First the poop question. I know that my goat normally releases pellet type poops. But this morning we went out and see huge poops that look like a large dog would have left them. Is there something wrong with her? They are not pellets, rather they look just like dog poop and we know they have to be from her because we don't have any dogs that would be in her stall overnight. My second question is about her hair. She is a Sannen/Nubian cross and ofcourse all white. She has lost quite a bit of hair on the back of her neck and a few other places. Is there something wrong? What can I do about it? Thanks! BlessedMom
The poops you're seeing are a goat's form of diarhea (scours). Kaolin will help her poops form up, along with some probios to get her tummy balanced again. Also, just grass hay until her poops look normal again - her gut needs time to rest. Basically, treat her the way you'd treat yourself if you had the runs. On the hair loss, a bit more info please. Is the hair loss generalized, or is she getting isolated bald spots? Are you seeing scaly, itchy looking rashes where the hair is coming off?
What is Kaolin? And where would I get this and probios? I think what may have happened is that we got her moved into her new barn in a different area of our property so there are different things for her to eat. Is Alfalfa okay to feed her? On the hair, it looks like she is basically rubbing it off. When I pet her tons of hair is shed. She walks by you and leaves you with a wad of hair on your clothes. she has never done that before. There does not seem to be any rash. It is basically on the back of her long neck, and then some of her sides. Thank you! BlessedMom
Kaolin is the active ingredient in Kaopectate - I have a gallon jug of it I bought at the feed store (I can dose up the entire neighborhood if I need to!). Some people use Pepto bismol with good results. You use basically the same dose you would use on a person of the same weight. Probios is a supplement that has the "good" bacteria that inhabit a critter's gut - yogurt with active cultures will do the same job (my goats like the maple syrup flavor). The probios I also get at the feed store. If she's used to alfalfa and didn't have problems with it, that should be fine. It'll just take her a little bit to get used to the new plants in her place. I really can't help you with that kind of hair loss. One of my goats gets ringworm occasionally - spots of scaly rash. Hopefully someone else can chime in on that one! Your welcome! I learned by having my goats get into stuff and figuring out what worked. And asking questions when what I was doing wasn't working.
