Something is attacking my goats!

[Angie]

Something is attacking my goats.
Monday night I came home and found my german shepherd pup down at the
barn barking at (I thought) my goats. She got in a lot of trouble. The
next morning I went down to milk and found one of my goats with her
front leg all tore up. I of coarse blamed the dog and have been very
mad at her. I tried to clean it up and gave her some antibiotics but
the next morning her leg was swollen really bad all the way up into
her shoulder and back into her chest and side. She died later that
day. This morning I went down to milk and had to go look for another
one of my goats. I found her out in the pasture with both her front
legs messed up the same way as the other one. My guess is that
something big is attacking them. Is ther any place that would test to
see what kind of animal it is that is coming down there? I am worried
about the rest of the goats since the barn is far from the house. What
can I do for this goat? Any suggestions??

[Naturaldane]

So, do you like camping? Can you shoot?
I know some dna testing can be done to identify a species but I dont know how far that technology has came or who would collect it. Im thinking that it would be odd for something to die that fast of a leg wound, is there any way you can post pics of the injury site?
It would be interesting to know if the other dies, Im kinda toying with the though maybe they tried to trample a snake? if the other goat dies it would fit

[EasyDay]

Do you have, or know someone that has, a game camera that you could put up? Maybe secure the goats and put out some bait... another animal (chicken, maybe?). I hate the idea of sacrificing an animal, but better than sacrificing your goats by not knowing what, therefore how, to protect them.

[sgian]

Watch the dog interact with the goats. If the dog just wants to sniff them or play (like nuzzling them to get them to charge and then running off), then it probably isn't your dog.

Walk your fence line and look for damage, signs of digging, etc. If there is damage or other signs of breaking in and you see tracks, then you might be able to identify the predator by the tracks. A fox can have small tracks like a cat, but canines don't have retractable claws so you can often see dots from claws in front of the toes in canine tracks. If the ground is too hard for tracks, you could try soaking the ground at night if possible to make the ground muddy, or spreading some different colored dust (like chalk, sawdust, etc) around the edge of the pasture (probably on the outside and inside) to see if prints will be left there.

You may know this already, but I'll mention it just in case. For a guard dog, you might not want the dog well socialized with many other dogs because it might not get as territorial. Owning other dogs is fine since they are part of the "pack", but being nice to unknown dogs is not a good thing when you want your dog to protect your goats. A guard dog defends his "territory" and everything in it from other critters. Also in case your pup is not fixed and is old enough to have gone into heat, an unfixed female will attract other dogs wanting to score, and she may even welcome them. These male friends might want a snack (goats) while visiting. I bought one such Great Pyrennes, and she made friends with a dog down the street until I brought my other dog who is a good guard dog over to the property. Sometimes she will still bark in the direction of her boyfriend to invite him over for a good time, even though my other dog keeps him from visiting anymore.

A donkey without any other equine buddies may also be a good guard animal. They will not tolerate strange dogs near them (although they may warm up to your dog after a while and with due respect given to the donkey by the dogs), and make quite a sound when annoyed. Donkeys very much prefer other equines (unless they are males then they may fight viciously), so I've read that if there are two donkeys they will ignore the goats and let them be eaten. My donkey isn't fond of the goats as it is, especially after my billy goat tried to breed the donkey and learned not to mess with that donkey.

You may also want to consider locking the goats in the barn at night.

[Ernie]

Give us a locational hint so we know what kind of critters are in your area.

It doesn't sound like a dog is doing it to me. Goats can normally defend themselves against small dogs well enough, and a big dog or a pack of them would have done more than tear up the legs.

If the goats are penned up at night in the barn, something may be getting into the barn with them. I've not had any experiences with skunks or raccoons doing that and bothering the goats, but there could be wolverines in your area, or you could be in Australia where they have problems with the Tasmanian devils.

[DQ]

a snake won't "tear up" an animal. its hard to even find puncture wounds sometimes. stafford shire terriers are bred to instictively go for the front legs and I'm sure other dogs have the same innate instinct. in all likelihood this is probably a canine of some sort IMO. cats attack from top or behind they don't maul the front legs, dogs will face off an animal when the pursuit ends due to the exhaustion of the prey especially when it is partly play. if it is a coon or something in the area you should think about rabies.

[Sweet Goats]

Angie, If we new where you are from we might be able to help. I would guess a badger. if you have them in your area. They are VERY mean. I second or third the fence line. Walk it and do it very slowly, it is very easy to miss a small hole or break in the fence.

I am so sorry about the loss or you goat, How is the second one doing?

[fishhead]

It seems strange that a predator would attack the front legs. I would expect the throat area or a hind leg attack.

Is there anything they could be getting tangled up in? Loose barbed wire? Farm equipment?

It's hard to guess what kind of predator might be involved without knowing where you are located although dogs are everwhere.

I would clean the wound and cover it with honey. Then I would secure the barn.

