[rootsandwings]

I just brought home two nubian doe kids - my first goats.

one is 12 weeks old, and the other is 7 weeks.

the guy I bought them from had them on sweetfeed, corn, hay, and browse, with the little one getting a bottle of fresh (straight from his cow) cows milk 2x a day.

I got a bale of hay from him, brought them home and added pellet goat feed, free choice to the menu. except I couldn't get goat sweet feed, so at the moment they have horse sweet feed - which I know is lower in protien, so I cut back their corn. but to be honest, they aren't eating much of it anyway. is the horse sweet feed bad for them?

they have plenty of fresh water.

my concern here is the younger one. I do not have a cow, so she is getting store bought whole milk in her bottle. the seller said she took between a quart and a half gallon per feeding, but she is drinking about a cup and a half. both goats are browsing fine, eating hay, and nibbling at the sweet feed and goat pellets.

the older one is doing great, and the younger one acts fine, but has diarhea. am I doing something obviously wrong? could it be a change in browse plants? should I cut out the bottle or try milk replacer? wait it out? how long? the bottle is the only difference in diet (at least that I can cointrol. they may be eating completely different things in my field)

 

[Stacy Adams]

"the bottle is the only difference in diet "

Actually, the bottle and the hay are the only things the same, unless your feeding them the SAME grains, sweetfeed, etc, etc, that they were eating at the other place, if not, then their diet has changed.. and goat don't do change well... my advice? Keep doing what your doing.. don't switch anything out for anything else now.. it will take them a bit to adjust but if you switch back now, you'll just be making another change, and stress from the move, new feed, yea that will do it....

The whole cow milk from the grocers is just fine, only it's pasturized and so no good bacteria.. I would recomend against replacer as I've heard a lot of negative things about it.. and again, that would be another change..

I would give them some Probios for 5 days (5g) and some baking soda.. the baby, you can put the bs in her bottle (a pinch) and the older one, I just wet my finger, get some on the end and wipe it on their tongue.. this will help with the upset tummy and the Probios will help maintain their rumen..
I've had my goats on horse feed for a long time but I used a "dry mix" which has less molassas (which can cause tummy aches).. my goats won't eat horse pellets .. If it helps, find a feed that is readily available to you and if it's not what your using slooooowlly switch them over. I have mine now on Purina Goat Chow and they love it and they look great.

Also, personally, I don't use Pepto, or Kayopectate or that stuff as I'd rather take care of the problem than cover up the results.. It may take a few days, but consistancy here is the key and you should see things get back to normal soon..
Good luck with your new acquisitions.. it's a learning experiance, but a fun and rewarding one!!

 

[rootsandwings]

I meant that the bottle was the only difference in diet between the goat with the upset tummy and the goat with no upset tummy,

but of course there's the free choice factor and the variety of plants growing in my field.... those are just a lot harder for me to do anything about than the bottle would be.

the pellet feed is goat feed, it's just the sweet feed that is for horses. and the corn is just whole dry yellow corn shelled off the cob - which they were getting before, only before they had more of it - which may be irrelevant because they have yet to finish the reduced serving I give them.

 

[Stacy Adams]

I'm sorry, my misunderstanding..
So, it's the younger one with the diarrhea... she's (at 7 weeks) probably not doing the grazing that the older one is, mine sure wern't.. since only the baby is getting the runs (the scours, as it's callen in rumen world) then I would just give her a small pinch of baking soda in her bottle for a day or two and see how she does..

Is the sweetfeed the same brand/kind as the previous owners were feeding?? even just switching brands will cause upsets.. and the pelleted goat feed, even though it's formulated for goats, if it's new, well that can do it too...

do you have a livestock/rectal thermometer? norm average is 102.5 I would take the temp of both kids if one is showing stress and the other isn't. that way, if they are both a bit higher (let's say 103 as kids can be higher) or if the young one is higher or lower than the other and lower than norm average, then you may have other things going on... if you don't have a thermometer, then I would just keep a real close eye on her, and make sure she's acting fine...
I'm sure it's just the stress of the move and in a few days, everything will be hunky-dorey..

 

[Guest]

If she's really scouring (making puddles), I would give that baby some Kaopectate to dry up her runs right now. About an ounce is a good dose for a 7-week-old kid. Probios is a good idea, too. Did you say you were giving grain free choice? Did they get grain free choice before? It's really easy for little kids to overeat on grain, and once they get scours, they can quickly dehydrate and then it's a real job to get them back.

Also, consider coccidiosis or worms. The stress of moving can allow worms and cocci to become a huge burden. When were these kids last wormed? Have you checked her mucous membranes for signs of anemia? (Pale gums and insides of her eyelids.)

Have they been on cocci treatment? Cocci can permanently damage your goats intestines and reduce her capability to digest food (and produce milk) for the rest of her life. Albon or Sulmet are pretty easy to administer and take care of the cocci around here without the threat of thiamine deficiency caused by Corid.

But first, just stop the diarrhea, your most immediate serious danger.

 

[Laura Workman]

Oops! That was me above as Unregistered.

 

[rootsandwings]

thanks,

yesterday she was sort of "making puddles" - pancake batter consistency, but not large quantities or over-frequent stops (she was pooping about as much as the other goat) drinking and acting fine except for a dirty tail.

last night I gave them the baking soda - they loved it. also I caught her eating the oat straw I put down for bedding (instead of the hay?)

this morning the poop is more like peanut butter (but darker) and she is cleaner, so hopefully it is just dietary upset. I gave them more baking soda.

they've been disbudded and the little one is tatooed, no other treatment or care (gotta do the big ones hoves) I am giving them their sweetfeed/corn mix free choice, but they are just nibbling at it. It is only a pint a day for both and yesterday they still had a lot of it left from the day before, so I didn't give them any more.