I have a year old Toggenburg doe, and she has been coughing a lot lately. I'm wondering if anyone has any clues as to what could be wrong with her. Her appetite is fine. She is moving around fine. Weight is good. No draft at night when I put them in the barn... She just takes a coughing fit every so often, and I'm starting to get worried... Any insight into this would be most appreciated. Thanks!
Have you changed your supplier of hay recently ??? One possibility is that the hay is more dustier than usual and is causing the cough. If she is eating, drinking, and pooping normal and her temps are normal, I would not get too alarmed. If there is a temp and runny nose, then an antibiotic would be in order here. Let us know how she is doing.
When is the last time you wormed the goats? Lungworm could be the problem. If you wormed recently, then I'd look for possible dust problems like Elly_may mentioned.
Thank you both for your replies: Her lungs are clear. Last wormed about two weeks ago with Hoegger Herbal Wormer. Prior to that we used Ivermectin. We had switched wormers due to higher cost with the Ivermectin and the fact that it made them throw up everytime we wormed them with it... The problem could be the hay. It is much drier than what we were buying before... We had started buying hay from a different place after discovering a few moldy bales from our last supplier... I do notice that all the goats tend to sneeze more when they have their noses in this new hay. I'll continue to watch her for any additional symptoms or worsening of the cough... Thanks again!
smoky- it does sound like lung worm which is prevalent in this part of the country. (i'm on the TN side of the smokies) the hoegger wormer does not touch it. been there, done that. ivermectin should not make your goats vomit. the only thing that commonly makes them vomit is getting into rhododendron. try using the injectable ivermectin, but use it as a pour on, on their feed, or a treat, using 1cc per 100# body weight. it will work, usually after first dose, but repeat it in a week to make sure. once you are sure thee lungowrm is gone, you can use the herbal wormer as maintenence.
Please consider having a fecal done to rule out Lung Worm. There have been hundreds, and hundreds of goats die because their owners used herbal wormers.
Thank you marvella and Nic for your advice. We will definitly take the necessary steps to rule out lungworm.
Just gave her a dose of Ivermectin (oral). She did fine - no vomiting afterwards. I notice that she has a runny nose as well... Will get fecal sample and test and continue to monitor her... Thanks again everyone for the great advice. Smoky
Smoky, when I asked Dr. Skillman about using Ivomec orally she said it is not effective used that way. According to Dr. Skillman, in order for it to be effective orally you would have to give way too much. She said to only give it by injection, or use Valbazen, or Cydectin given orally-all are effective.
Smoky, when I asked Dr. Skillman about using Ivomec orally she said it is not effective used that way. .................................. Perhaps you could go to the Texas A&M site, or the Langston University site or any of the other hundred teaching university sites and print out a refresher course on small ruminant parisitology and give this to your vet? It is pretty common knowledge that all wormers are given orally to goats to slow down the time they are in the goat, because of their speedy metabolisims. Other than bringing in lungworm to your place when you purchase, you have to have wet land, you have to have snails, they are the intermediate host for lungworm. If you don't have these kind of conditions or brought your goats from conditions like this, it isn't lungworm. Levisole is actually one of the best and cheapest wormers to treat lungworm. Valbazen also. It takes a specialy type of fecal to test for lungworms (a Barehman or something like that and of course most vets don't do it. Fecal material sent off to your state lab would give you a much better idea of what you are dealing with. If you are using herbal wormers, your goats could be coughing from worms in general. What do her gums look like? With your mention of no draft. Is this barn enclosed? You might want to go out tonight, kneel down and breath in the air the does have to breath for 20 mintues or so. Do you smell urine? Are your knees wet? If either of the above happen than you need to improve the air circulation in the barn, and either bed with sand or shavings. This could be chemical pnemonia, like inhalation pnemonia, in this case from the amonia or humidity. Actually very common during wet springs and fall. Yes you want the area they lay in to be free of drafts, but you do not want it airtight. Vicki
Vicki, What a wealth of information you've given me. I don't really have 'wetland', but I suppose one could say that I did. Last week it rained nonstop for 3-4 days when the remnants of Ivan rolled through here. Consequently the 'barnyard' area was very muddy (pasture area was fine though). Additionally, we do have snails - I see them all the time. So perhaps conditions are perfect for lungworm... Regarding the barn; Yes, it is enclosed with a door. I put them in at night because we have lots of coyotes in this area that come down occasionally from the higher elevations. Recently, the nights started dropping to 40 degrees, and I was worried about leaving the window open and letting a draft in. I must say that when I open the door in the morning I've noticed a strong ammonia smell since I've closed the window. This has been carelessness on my part. I should know this since I was just reading Caprine Supply's Goatkeeping 101 about diseases. Right under "Pneumonia' it states that barns that are poorly ventilated, with a strong ammonia odor in the air and damp bedding are the perfect setting for spreading viruses which cause pneumonia... I'm going to keep the window partially opened to allow a little more fresh air in... Their bedding is dry for the most part. Of course they urinate in it, and I use a combination of shavings and sawdust layering rather than shoveling every week. I've discovered that it stays cleaner using a 'deep bedding' system and shoveling about 3 times a year rather than changing it constantly. Again Vicki, thanks for your insight. For a minute there I felt like I was reading something written by Tom Brown when you suggested going out to the barn, kneeling down, and breathing the air that the does have to breath for about 20 minutes... Looked like something straight out of 'Field Guide To Nature Observation And Tracking'. Smoky
