What kills a goat in 8 hours?

[TwoAcresAndAGoat]

Here is a little history

Location: North Carolina
Age: 2 years
Pregnant due in 2 to 4 weeks (estimate)
Was healthy at 9 am when turned out to pasture with two other does. Is fed 2 pounds of goat feed 2 times a day, water available from a tank no creek on property.
Was found dead in Rigor mortis at 8pm so I am guessing she died at around 5pm.

Will be cutting her open later in the day when I can take her to her grave site.

Anything I should be looking for?

[susanne]

parasites, poison, ketosis, hypocalcemia, entero, just to name a few things.
with no history or more info, no one can answer your question. if you need to knw, you need to have necropsy doe.

[FunnyRiverFarm]

Yeah, it is hard to say...could have been a lot of things. I would suspect entero or acute bloat but there is no way to say, really.

I doubt this is related to the death but 4lbs of grain a day for a doe that is not lactating is A LOT.

[where I want to]

One of the trouble with goatkeeping is that a lot of the time there are subtle clues that something is going wrong but superficially they keep going. They do not grab their tummies and roll on the ground and yell. They don't drag their heads on the ground. But when they do get to the point of no return, they appear to go fast.
Right now I am worried about my girl with the kids- she's eating well, the kids are doing well, etc- but she hasn't bounce back as well as she did in years past- she looks ragged-she is more interested grass rather than alfalafa. I'm trying to figure out if something is even wrong or not at all. Story of goats- trying to keep ahead of problems.
Of course, your girl could have just had a heart attack. Who knows what lurks out there...........
Look for congestion in lungs or heart.

[saanengirl]

I'd look first for entero. I have heard of several cases in Georgia where the goat appeared normal and healthy in the evening, and the next morning was found dead.

[beccachow]

The few that I lost to disease process was FAST. I mean QUICK, within 8-12 hours of the first symptom. SO many many things it could have been. I never knew that goats are really not the sturdy little creatures I thought they were. The bad thing about goats, is that you just don't have enought time before when you really stop and say, Oh boy, so and so is SICK...to when they die.

I am sorry for your loss and hope you find answers.

[HappyFarmer]

Yes sometimes it can be a mystery. In addition to all of the above, this time of year I walk the pastures looking for mushrooms-all get stomped as I have no idea which may be poisonous.
HF

[Minelson]

So sorry for your loss

[goatkid]

Sorry you lost your doe. Without additional info, it's hard to say what killed her. With a pregnant doe near kidding time, a few things come to mind. You say she's on grain and pasture with no mention of alfalfa hay or pellets in her diet. Goats on grass and grain with no alfalfa are prone to hypocalcemia. She could have had ketosis as well. Another thought is that she could have gone into labor and was unable to deliver a tangled mess of kids on her own and something ruptured into her abdominal cavity. Like the others said, she could have had entero or ate a poisonous plant. Another thought is that some forms of pneumonia can kill quickly.

[steff bugielski]

I would have to agree. 4lbs a day is even a lot for my girls when milking 2+ gallons a day.
At that stage of pregnancy I will feed about 1lb a day at most. Free choice hay and loose minerals.

[Backfourty,MI.]

So sorry for your loss. Do you have a vet you use that could do a necropsy for you? That's what I would do, like the others said it could be so many different things.

[moonspinner]

That's a heartbreaking loss and yes, the amount of grain seems excessive. Did you see any evidence of bodily fluids from mouth or rectal/vaginal area?
Please pass along what you find out. Always eager to learn.