Gaahh!!! Piles of green pudding everywhere

[Awnry Abe]

Seems like nearly every doe in the boer lot has a case of the runs. They haven't been out on pasture since we got heavy snow. We finally had the start of our melt-off a few days ago. I'm trying to add up all of the changes in the past few days. New round bale last Thursday. A wee bit of oats because their was some left over in a kidding stall. Mud, poop, and more mud everywhere.

I have a batch of Toltrazuril on hand for this years kids. Any reason that I shouldn't treat the whole herd? Other than it being expensive and maybe unnecessary if it were feed related? I get kinda jumpy at the idea of Coccidia. It has cost me dearly already. This isn't watery poop, but very, very loose. I think I still have a small window to troubleshoot.

[Alice In TX/MO]

Hay from a different source? Can you wait till tomorrow to take a sample to the vet? How many goats?

[Awnry Abe]

Sort of a different source. My hay came from one seller, but I bought so may bales that it probably would have been from different pastures. The goats get so little of it because I only feed hay during a white-out. In either case, it isn't a normal part of their diet.

I've got a scope and have been able to ID coccidia before. I also have company coming for the day. Hectic.

[mygoat]

No adult goat should ever get coccidiosis unless something is horribly wrong with it (horrible immune system, severely immune supressed) They can have high loads (and this is normal) but they should not be clinically ill from it. You run into problems when adults with high loads are shedding it into the environment where the kids pick it up (and they have no immunity for the first 6 months of life or so). I can't think of a faster way for an adult to get culled here. The adults should have the immunity to fight it off. I have not and will not ever treat an adult for coccidiosis - unless I use 'trailer-mycin' (which means it's on the fast track to the sale barn!)

We used to feed the adults rumensin medicated feed 4-6 weeks pre kidding. NOT to improve the load for the adults' sake, but to lower the amount they were shedding into the environment for the sake of the dam raised kids. We now only have alpines and pull all kids at birth, and we won't be using rumensin for the adults. We'll be doing coccidiosis prevention in milk and feed for the kids. (probably deccox this year).

[Awnry Abe]

It sure is nice to have company over for Sunday dinner and be in the middle of a fecal at the supper table when they show up...

Just a quick update...

It is not widespread like I originally though. We must have been loosing track because the goats where all over us. There are only 3 with the runs out of 8 in the doe area.

I've got issues. Although I'm still a relative nube looking into the microscope, I don't think I spotted any coccidia. There was an abundance of some other worm egg, though. I just wormed the sample doe approx 1 week ago at kidding. 15cc of ivermectin sheep drench.

[Tango]

I don't know if anyone digest oats very well. That and the change to hay (or of hay) would induce some runny poop. There are probably many minute details of your feeding, the weather, the overall condition of your herd health etc. that I'd use to determine if I should treat for anything or wait a couple of days. Sounds sometimes like a couple of days is too long though.
Has this been a crazy year for goats? Have goat parasites gotten worse in the past few years or is it the extreme cold and snow/ice that have caused so many problems?

I hope it is an easy fix Awnry Abe. My mother is visiting tomorrow and I have chicks and ducklings in my tiny cabin, not quite fecal matter on the table but then I don't have a table. Of course if my doelings were here right now they'd be in the cabin too

[Alice In TX/MO]

I trimmed the roses yesterday and brought some of the trimmings to the pen. Piles of pudding poo this morning. S**t happens.

[dozedotz]

We get the green poo every spring (the REAL thing...not this fake stuff) when the new growth pops out. A little yogurt (again, the REAL thing, not the sugar stuff) takes care of it...sometimes Probios if it is too ridiculous. The rumen just needs to adjust. We have fecal tested twice a year (just before kidding and about a month after kidding) and have never had parasite problems that needed meds (Cydectin, Valbazen, etc.). Be careful about "just worming to be worming" with green poo. It may just be that they discovered something to eat that has not been on the menu.

[GraceAlice]

Have they been tested for Johnes? More than two goats having the runs would worry me. Do you have any cattle?

It seems weird that they would get the runs in Winter when there is no green stuff to eat. My goats deal with oats fine, if we have a problem with our normal feed, we feed them straight oats.

[mygoat]

Goats rarely if ever get diarrhea associated with johnes disease.

Hope they're clearing up. Unless diet changed fast I doubt oats caused an issue. If you did see worm eggs that may be a sign of a heavy load - this time of year, most worms are not shedding eggs because they somehow know any eggs shed would not do well though the cold. Most fecals well be really low egg count through the winter. I usually hesitate to deworm anything through winter unless body condition/feces condition/eye color warrants it.

[GraceAlice]

Well they also can look weak and malnourished.. but diarrhea can be a symptom.

[mygoat]

Very, very rarely in goats I suppose it could be. At DCPAH, I asked he Johnes dude if he ever had a positive goat diarrhea... never to his knowledge has he set up a positive goat diarrhea. All the positives (and we've had a lot of strong ones from goats!) have been berries. Its a very common symptom in cows, but it is really uncommon in goats; I'd suspect secondary diarrhea from deteriorating immune system/secondary infection or a result of owner trying to change feed feed to improve body condition is just as likely to have caused it, not necessarily caused by a johnes infection, IMO.