Goats got into duck food

marusempai · #1 07/20/14, 11:50 AM

So I got home from church to find the goats in the poultry yard. GAH! And of course they were eating the duck food. I do not think they ate an incredible amount, as they must have just broken in right before I got there as there was still quite a lot of duck food all over everywhere, and it was not a huge feeder (one of those round chick feeders). But I'm wondering if there's anything I should be doing preemptively to prevent them from getting sick? I have baking soda out for them, like I always do. Would a fresh pan of baking soda be helpful? Probiotics? Thanks!

CAjerseychick · #2 07/20/14, 12:20 PM

Hmmmm when my wether had at a 50# bag (he broke into the garage and had his head in the bag when we got home).... my vet charcoaled him, sent him home with strict instructions lotsa fresh cool water as much roughage as he would eat - grass hay-- and (trying to remember) I think it was TUMs we were giving him twice a day for 3 days....
He also got a shot of something but her was really bad- just shooting out diahrea....
Monitor them for bad diahrea or clumpy poos. If poos OK you had a narrow escape-- poultry feed is way too concentrated for goats, and now they know where to find it (crafty little goat minds, with lotsa time on their "hands"/ hooves)...

Alice In TX/MO · #3 07/20/14, 12:20 PM

In a pen with hay, water, baking soda, oak browse if you can gather some.

Keep eagle eye on them.

CAjerseychick · #4 07/20/14, 12:22 PM

And yeah probiotics (it comes in tube form you can squirt it into them) to help their tummies right themselves -- is also what we gave...

marusempai · #5 07/20/14, 12:54 PM

Very good. So it sounds like what they will need is fiber? I will shut them into the barnyard with their grass hay, and I just refilled the water trough this morning. I poured some more baking soda just now too (they always eat more if I mess with it). Hopefully this is just a scary close call... I'm going to be revisiting the latch on the back of the coop. :P

marusempai · #6 07/20/14, 01:28 PM

We even have one oak tree it turns out. Yay! So they think I'm crazy but don't care because I brought them tree branches.

So here's my new question: they usually get grain at the milk stand in the evening. Should I not give them grain? Maybe just give them their usual ration of alfalfa pellets (I give grain and alfalfa 2-1 when I milk them)? Or maybe give them their whole usual volume in alfalfa? Or maybe just enough to get them on the milk stand? I'll definitely give everybody some probiotics. Also, I have been taping Emerald's teats at night, I'm thinking it might be better for the baby to have milk all night tonight? Thanks a lot guys, google has only told me what to do if they're already sick, and so far they are their usual, non-sick selves, doing their usual things. Super frustrating, because they just got done with sticky clumpy poop for no apparent reason. I was hoping this week would be better! But at least that going on means I have stuff like probiotics on hand already.

marusempai · #7 07/20/14, 05:39 PM

So, they're still all fine. The two big girls are having sticky pellets (pellets that stick together, but bounce apart some when they hit the ground), which is about how their poop was this morning before this entire incident. Emerald (who I suspect did most of the duck food feasting) is clearly a bit stickier than Sundae, but she's no worse than she was day before yesterday. The baby is going about with (still) normal poos like nothing happened - I suspect she was too busy trying to play with chickens to eat bird food. Is there an amount of time after which I am in the clear? Because they are clearly thriving on the attention but I'm tired of the frequent goat checks.

CAjerseychick · #8 07/20/14, 11:42 PM

Sorry was at work!
NO GRAIN not til poops absolutely clear. The duck food is already grain overload, skip the grain for a day or two, sounds like they are mostly OK though and it was just a close call....

marusempai · #9 07/21/14, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CAjerseychick

Sorry was at work!
NO GRAIN not til poops absolutely clear. The duck food is already grain overload, skip the grain for a day or two, sounds like they are mostly OK though and it was just a close call....

Very good... I just gave them extra alfalfa pellets last night, so that was good. I did already give them their grain this morning, but if they don't have totally normal poo today I'll give them just alfalfa tonight again. Thanks!