Scouring and other baby Questions

[QoTL]

I know these has been covered on this site a ton of times, so I beg your patience.


My two baby goats are now 4 weeks old. On regular cows milk. They are NubianX, and are getting 3 bottles of 14oz a day.

Questions for you:

First, and lengthy (sorry), one baby hasn't eaten well since we picked her up two weeks ago. The other came down with scours this past weekend. I started them on sulmet, and they are just finishing day 3 of treatment.
The scouring one stopped having scours, and the not-eating-well one now has started eating as vigorously as her sis. So far so good. Now not-eating-well baby has started to scour. Is this from the sulmet, or her sudden increase in appetite? I've gone slowly adding ounces, but she is now up to eating the same amount as sis, so maybe it was too much too fast? Or.. they couldn't get out to nibble the bark and twigs they love so much today, would that have done it? (they do have hay, but they LOVE the bark). Or- weather crapped out on us, so rainy/windy here all day. This afternoon the bottle babies had to give the big box stall back to the big goats, and they were exiled to a much smaller pen. Would that have brought on the scours? Is this a wait-and-see situation, since they are both very bouncy and happy otherwise, or should I use a scouring solution and probios on her? (I don't want to overmedicate!!!)

Second: at what point should I increase from the 14oz to more? Or should I not, to encourage more hay eating? I've read the fiasco website, and the amounts suggested seem low to me, although obviously they have much more experience. My babies just act like they are starving, even when they've finished their bottles.

CD/T- when should they have their first shot?

And Bo-Se- not sure if they had it, should they get some, or should I hold off? I am worried about overdosing on the selenium.

Thanks!

[LomahAcres]

The scours sound like cocci to me. Sulmet is the same as Albon 12.5%? The dosage is 3.22 cc per 5lbs, make sure you treat all 5 days. Then start them on a preventitve like Corrid.

I feed my Nubians free choice milk and they will eat 3-4 quarts a day by 6-8 weeks of age, so yes, I would increase their milk but slowly. This is how I do it anyway, you'll find all kinds of different ways to bottle raise, I just know I get the best growth rates this way.

I would hold off on the Bo-Se unless they look like they need it? CD&T Shots are recommended at 6, 9, & 12 weeks of age.

[Backfourty,MI.]

I would not give them a BOSE shot either at this time. I would keep up on there cocci preventative too. I use Di-Methox for my kids treatments at 3, 6 & 9 weeks of age.
I would hold off on the scour med's for a day or 2 & see if it's not going to work itself out. It is possible that now she's being a little piggy wiggy that has caused it. Moving them to a new pen should not cause it unless they had different things to eat in the new pen.

As for bottle feeding I always dam raise so I can't advice on the amounts but aren't these Pygmies? I can't remember for sure sorry.

[QoTL]

Thanks guys!

Lomah- I don't know about other cocci remedies, really, other than the sulmet. I think actually it's 2 ccs per 10lbs the first day, then 1cc per 10lbs for the additional 4 days. Those are not according to weights on label, so you could very well be right. The corid for prevention- is that every 3wks-month? And what is the advantage of that over sulmet? (not questioning you, just trying to figure it all out )

Thanks for the advice on the bottle feeding and on the bo-se! That makes me feel better.


Backfourty- Thanks! That's pretty much what I was thinking, as well. With such little systems it seems like it would be easy to over-treat them, and I certainly don't want to do that. Same feed in new pen. Babies are actually NubianX, although on the small side compared to the single that was born here last spring.

Thank you both on the bo-se advice. I was thinking the same thing, but just wasn't sure.

[Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians]

Actually there is no dosages for 12.5% sulfas, it's all made up. Go look into it, you won't find one answer that comes from anybody who fecals, uses it and fecals and tells you it works. Ditch sulmet and move to the dimethox injectable used orally at 1cc per 10 pound daily. I put all incoming kids on a sulfa for 21 days, to break the lifecycle of the cocci in their system, and then move to my corid for prevention.

I have a basic paper on how to raise kids from Birth till Kidding, on dairygoatinfo.com in goatkeeping 101. It tells you from the day they are born what I give and how much and why.

Just keep upping the amount of milk, and most milk scours are caused by inconsistent temperature of the milk. 20 ounce 3 times a day is fine, especially since you are having to buy it, here I fill a 2 gallon lambar and they eat 3 times a day as much as they want, sure beats feeding grain.

I would give them bo-se, and you are exactly right on their vaccination...IF...they aren't disbudded or castrated and you know they came from a vaccinated herd. If not you might want to start at 3 weeks, then in 21 days, then after they are 12 weeks old. Maternal immunity from the colostrum isn't going to last until 9 weeks (their second shot with how you have written on vaccinating, which is the schedule I use. Also dont' forget to worm.

Have you learned to fecal? Vicki

[LomahAcres]

Originally Posted by QoTL

Thanks guys!

Lomah- I don't know about other cocci remedies, really, other than the sulmet. I think actually it's 2 ccs per 10lbs the first day, then 1cc per 10lbs for the additional 4 days. Those are not according to weights on label, so you could very well be right. The corid for prevention- is that every 3wks-month? And what is the advantage of that over sulmet? (not questioning you, just trying to figure it all out )

For corrid your dosage is 1/4 cc per lb - you give it 5 days in a row, then skip it for 21 days and then repeat the 5 day dosage - I continue this cycle until about a month after they are weaned, but keep checking fecals to make sure it's working. You still may need to step in with Albon every now and then for treatment. I am not really familiar with using sulmet, and just know corrid has a better reputation for working well. I would also recommend switching to the Albon 40% (same as dimethox) for treatment as I have used it and know it to work well.