Dead Buck

TroutRiver · #1 10/21/11, 11:55 AM

It's been a heck of a year for medical goat emergencies

My buck died last week, quickly and unexpectedly. A huge bummer because he was gorgeous, had really great genetics. We were planning on keeping him for at least 2-3 years for breeding. Mid-afternoon the other day, I came outside and noticed him drooling and kind of foaming at the mouth (not really severely, but he had really foamy drool). I've seen this a few times before in goats, and it's always gone away on its own within 24 hours, so I wasn't too worried, but kept an eye on him for the rest of the day. The next day, it was worse. He was walking around with a mouthful of grass that he wasn't chewing or swallowing. I went and pulled it out of his mouth, and within half an hour he had another mouthful of fresh grass, not eating it, just holding it in his mouth and drooling everywhere.

I called the vet and they basically told me that it sounded like he ate something, and they could come out and see him if I wanted them to but there probably wasn't anything they could do to help him. An emergency vet call is $150 flat rate, and that doesn't include any treatment or medication. I wasn't about to do that if they didn't think they could help him. There are no goat-specific vets at this practice (the only large animal vet practice in the area) and they have recently hired several new vets who are all very young and very inexperienced.

I gave him probiotics and brought him inside with one of my older does for company and hoped for the best, but the next morning he was dead. I don't know what he could have eaten that would have done that.

Someone mentioned rabies to me because of the drooling and not being able to chew or swallow. So that had me all worked up for a few days, but we sent the head into the lab for testing (the vet that came to take the head didn't even know how to get it off, I had to show him how!) and the test was negative, thankfully. So now I'm back to food poisoning, and I don't know what it could have been. Poor guy, I feel really awful that I couldn't help him, and even worse that my gorgeous buck that I was so excited about is now dead and it's a total mystery

rootsandwings · #2 10/21/11, 12:15 PM

get activated charcoal - the kind for humans - to keep on hand and drench the next goat that does that! because if he ate something - it's still out there.

HappyFarmer · #3 10/21/11, 12:16 PM

Check very closely your hay, feedstuff & your pastures for :
Mold (wet season we’ve had)
Poisonous leaves (cherry, peach, any pit, other)
Obvious poisonous plants like Rhodedendron, azaelia
Poisonous mushrooms
Niteshade plants/leaves (tomatoes, potatoes)
Water source for contamination
Hay/grains for molds, off colors or odors.
How is the rest of the herd?
Keep antitoxin on hand along with activated charcoal.
If I’m not mistaken the antitoxin has been in short supply; I think Minelson posted recently where it can be purchased.
You may never know what happened, but be prepared for the rest of your herd.
HF

Donna1982 · #4 10/21/11, 12:17 PM

Oh i am so sorry. I know how it feels to lose one and have no idea why.

TroutRiver · #5 10/21/11, 12:22 PM

They are not eating any grain right now, the hay looks fine. There are a lot of mushrooms around, I was thinking that may have been what it was, but I don't know what kinds of mushrooms they are or how to figure that out. As far as I know there are no poisonous plants in the pasture that I have seen. The rest of the herd looks fine, I have had a very close eye on them. Especially now that the browse is almost gone and I'm feeding more hay, I'm worried that some of them will get bored/curious and eat something that they shouldnt, like a mushroom. I',m not sure what to do about that, I can't remove every mushroom from the pasture

mekasmom · #6 10/21/11, 12:26 PM

Sorry about your loss.

Alice In TX/MO · #7 10/21/11, 12:31 PM

Read this carefully....

http://www.fiascofarm.com/goats/poisonousplants.htm

oberhaslikid · #8 10/21/11, 12:38 PM

If you think it maybe Mushrooms you can control them it just takes a little time.
Control of mushrooms
You can use a powder detergent in a seed spreader in the pasture to kill out mushrooms and repeat after rain for a month.
Or mix 2Tbs in 3 Gallons of water and spray heavy repeat after a rain for a month.

Backfourty,MI. · #9 10/21/11, 12:43 PM

I am so sorry for your loss, it's hard when ever you loose an animal for what ever reason. It does sound like he ate something he shouldn't have to me though too.
I always keep a bottle of CD Antitoxin on hand & have the activated charcoal too. Had a couple yearling does' get into I think a bush that caused them the throwing up, foamy stuff & those worked for me along with probios paste daily after the throwing up had stopped.

Alice In TX/MO · #10 10/21/11, 02:40 PM

http://www.calvetsupply.com/product/...al_Medications

nehimama · #11 10/21/11, 02:53 PM

I am sorry for your loss. Sounds like he was a source of good genetics for your herd, and you really liked him. I agree with the advice to keep activated charcoal on hand. I found some at my feed store. It's in a large tube, so will be easy to administer if needed. It's Activated Charcoal Gel with Electrolytes made by DurVet. Labeled for use in dogs & cats, sheep & goats. The tube is bright yellow.

I also keep CD ANTITOXIN on hand. This is DIFFERENT from the CD&T TOXOID vaccination. Here's how I remember:

"Toxoid to AVOID. Toxin for POISON."

motdaugrnds · #12 10/21/11, 03:32 PM

TroutRiver, I am so sorry for your loss. I know what is like to lose a high quality buck. I recently lost "Chateau Briant So-Gay Roman". He was nearly 13 yrs old and had been showing his age for awhile. He apparently just went to sleep. We buried him under the maple tree he loved to munch on.

As others have said, it is wise to keep the antitoxin and charcoal on hand. I finally got some from Hoeggers. (It had to be back ordered; but finally showed up.) I'm wondering why it was in such short demand.