In order to provide good goat health care, it's important to track problems and routine treatments. I have created a Goat Health Record form for this purpose and just added it to my website so goat owners can download a pdf for their own use. You can use it for tracking kidding, injections, hoof trimming, or any other health-related activity and keep one for each goat in a notebook in the barn.
You can also use it to compare for patterns (e.g., what time of day or night did a doe previously kid?) or to remind yourself that a certain goat seems prone to overeating and getting bloat. I know I sometimes forget from year to year that a goat was sick, once she recovers.
Happy Goating!
Showing posts with label goat health care. Show all posts
Showing posts with label goat health care. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
Raising Goats for Dummies
It's finally on store shelves and even at goathealthcare.com! Raising Goats for Dummies is a fantastic resource for goat owners. It covers all the basics for any kind of goat and also has information on milking, clicker training, cart training, clipping fiber goats and tanning goat hides.
If you are looking for just a few basic books for raising goats, we currently have a sale of both books for $40, with a $5.00 after purchase rebate for Raising Goats for Dummies if you buy it by the end of the month.
If you are thinking about getting goats, read this book first. It will teach you about all the different goats and help you decide what breed you want, as well as help you get your farm or urban setting prepared for your goats. Goat Health Care takes it a step further, with drug dosages for goats, herbal remedies, troubleshooting health problems and even dealing with the death of a goat.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
The Saga of Blondie
I recently started watching the television show House and was astonished by the way that the doctors on the show use the “shotgun” approach to medicine. They make what they consider the most likely diagnosis and then begin to treat it, then change the diagnosis and treatment as tests come in or if the treatment is not working or is making the patient worse. I found myself in a similar situation (sans the high-tech) with my goat, Blondie, last week.
Blondie, a two year old Oberian doe who is feeding 3 two-month-old kids during the day, and me in the morning, developed “the scours” (diarrhea) and was not acting her normal self. I suspected parasites and treated her with kaolin pectin and banamine (a painkiller) and gave her some roughage—salal leaves. I examined her feces under the microscope and found no parasite eggs. She improved and was chewing her cud that afternoon.
The next morning when I got to the barn Blondie had severe diarrhea—all over the place. I feared enterotoxemia at this point (even though she was current on that vaccination), so I gave her 12 cc CDT antitoxin, more kaolin pectin, electrolytes, more roughage (adding blackberry leaves), banamine, slippery elm, and free choice baking soda. I wondered whether I had made a mistake on the fecal, so I gave her Valbazen (dewormer) just in case. By evening she had seriously slowed her eating and drinking.
I called a goat friend, Teri, who reminded me that my book Goat Health Care mentions that vitamin B is good for digestive problems. They had used it on their goats and it had really helped. So I gave a B injection.
By the next morning Blondie had no diarrhea that I could see (not pooping at all!) and had stopped eating and drinking. Nothing appealed to her. I gave her more banamine, syringed in some Red Cell, another shot of vitamin. More electrolytes. Some probiotics. Still no response.
By noon she looked thin as a rail, with sunken eyes. Her gums were grey and she was severely dehydrated. She was slightly foaming at the mouth.
Blondie is my most valuable milk goat and now she was wasting away. I contemplated subcutaneous water injections as well as syringing electrolytes, but quickly realized that that kind of torture might not even win the battle. So I call the vet and asked him to come out and put in an IV. Fortunately he was able to arrive within a half hour. (I learned that it’s best for a goat to get sick right after a holiday because they leave time open in the schedule.)
He put a catheter for an IV into Blondie’s neck. She got a liter of Ringers Lactate, with added CMPK (calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium) and vitamin B. Then he syringed some probiotics with yucca into her. When the IV was done he taped up her neck and showed me how to give more fluids, if needed. I gave her the second liter that night. He said I could give some penicillin if I wanted.
Day four she had diarrhea again, but not as bad. I started her on penicillin after talking to the vet about whether it might be bacterial. I continued the probiotics and kaolin pectin. Also cut fir branches, salal, blackberry leaves and rose. On the vet’s recommendation I let her out to browse. That evening I tried some straw for roughage and she couldn’t get enough. She had become active and vocal.
The next day I finally saw a cud and the diarrhea was abating. She gradually got back to normal over the next few days, her milk production got back to where it was, and she looks healthy.
We still don’t know what triggered it. The vet believes it may have been a mushroom or something else she ate in the field. No other goats got sick.
I am almost happy to have her wake me in the morning now, yelling that she wants to be milked again (i.e., she wants some grain).
Blondie, a two year old Oberian doe who is feeding 3 two-month-old kids during the day, and me in the morning, developed “the scours” (diarrhea) and was not acting her normal self. I suspected parasites and treated her with kaolin pectin and banamine (a painkiller) and gave her some roughage—salal leaves. I examined her feces under the microscope and found no parasite eggs. She improved and was chewing her cud that afternoon.
The next morning when I got to the barn Blondie had severe diarrhea—all over the place. I feared enterotoxemia at this point (even though she was current on that vaccination), so I gave her 12 cc CDT antitoxin, more kaolin pectin, electrolytes, more roughage (adding blackberry leaves), banamine, slippery elm, and free choice baking soda. I wondered whether I had made a mistake on the fecal, so I gave her Valbazen (dewormer) just in case. By evening she had seriously slowed her eating and drinking.
