help!!!

[Bear44]

I have a boer goat that kidded 3 weeks ago and she has been doing great till tonight.I got to the barn and put her in her pen I noticed that she is starting to swell up a little under her bottom jaw.I have 25 Boer goats and I never had anything like this before.she eats&drinks good and no temp.thinking I should take a sample of her berries to the vet,anything else I can do??please let me know.thanks

[Middle River]

I'm no expert, but it sounds like bottle jaw - caused by a worm overload - did you worm her after she kidded ? How do her eyelids look ( nice and pink or pale and white ? ) ? If she were mine i would give her a good dose of wormer and run a fecal, vit. B, and red cell may help as well as nutri drench. I hope somebody that knows more pipes in :+) Good luck with her.

[mygoat]

Always worm within a or two of kidding. It sounds like bottle jaw. Worm her now and repeat in 2 weeks.

And yes, take a sample to the vet and see if it IS overload... it COULD be other things. Then take a sample back to the vet in 2 weeks to see if your wormer is working in your area.

Also, watch for anemia. Give a vitamin B shot (cant hurt) and supplement with either red cell (expensive) or pig iron paste. (cheap!)

[HappyFarmer]

could be bottle jaw, in addition to worming, check her mouth/jaw for a sliver. HF

[DQ]

99.9 % chance this is blood sucking worms. worm asap with something effective. first choice cydectin pouron for cattle 1cc per 22lbs of body weight given orally. It is life threatening not something to wait and see about or even wait for a fecal. bottle jaw is a symptom of severe anemia. the hormones involved with kidding stimulate the parasites hence the oft repeated advice to worm them the day they kid. the likely hood this severe of anemia would be caused by something else is small.

edit to add. this is a heads up that you have a parasite problem in the herd most likely. check everyones eyelid color. pull down the bottom lid in good light. the membrane should be pink/bright pink to red, the same color as your own. if it is pale pink to gray white they very likey have a high parasite load..

[Bear44]

Originally Posted by DQ

99.9 % chance this is blood sucking worms. worm asap with something effective. first choice cydectin pouron for cattle 1cc per 22lbs of body weight given orally. It is life threatening not something to wait and see about or even wait for a fecal. bottle jaw is a symptom of severe anemia. the hormones involved with kidding stimulate the parasites hence the oft repeated advice to worm them the day they kid. the likely hood this severe of anemia would be caused by something else is small.

edit to add. this is a heads up that you have a parasite problem in the herd most likely. check everyones eyelid color. pull down the bottom lid in good light. the membrane should be pink/bright pink to red, the same color as your own. if it is pale pink to gray white they very likey have a high parasite load..

thanks for the help,will let you know how we make out.

[copperpennykids]

There is also an outside chance that she has a hay/grass seed in her gums. Nothing you can do for that but wait.

HOWEVER, if you did not worm post kidding (always always worm post kidding, within one or two days as listed above), then assume the worst. Cydectin is great, although a white wormer like Levamisole is our wormer of choice after kidding as it takes care of tapeworms and Cydectin does not.

Levamisole is NOT safe if a doe is bred. (Why we do it post-kidding. We know she isn't bred then!)

Let us know how she does.

Camille

[Bear44]

Hi all,went to vet and got meds and she is alot better tonight and it was worms.thanks to you all and I learned alot...

[crazygoatgal]

Whew! Glad to hear it's gonna be ok. It was good you jumped on it and are observant of your animals. Sometimes I think I take good health for granted and don't always look for the odd problem or new problem..

[mary,tx]

Originally Posted by Bear44

Hi all,went to vet and got meds and she is alot better tonight and it was worms.thanks to you all and I learned alot...

You can buy wormer at the feed store and save yourself a trip to the vet next time. All goats should be wormed at kidding.
mary

[Bear44]

just an update,momma is doing great and her 2 babies are also.I like to watch them when I let them out to pasture,they run and jump and blat,its so cute.thanks to you all for telling me what to do for her.I have never lost a goat to worms or anything and that really scared me.OH,her babies are both black heads,one has a black spot on his shoulder and my grandson named then alvin and butthead.lol.

[Minelson]

That's great! How about some pics of Alvin and Butthead! LOL!

[DQ]

excellent job! Now start checking eyelids regularly or better yet, doing your own fecals to track your parasite load in the herd. its really easy and will save you lots of goats and production losses.