dead goats

[Christiaan]

I have lost two young goats in the past week, one just today. No one around here seems to know what it is. The vet suspects a virus, but wants $300 for a necropsy plus lab fees. Anyone else run across these symptoms?
1st 6 mos old boer wether. Healthy, well-fed, rambunctious goat in the evening, down in the morning. Would eat a little, wouldn't drink. Put him under a heat lamp on a hay bed. Had a couple of small seizures. Died sometime during the night.
2nd 6 mos old kinder buck. Midnight last night was a fine, healthy buck, full of pep, glad to get a handful of grain (its very cold and went to check on the beasts, gave everyone some grain for extra heat). 10 am, dead. No signs of seizures or distress, just laying there dead in his shelter that he shares with another buck.
All animals up to date on vaccinations, worming, etc. No signs of any kind of distress before complete collapse.
So, if anyone has any ideas please help me out. All the other goats look just fine, but then so did these two.

[MELOC]

what is the diet? what wild plants do they have access to?

[Goat Servant]

Enterotoxemia?? But then again you said they are all UTD on their vacs, If you have several goats, a necropsy might be worth it....at least you'd have some answers.
What kinds of symptoms? Entero can strike fast...dead goats within hours.
What is your hay like? Do they have access to goat minerals?
Feel free to pm if you need to. So sorry for your losses.

[beccachow]

I don't have any advice, but wanted to tell you I am sorry for your losses .

[goatkid]

You say you gave them grain for warmth. Had they been getting grain before this? Some goats have a negative reaction to a feed change. The main things that would kill a young goat quickly would be entero or pneumonia. The one with the seizures could have had goat polio. With a sick goat, the first thing to do is get a temperature. Any young goat here who suddenly seems ill gets a shot of Nuflor and one of thiamin. If it looks like it had a tummy ache, I also give C&D antitoxin. If you lose any more, I'd seriously consider the necropsy. It's worth the money not to lose a bunch of goats. I'd also like to add that if you want to feed the goats something to keep them warm, good hay is a better choice. It takes more energy to digest grain and can stress them if they're not used to it in that amount. Hay in their rumen helps them to stay warm.

[fishhead]

I'm just guessing but is it possible there are poisonous plants in your hay?

Any fruit trees with leaves still on in the pasture?

[susanne]

goats need good hay for heat, not grain. if they were not used to grain in the amount you gave, they might have gied of enterotoxemia. this kills as quick as your goats died.
but is can be only speculation and only necropsy will give conclusion.

[reicheru]

Did you take their temps when they were starting to look under the weather?


You may want to look into contacting your state's dept of Ag. My vet would have wanted $300 for a necropsy as well when Briar [mine are UTD on everything as well] died. Fiance and I drove her an hour and a half upstate to the dept of Ag's animal disease lab. It'll be $125 for a necropsy and to have her ashes back.

[Qvrfullmidwife]

Be aware though that necropsy doesnt always give the answers that you may desire. We lost a buck similarly to the second case that you described. Healthy 10 month old, UTD on all vaccinations and cocci prevention, nothing new in diet, at night time feeding was rambunctiously healthy and well, by morning was gone...looked like he died in his sleep. Necropsy showed us NOTHING. That was worse than hearing even that we had done something wrong because what is there to fix to prevent future occurances if you can find nothing wrong?

[southerngurl]

What were you worming with and on what schedule?

[wardarden]

Just wanted you to know that in our state (Tennessee) you can have a necropsy done for free through the state agriculture office. May be work checking into.

Arden

[copperpennykids]

Even goats that are UTD on C&D vaccinations get enterotoxemia. They still need treatment, but in general recover more easily or just don't get as bad of a case.

Goats can be pretty sensitive to increase in grain, especially if it is corn (tends to carry lots of toxoids, which is why we mix our own grain and the corn in it is about 5% of the total grain ration.)

Any other symptoms in your other goats? Just increase amount of hay for warmth, and provide dry bedding out of snow and wind. They should be fine.

[genebo]

Check with your state department of agriculture for a state-run lab that does necropsy. You can carry an animal in to the lab here in Virginia and get a very complete report and analysis for $65.

Genebo
Paradise Farm