Help! Goat got to the plum tree!

Hawkfamily · #1 07/27/04, 01:53 AM

Please help ! Our goat got to the plum tree and helped herself to MANY plums, pits included. We are realizing now, days later, that she doesn't appear to be having any bowel movement whatsoever. We have isolated her so as to be able to monitor this - she is bloating up and not passing anything, it appears!! What can we do???

Meg Z · #2 07/27/04, 07:35 AM

You posted that in the middle of the night! I hope your goat held on until your vet opened this morning.
Best of luck to you.
Meg

mamahen · #3 07/27/04, 07:45 AM

Mineral oil & fast!! If not that, then any kind of cooking oil.

Get her to drink some of it. She probably won't do it willingly so you'll have to use a syringe or turkey baster. But be careful not to choke her. You don't want it to get in her lungs!!

Keep her walking to, the intestines sometimes need stimulation from walking to move things along.

Hawkfamily · #4 07/27/04, 10:36 AM

LOL - I thought the same thing when I looked at your reply this morning! We are on the west coast, so it was about midnight when I posted that before going to bed - not 3 am.....
And....false alarm!!!! Our goat is just fine this morning - and everything seems to be moving excellently. My husband is relieved - he was awake all night thinking about the KY jelly and the rubber glove. We will continue to monitor the situation, but I think that everything is going to be okay.
thanks for your best wishes last night!
jodi

nappy · #5 07/27/04, 03:20 PM

While reading this, I was amused and feeling a little smug MY goats don't ever get out! Well, at that time (one hour ago), I began hearing the banging of metal trash cans over the intercom (what a lifesaver) as a loose lid came off. As I got my shoes on, I saw one goat near the porch. There were three in the milk room area, where grain is stored, munching on the open can of whole corn. The rest were enjoying their freedom in the yard. Every goat but the bucks were out...that's 12! The dilemma being which gates/doors to open/lock to get them in and for me to get out. There are now 10 locked in the pasture and 2-four month olds (no collars to grab) are still out. You probably wonder where they got out. Well, that newly done flimsy field fence was easy to knock down to get to the other side and more food. That section is no longer accessible to them. Fencing must be sturdy for goats.

I'd like to know....Did the pits finally come out?

Nappy

Hawkfamily · #6 07/27/04, 09:31 PM

Hey there Nappy - found your post very amusing! Hopefully all goats have been safely returned....
We don't believe that the pits ever did come out - haven't seen any sign of them in the poop anyway. Our goat is fine today - and not bloated in the least tonight...Thank God!
jodi

Lisa A · #7 07/28/04, 08:16 PM

We had our first full scale breakout a week or so back, 11 goats. VERY Scary.
A kid got her head stuck in a wired-shut gate and pushed it open. But we had
no damage; they all went straight for the area where we milk and trim hooves,
but they couldn't locate the feed. I got a can of feed, shook it and had 11
goats in my lap instantly.

Rule 1. Always close all of the gates, all the way, all the time.
Rule 2. Always keep all the feed in closed containers and close the lid
Rule 3. Don't feed garden scraps near the garden, to avoid making a mental
connection between yumminess and location.
Rule 4. Don't underestimate the power of a goat to get under, through, or
around a fence or gate, sometimes quite by accident (at other times by
naughty intent)

I confess rule 2 is partly just to keep the birds out, the scrub jays even eat
the cat's food.

Laura Workman · #8 07/28/04, 10:10 PM

I was milking one of my goats the other day. They'd gotten out, too, the day before. Well, she started tossing her head like she had something in her mouth she didn't like. Then she spit it out. It was a plum pit! And it smelled like cud, so I guess it had been the course, so to speak. Certainly solved the mystery of what happens to the pits.

#9 07/29/04, 12:10 AM

Don't feel bad about your goats getting out. I woke up one morning not too long ago and strolled into the kitchen for a cup of joe, when I just happened to notice my billy standing on my back deck gazing at me through the sliding glass door. That's definitely an early morning eye-opener!

Tater'sPa · #10 07/29/04, 07:36 AM

I got into a huge bit of trouble a few years back when I had gone out into the goats lot forgetting to latch the gate on my return. By morning 11 goats had found our front yard. My wifes rose bushes (her pride & joy) had been striped bare, the smaller pear trees had been hit as well. :waa: I was in the dog house for weeks but after that the roses came back and grew like we've never seen before. I guess they just need a little pruning

woolfool · #11 07/29/04, 10:04 PM

I work at a living history museum and one of our goats used to get out at night and escort our night guard on his rounds

Victoria