Drying up?

Redeemed98 · #1 06/10/13, 08:27 PM

Is there anything I can do to keep a doe from drying up on her own? She has been steadily decreasing in milk over the past 8 weeks or so. She got the runs a while back and it seems it started then. I'm only getting about 3/4 quart each milking now. I milk her twice a day and its hardly worth milking her if it drops any more. I am guessing that she is drying up. She is a Nubian. Any suggestions?

Alice In TX/MO · #2 06/10/13, 08:34 PM

When did she kid?

Redeemed98 · #3 06/10/13, 08:40 PM

I believe she kidded in feb. I bought her already in milk.

Alice In TX/MO · #4 06/10/13, 08:53 PM

She's done with peak production. You can try milking three times a day for a week and see if that boosts yield. You can increase grain slightly, and weigh or measure production to see if increased rations increases yield. Have you had a fecal test done to see if she needs to be dewormed?

Here's a link to some charts of lactation curves. Your own goats may vary. Also, if she had a single kid, she will produce less.

http://aipl.arsusda.gov/reference/goat/laccurv.htm

**mygoat** · #5 06/10/13, 09:04 PM

She's only 4 months into lacation, not even at the halfway mark for a 'full' lactation, soshe shouldn't be going dry... If she's a dairy doe worth her salt and if her nutritional needs are met and there isn't an underlying health issue, that is.

So you've had her at least 8 weeks during which time she's dropped in production. With the ploppy poo, I would've ran a fecal. How is her feed intake? How much of what is she eating? Does with chronic acidosis can repeatedly refuse their gran ration because they do not feel well. Obviously this negatively impacts thier intake. That's a posibility...

Redeemed98 · #6 06/10/13, 09:19 PM

When I got her they were feeding dairy parlor so I started switching her to what we were feeding, oats and alfalfa pellets, I just began to add boss as well. The doe I milked last year did great on that and is doing fine this year as well. Her condition looks fine and I give them herbal wormer each week but have never done a fecal. It seems once she got off it's been downhill. I may try milking her three Times as Alice suggested.

Redeemed98 · #7 06/10/13, 09:21 PM

Btw, she does seem to pick at her feed and sometimes hardly acts interested in eating it. Except the boss which she loves but I've only been giving her that for a couple of weeks. I need to learn more about chronic acidosis.
Also, is it even possible to bring production back up once it's down so much if I alleviate the problem?

Backfourty,MI. · #8 06/11/13, 05:56 AM

I would make sure they have access to baking soda 24/7 if you don't already & when using herbal wormers a fecal should really be run before starting them & again a couple weeks later to see if they are working for you in your area.
I would never use herbals without doing fecals often.

I'm guessing she needs a chemical wormer to kick what's going on but a fecal is really best to see what your dealing with at this point.

Redeemed98 · #9 06/11/13, 07:17 AM

One other thing is I have been putting baking soda out and they really wipe it out. It seems they can't get enough. Is this a sign of a problem? Should I give them as much as they want?
Also do I need to hold the milk after a chemical wormer?

Redeemed98 · #10 06/11/13, 08:16 AM

Wow, after reading up on it I'm really suspecting acidosis. I may have caused this by switching feeds a while back and too frequently. I'm getting a fecal done today to check for the worms anyway. How would I treat acidosis if that's the case? I'll mention it to the vet today but I would love some of you guys input.

Alice In TX/MO · #11 06/11/13, 08:32 AM

More baking soda.

Make a ball of a spoonful of baking soda and water, and shove it down her throat to start. Top dress her feed with a teaspoon of baking soda at each feeding for a while, too.

If she will eat Tums or Pepto Bismol tablets, that would help as well.

**mygoat** · #12 06/11/13, 09:32 AM

Acidosis is caused by too much rapidly fermented sugars (carbs) in the diet. I'd do what Alice says - top dress feed with baking soda (spray with water first to get it to stick, and mix in if necessary), and I'd do a couple boluses of baking soda as well.

Increase the quality and quantity of browse and hay, if at all possible.

Try to remove some portion of the grain diet and replace with alfalfa pellets. Currently we're doing 2 parts grain to 1 part alfalfa pellet.

Make sure they never run out of baking soda. You can buy it in 50lb bags (called sodium bicarbonate) from the feed store, usually. Does in milk are taking in a lot of grain/carbs because they need it, and this means more acid produced.

Hope you can get it straightened out, I've got a doe who struggles with this every once in a while. Make sure her hay is good and feeding alfalfa pellets has helped.

dmbenson · #13 06/11/13, 10:08 AM

You also don't mention what, if any minerals she has available? Mineral imbalances can least to a host of problems, from milk production to worm loads to general thriftiness.

Redeemed98 · #14 06/11/13, 10:45 AM

I keep some mineral out free choice. It's manna mineral. Now I don't feed hay except for during the winter as they have a big area to browse. Should I be feeding hay all year?

Redeemed98 · #15 06/11/13, 11:21 AM

Ok, I just got a call from the vet clinic. They said she has coccidia and hookworms. I have some safeguard fenbendazole which they said would be fine but could not tell me about dumping the milk.
I also have some 12.5 dimethox concentrate from hoeggers. Should I follow the label? It says 1 1/2 tbs with equal water drenched for 5 days. I really didn't expect coccidia.

Redeemed98 · #16 06/11/13, 12:00 PM

Well I got on Fiasco website and was reading that some coccidian is normally present in goats. So I called the vet back to see if she was overloaded with them or not and they said no, mainly just hookworms but to be safe just to treat them all for both anyway. I guess I should do this, I am getting more and more confused.

I still feel like this doe is having some acidosis and will treat as was suggested.

Alice In TX/MO · #17 06/11/13, 12:25 PM

Safeguard is ineffective on most worms due to over use.

Use Cydectin.

Coccidia is NOT a worm. It's a protozoa.

Here's a link to info on treatment.
http://www.dairygoatinfo.com/f28/dif...s-doses-21499/

**mygoat** · #18 06/11/13, 01:09 PM

Adult goats will have cocci. This is normal, and not to be treated. They gain natural resistance to cocci starting at about 6 months old, and adults can have quite a heavy 'normal' load. This is why I feed a rumensin medicated feed to does pre-kidding, it lowers the number of cocci they shed in the environment where the kids will then pick it up. Kids have no immunity to cocci.

If an adult were suffering from cocci, they would be instant culls here. This is extremely, extremely uncommon and I would believe that something underlying is causing an immune failure.

Any idea on the LOADS of these worms? Just knowing what they are usually isn't enough. All goats will have worms, the idea is not to eliminate worms (impossible) but to manage the numbers.

Redeemed98 · #19 06/11/13, 01:21 PM

I'm frustrated with the whole thing. After I called they said the coccidia load was low so I don't think I'm going to treat for that until after I treat for the worms and see if she looks better. They just told me the hook worm load was high but not overloaded.
I can only find cydectin in pour on for cattle. Can I use this?

**mygoat** · #20 06/11/13, 03:09 PM

Yup, cydectin pour on is 1cc per 22lbs given ORALLY. This is what I use mostly.

I wouldn't treat for cocci, I doubt that is her problem. Hookworms aren't usually *that* serious either, though if there is a 'high' load go ahead and treat.

I'd eval the diet and treat as though its acidosis.

Gotta love goats... frustrating though they can be!