sick goat?

farmerted · #1 01/09/15, 09:01 AM

For the past two days around here the wind chill was below neg 5, yesterday was especially brutal, so my goats and chickens didn't want to go out of the building so we locked them in for the day. So we decided if they weren't getting the food they normally get foraging we need to increase their calories and have been feeding the goats, 3 pygmys, 3 times as much goat chow as normal and lots of alfalfa.

Yesterday I noticed Charlie had some poop stuck on the back of his legs, I looked around in the barn and didn't see any thing to give me pause, so I thought maybe he had laid down in the chicken poop and it got frozen to him. This morning I went out there and found this (where they sleep in a kiddie swimming pool). in front of these giant piles is what his poop normally looks like, like rabbit poop that sometimes clumps. I did find some larger poops yesterday, but nothing like this. It seems kind of firm, not pure liquid. Should I be concerned? Call the vet?

His eyes are still bright and he seems other wise to be his frisky self and still has a healthy diet.

Thanks for you help, we have a vet that will make a house call, but it is kind of expensive, thought I would check here first before I call her. It also still FREEZING. Looking forward to tomorrow when it is supposed to get up to 28, woo hoo!

have a nice day.

marusempai · #2 01/09/15, 09:15 AM

Their diet did change rather suddenly, and that will cause poo like that. You might try backing off on the goat chow and just giving them as much hay as they will eat. More roughage will help them stay warm - rumens generate a lot of heat, and the cold will make them hungry for it!

farmerted · #3 01/09/15, 09:33 AM

So I just and went to check him out and how he has a bloody discharge coming out of his butt, looked kind of looked like and consistency of raspberry jelly, not much maybe like a table spoon full.

Time to call the vet I guess.

Jtown21 · #4 01/09/15, 01:50 PM

I know you feel I dug to mice out of a frozen water bucket this morning!

billinwv · #5 01/09/15, 01:59 PM

Extra grain surely did it. Mine did that after getting into chicken feed. No grain for a while and free choice baking soda. Mine cleared right up. I would carry warm water to them several times a day to prevent dehydration from the diarrhea.

farmerted · #6 01/09/15, 03:08 PM

looked at the red stuff in a different stool, it indeed looked like berries, like he had eaten some, we have a billion honeysuckle bushes and they still have berries on them, maybe he ate those as well as too much grain.

He is still his chipper self and his butt looks better, gave them plenty of hay today, they didn't even eat it all.

Thanks again, I felt horrible, still feel like a jerk, but better thanks to your help.

have a nice day

Frosted Mini's · #7 01/09/15, 03:15 PM

For the future, never give a goat 3x as much grain as it is used to. If you feel like they need more, increase it slowly, like a 1/4 of their amount at a time, every few days, unless they get loose stools, then maybe hold a few more days before the next increase. I am sure that's what caused the pudding poops. You can increase hay though, and that keeps the furnace going better than grain anyway (or some would say, that's not a grain, fine, feed...whatever, concentrate). If he's eating berries and has loose poo, that's probably why they are showing up in the stool...going thru the gut too fast to digest.

farmerted · #8 01/09/15, 04:38 PM

we are first timers, obviously. thanks for the help.

dozedotz · #9 01/09/15, 06:21 PM

Most of us are "first timers" at something! I would add this to the excellent information given above: when you start to increase the grain for milking does...do that gradually, too. Try to start at least a month away from the expected kidding date and just give them small amounts that you increase every 4 days or so until they are where they need to be at kidding time. Grain is usually the culprit in rumen upsets caused by eating something they are not used to in large amounts, but ANYTHING can get them off balance when fed in too large quantities all at once. I completely agree that hay is what keeps them warm. We are in MO., too, and we have been feeding extra hay only during this really cold spell. Good luck!!

Pony · #10 01/10/15, 01:47 PM

Don't worry about being newbies with goats. Even those of us who have been "doing" this for a few years learn all the time. Goats have a steep learning curve, and they love to spring surprises on us.

You're doing great, FarmerTed! You're paying attention to your herd's needs, and you can always come here for advice, encouragement, commiseration, and ENABLING! heeheehee...

wintrrwolf · #11 01/10/15, 03:00 PM

I still come here and ask questions. I imagine my brain like a filing system and sometimes info gets misfiled or archived to make room for new stuff, wish I could digitize my brain...

motdaugrnds · #12 01/11/15, 04:20 AM

Yes, we've all been newbies; and never ever learn everything about our goats. I've had large Nubians since 1996 and still lost some to those terrible minengeal worms last year before I realized what was happening.

As for the grain, never ever increase grain that fast; and it is really best not to increase it at all. Good hay and warm bedding is best! If you do feel a need to put on weight, use some shreded beet pulp and alfalfa pellets; and even these should be increased slowly.