Not all hay is created equal...

[wintrrwolf]

Well I had posted about losing Lil dude thinking that well he never was very strong and wasn't growing as well as Pawnee's and Shaq's 2 girls born a month earlier, after all Heidi finally gave up the fight only 2 weeks earlier after a long battle to get her right...
I had bought hay Wed the 4th this was from a different field but same hay guy dollar more per bale because it was "better" hay I didn't make the connection until I lost Shaq this last Tuesday and one of his daughters Wed morning, Monkey started to go downhill wednesday as well. It hit fast! There was no mold in the hay that I could see so I am concluding that there might have been some toxic weed! The hay is the ONLY thing that I did different. The last of that hay was fed Tuesday night.
Gave Monkey antitoxin, dosed with MoM wed night after I got home from work, fed different hay he nibbled but not really interested...Thursday morning I realized I didn't give him enough antitoxin so dosed with remaining, dosed again with MoM, read that I wanted to not stop any diarrhea that comes because that will help flush him out, ok Monkey is still alive friday morning gave him a shot of B vit and forced him to eat some probios. He still has diarrhea but this evenings hay he dug right into it!
Am I out of the woods yet?
Pawnee, Pebbles, Pearl, Cher, Nibbler, Felina and PT all seem fine no issues at all? Which leads me to believe that it was more of a weed eaten by the few then mold eaten by many.
Honestly I am scared to go to sleep because I might find one of them dead, I am beyond mad about the hay, I am tired of hearing "but can't goats eat everything?" I lost a really good buck and one of his beautiful little girls and don't think I can stand if I lose Monkey I have a small herd each one is/was very important.
At least I got to say goodbye to Shaq when I got home and found him down and not getting up, I tried to get him to stand but he couldn't so I sat next to him and he laid his head in my lap I told him he was a stoopid stinky buck and he wasn't suppose to leave me yet, but it was ok I won't be mad at him.
And then he was gone.
I am kicking myself for not catching on sooner....

[CAjerseychick]

EEKKKK so sorry to hear of this.... So sorry about your losses.
I cant even imagine...
Now am nervous about getting hay.... I should be fine thru mid January then I will have to go and get 4 or 5 bales to last me thru....the spring growth starts its pretty lush around here then....

[Frosted Mini's]

You may want to contact the person you bought the hay from...they might like to know that there is potentially a toxic plant in their hay-that way if others have this problem, they can start contacting folks they've sold to if they have their contact info. If you have any more losses (I hope you don't!!!!), get a necropsy done to try and find the exact cause, as it could be something unrelated to the hay.

I'm so sorry for your losses.

[punchiepal]

It may not be a weed but aflatoxins, a type of mold.

If you do a search, there was a case a year or 2 ago also.

Not something you can see, but it is deadly. It is recommended to let hay breathe for 24 hrs (small sq bales at least) as if there are any aflatoxins there, most will dissipate in that time.

[dozedotz]

That's right about the aflatoxins...remember, it was Emily. Susie went to help and also Pony...it was awful! Even Emily couldn't see a problem just looking at the hay - it was supposed to be "organic" and may have been because using certain kinds of "natural" fertilizers can cause the problem if my old mind is remembering this correctly....she had introduced the hay very slowly and all seemed well and then "boom" the bottom dropped out. She had the hay tested and that was the problem. So very sorry this happened! We cannot always prevent disaster unfortunately...no matter how hard we try or how informed we try to be. Hope everyone else is ok...especially Monkey. We are pulling for you!!!

[yarrow]

Oh how awful...hope Monkey pulls thru (the memories of what we saw as we pulled into Emily's that morning will stay with me forever) it was awful dead and dying goats....I saw, touched, smelled the hay she had bought.....I would have fed it and never dreamed anything was wrong with it...not sure that Monkey won't need another dose of antitoxin esp. With it being so cold and nasty. Which is hard on them .. Without the addition of poison hay. So sorry for your losses. I know how much you loved Shaq Big hugs

[aart]

How and where do you get hay tested....and what all can it be tested for?

So sorry for your losses wintrrwolf...I hope you can figure out the cause so as to avoid it in the future.

[homstdr74]

Without a chemical analysis of the dead animals I certainly don't know the actual cause of death, but I wonder what the guy with the hay fields treated his fields with. Under certain conditions plants can absorb man-made chemicals and store them. An overdose of certain chemicals is deadly. Just a thought.

[wintrrwolf]

as of today Monkey is eating hay only and has a very good appetite as does everyone else. He has soft poop but not diarrhea or pebbles am going to try giving him some plain yogurt. I do not see any signs of abortion from Felina or Nibbler so am beginning to hope that its all over.
Ground is frozen and we had freezing rain last night so right now I have the bodies covered with old blanket to be cremated when weather allows....
I will let the old hay guy know, though I have noticed that he hasn't put out new hay to sell all week, which is odd since he ALWAYS has hay on the corner. Oh just a side note I gave him a check for hay and he still hasn't cashed it...

[LFRJ]

What an absolute nightmare. Sorry for the losses. At least, if your suspicion is spot on, you can be at some peace in knowing that had it not have been for toxic hay, you may have been able to save the iffy goats you were kind enough to take in.

Nothing you can do about fate sometimes. Keep on it. Here's hoping things take an about turn for the better!