a kid who is eating or drinking nothing to die, so that would be my diagnosis

Give them an information sheet on what to feed, how much to feed, and simple things you would never think about, like putting out water (in tiny kids in a bucket that if they jumped into would tip over). A guy came out to purchase two milkers and two bucklings just last week. He called that same night worried that the goats may swim across the pond to get out of his property which wasn't fenced on the other side. The goats will not swim across your pond, the goats won't get near the pond

In fact if you expect them to drink out of the pond you will have to teach them that the pond is for water....might want to put some buckets of water up at the barn.

Most deaths of kids is simple missmanagement. Buying bottle babies weaned to young, the kids starve to death slowly. No water offered when they are getting very little milk. No calories offered to kids when it's to cold out, and they are expected to eat grass to live off of when weaned to early. Vicki

susanne · #8 05/20/08, 11:26 AM

does not say how old the animals were when they died.

treated for bloat? how about they died of entero?
or how about this one, belly full of tapes and not able to absorb nutrition, hence the hairloss?
i bet we can up with much more then that. and what will we know in the end?

Olivia67 · #9 05/20/08, 05:28 PM

Thanks everyone for the input. I try my best to educate people about the proper care of goats because to be honest a lot of people really don't know so in order to educate someone else then I have to learn it first. And that isn't always easy to do without some help. I haven't talked directly to them yet, all of this is from a friend who knows both of us and I think the wife really loves the goats, it was her husband who was quick to bury them and even that tells me that he is afraid of finding out it was something that they could have done to prevent it and didn't. Men handle things differently then women do. They want to fix it now and when they can't they try to either ignore it or make it go away, plus I think that he didn't want to cause his wife any more pain then she was already in over the loss. He probably thought he was doing the "manly" thing and fixing it the best he knew how to. If neither of them cared that's one thing but I think they do care but just don't know how to handle it now. My better half often puts up a big show of being strong when he is especially vulnerable. I have to talk to my vet this week anyway so I'll ask his opinion too but he is a bovine vet and just isn't up on the latest stuff with goats. I learn a lot through the egroups and websites and then send him the information and we discuss it. Thanks everyone for the advice.

Olivia67

Minelson · #10 05/20/08, 05:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Olivia67

Men handle things differently then women do. They want to fix it now and when they plus I think that he didn't want to cause his wife any more pain then she was already in over the loss.
Olivia67

I think you nailed it here...My hubby would have done the same thing, I think he is trying to protect his wife's feelings....