What would you do? Bumps on 3

[InHisName]

I have a few bumps on the flanks of my goats- really do not know what to do about it. The doeling I noticed it on first has one that is slowly growing, it is about marble size now. We do not have any goat vets here, if it is CL, (which I read somewhere that 70% bumps or cysts on flanks are), then it came from the vets son, who brought over his buck for breeding. (did not see anything on the buck at the time) There are no cysts around the ears,neck, anywhere else, just flanks. What would you do? Nothing has burst- this is new to me. Do you get rid of the whole flock, or is that jumping the gun? Was thinking of getting a better milker anyway, was milking for a friend who had a goat with better udder, and wow! what a difference!

[hoofinitnorth]

Any chance they could be insect bites/stings?

[Alice In TX/MO]

Injection sites?

[ozark_jewels]

How long have you had these goats?

[InHisName]

This is there 2nd year milking, had them since a few weeks old. (2- 1.2) This has just come up in the last month. (The buck was here last fall- has been the only other outside goat around If they did pick up CL, would it have shown up sooner?) I suppose it could be insect bites, there are some mosquitoes- would they leave a welt for a couple weeks? Injection site is what we thought at first, but on 3? One has 2 bumps on flank, they do not seem to be disappearing. The bumps on the 2 does are m&m sized.

[deetu]

one kid had warbles this year. never saw them on my goats before. it was gone before i did any treatment

it is a fly larva that grows under the skin. if you watch it or push it, does it move? does there seem to be a center to the lump?

one year all my breeding bunnies seemed to have them. the worm apparently secrets a anastesia because they wouldn't flinch when i would cut them out with a razor. they would pop out with a squeeze. yuck, yuck... little triple antibiotic and quick heal.

[ozark_jewels]

A goat can be infected with CL and it not show up for years, or it could show up in a few months time.
These goats could have been CL carryers from when you first bought them for that matter. Unlikely that the lumps would all pop up at once though unless they are under stress, or in less than full health.
These areas are not where you gave shots??

I would watch them closely and *if* they still continue to grow, talk to a vet about removing one whole and having it tested.

*If* they are positive for CL, yes, I would put them all down if they are not the quality of goat you want anyway.
You do not want to pass the problem to someone else, so putting down/butchering is the only way to "cure" the CL problem.
I personally have butchered and save the meat as long as there are no internal abcesses. External abcesses come off with the hide, so no problem there. Less wasteful.

[mygoat]

Pictures would help us a lot, if at all possible.

[InHisName]

Thank you for the advice- have not figured out how to do pics yet. The bumps move when I move them, like a kneecap does. (Especially the bigger one on the doeling born this year- she was offspring of the buck and the first one to have bump) No movement on their own, so don't think it's warbles. Will watch them, and deal with it appropriately.

[betsy h.]

Think lymph nodes popped up a bit to fight off some sort of immune system issue- nothing more. IE: lymph nodes doing the job God gave them to do.

[Wonderland]

You can make a photobucket.com account to post pics.

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by betsy h.

Think lymph nodes popped up a bit to fight off some sort of immune system issue- nothing more. IE: lymph nodes doing the job God gave them to do.

This is quite possible, especially this time of year. But watch them closely since lymph nodes just doing their job will *not* continue to grow.