[Angie]

My dog was int he house last night and about 4 this morning she kept whining at my door. At 5:15 this morning she, and my little yorkie were going nuts barking in the house so I got up and let them out figuring it was probably deer outside. At 6:45 Iwent outt o take the kids to school and she was here on the porch. So I don't think it was her. Also, I came back up and got my uband and we took the dog down with us to bring the goat in and she didn't even seem to know the goat was out in the field till we got right up on her.
The injuries don't look terrible, I have had goats tear open udders and legs on fence wire that seemed deeper than these wounds and healed it up fine. I am wondering if whatever got her has some type of something in its saliva that is causing an internal infection. There are 1 or 2 good bite type of gashes on each front leg. They are not bleeding really just oozing a clearish stuff. The right front leg is swollen by the shoulder. She won't stand on her front legs. I tried to make her more comfortable this morning by trying to milk her a little bit and she tried to stanad, got up on all 4 but the right leg buckled. She seems weak when trying to stand. The first one that died was just swollen a little bit at first then the next day her leg, chest, a nd side were huge, more like maybe internal bleeding or infection. They are not fenced in but they go in and out of the pasture with the horse. I found her out in the pasture and at that time of morning she would not have even been out of the barn. I wonder if somthing was trying to drag her towards the woods (thats the direction she ws facing). I live anout an our northeast of Columbus, ohio
Due to time restaints I was thinking about getting out of goats and now I am sure of it. They are like pets to me and I can't take having to bury another one. I only had a small herd to start with and now I only have a buck and 3 does. One doe I have a home for already. Hopefully I will find a place for the others quickly.

[Minelson]

Angie, this is horrible. I am so sorry you are going through this. I have know idea what is doing this and I'm sure it's very frustrating for you. jeez. The only animal that comes to mind is maybe a diseased Badger.

[Ernie]

I think you need to sleep in or near the barn tonight with a shotgun. Sounds like whatever is going on is taking a length of time. Can you lock them in a stall?

[Togg Lovers]

With the "oozing clear stuff" I would think that it may be something rabid. If thats the case you will want to be carefull that you or your dogs don't get attacked too. I would sit and try to find out what it is and dispose of it. Don't trap it as this animal may be sick.

[Ernie]

Abrasions ooze clear stuff. You can't tell from the wounds whether or not something is rabid. If you peel back skin on any living animal you'll see it is oozing clear stuff, whereas if you actually open a blood vessel you'll see blood.

[fishhead]

Badgers aren't going to bother a goat unless the goat is bothering them. It sounds like whatever is doing it is coming back every night so it shouldn't take too long to deal with it.

Anna posted an experience she had with using buckwheat honey on a coyote bite that wouldn't heal and kept spreading. It makes sense because honey produces hydrogen perioxide when it gets wet and hydrogen perioxide is used to kill bacteria and viruses.

I'm sorry that you're having to deal with this. I hate it when something or someone threatens my animals.

[Naturaldane]

I will say that the snake isnt going to be your issue in your area, obviously, but before hand I would like to defened my thought, there are snakes that can tear something up in defence mode and there teeth can rip quite well even if its just a rat snake, but to do that damage it would had to have been a large snake than what you are dealing with.

This is odd, and I do hope you find out what it is, Im still trying to find what is trying to kill my chickens

[Sweet Goats]

Angie, is it possible to get a picture of the wounds?

I hate to see people get out of goats, they are such wonderful animals but I understand what you are feeling. Once you figure out the problem, hopefully you will feel different.

I have seen a badger do this to a goat. I know a dog or coyote will go for the neck and hind legs usually.

[Jyllie63]

Angie, I'm sorry you are experiencing this. I have to thank you for posting it though because I've been thinking about keeping my barn door open at night so that they can go in and out. Since you only live about 30 minutes from me, I think I'll keep locking them up! Keep us posted on how she's doing!

[Cygnet]

Wolverines and badgers will both go for the front end. Badgers are REAL obvious if they're around, they dig burrows. Big burrows. A wolverine would be pretty unusual in inhabited areas.

Canines (coyote, dog, wolf) typically go for the hamstrings unless you have multiple canines, at which point, you may get injuries to both ends. Though a dog will often grab whatever it can get, including the throat or a front leg, during a chase. And a small dog might go for a front leg if the goat decides to stand its ground. Does anyone in your area have something small and vicious like a corgie or rat terrier that might be getting ambitious?

(I have seen a cocker spaniel go after a 200 lb horned pack goat, who was not afraid of dogs. The cocker lost, with a broken hip, but not before he bit the goat several times.)

Mountain lions go for the back of the neck.

-- Leva

[havenberryfarm]

In our area (I'm in NW Ohio) the most likely culprits are coyotes and stray dogs. I am so sorry that you are dealing with this. How awful!

[Minelson]

Angie, Has anything else happened since you posted?