I called a goat friend, Teri, who reminded me that my book Goat Health Care mentions that vitamin B is good for digestive problems. They had used it on their goats and it had really helped. So I gave a B injection.
By the next morning Blondie had no diarrhea that I could see (not pooping at all!) and had stopped eating and drinking. Nothing appealed to her. I gave her more banamine, syringed in some Red Cell, another shot of vitamin. More electrolytes. Some probiotics. Still no response.
By noon she looked thin as a rail, with sunken eyes. Her gums were grey and she was severely dehydrated. She was slightly foaming at the mouth.
Blondie is my most valuable milk goat and now she was wasting away. I contemplated subcutaneous water injections as well as syringing electrolytes, but quickly realized that that kind of torture might not even win the battle. So I call the vet and asked him to come out and put in an IV. Fortunately he was able to arrive within a half hour. (I learned that it’s best for a goat to get sick right after a holiday because they leave time open in the schedule.)
He put a catheter for an IV into Blondie’s neck. She got a liter of Ringers Lactate, with added CMPK (calcium, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium) and vitamin B. Then he syringed some probiotics with yucca into her. When the IV was done he taped up her neck and showed me how to give more fluids, if needed. I gave her the second liter that night. He said I could give some penicillin if I wanted.
Day four she had diarrhea again, but not as bad. I started her on penicillin after talking to the vet about whether it might be bacterial. I continued the probiotics and kaolin pectin. Also cut fir branches, salal, blackberry leaves and rose. On the vet’s recommendation I let her out to browse. That evening I tried some straw for roughage and she couldn’t get enough. She had become active and vocal.
The next day I finally saw a cud and the diarrhea was abating. She gradually got back to normal over the next few days, her milk production got back to where it was, and she looks healthy.
We still don’t know what triggered it. The vet believes it may have been a mushroom or something else she ate in the field. No other goats got sick.
I am almost happy to have her wake me in the morning now, yelling that she wants to be milked again (i.e., she wants some grain).
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Homemade Electrolytes
If you have a goat kid that is dehydrated or needs to have a temporary alternative to milk due to scours, or an adult doe with ketosis, but have no commercial electrolyte powder available, try this homemade electrolyte solution:
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp Lite Salt
1 tsp baking soda
4 oz corn syrup
Add warm water to make 4 pints and mix all ingredients well. Give a standard-sized dairy goat one pint, a mini dairy goat 1/2 to 3/4 pint, and a nigerian dwarf or pygmy 1/2 to 1 cup of the solution 3 or 4 times a day (every 6 hours). Have the goat drink this mixture or use a feeding tube, if necessary.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
The Straight Poop: Goat Feces as an Indicator of Health
One of the simplest ways to evaluate the health of a goat is to observe its feces. This can give clues to whether the goat has a digestive upset or perhaps a parasite problem.
Newborn goats’ first feces are called meconium. They are dark-colored and sticky. During a difficult birth they may be expelled inside the amniotic sac, but normally you will see them after the first feeding with colostrum and for up to a day or so after birth.
Once the kid starts drinking milk, the feces become yellow. This is normal. They will stay that color until the kid starts eating hay or grain. The kids feces should be formed, but may be slightly soft.
When a kid begins to eat hay and grain, you will start to see a change in the color of the feces to brown. As the rumen develops you will begin to see small pellets, like those of adult goats and rabbits.
Adult goat feces should be firm “berries” that are brown-colored. They may be a greenish color if the goat has a diet high in alfalfa. Goats that eat a lot of grain, such as those that are milking, can have feces that are more clumped than usual. This is not a problem.
Diarrhea, in goats, is often referred to as “scours.” Scours can be caused by a sudden change in diet—for example, lush green pasture or adding grain. They also can be caused by parasites, such as various worms or coccidia (a protozoa); bacteria, overeating, or enterotoxemia (an overgrowth of clostridium perfringens in the gut.
The first step to take when a goat develops mild diarrhea is to give it kaolin pectin or pepto bismol, or slippery elm powder (to soothe the gut) and probiotics (to ensure that it has enough good bacteria to counterbalance the bad). If that doesn’t work, take the goat’s temperature and look for other symptoms.
In kids, coccidiosis is a very common condition. It can be easily treated with Di-methox or another drug aimed at these virulent critters. An overload of coccidia can be determined by looking at the feces under a microscope to determine whether a large number of eggs are being released. The same is true for other intestinal parasites; although tapeworms can be detected by looking at the poop—they appear as white segments, much like grains of rice. These and other parasites can be treated with one of the many dewormers on the market.
Besides color and form, another indicator of sickness in a goat is blood in the feces. Old blood causes black feces and is caused by bleeding higher in the digestive tract. Bright red blood is caused by bleeding in the intestine. Blood in the feces is an indicator to call a veterinarian.
This kind of observation is one that should be done on a daily basis; like other indicators, evaluating a goat’s poop can go a long way in ensuring that a goat is healthy.
You can read more about coccidiosis and enterotoxemia in Goat Health Care.
Newborn goats’ first feces are called meconium. They are dark-colored and sticky. During a difficult birth they may be expelled inside the amniotic sac, but normally you will see them after the first feeding with colostrum and for up to a day or so after birth.
Once the kid starts drinking milk, the feces become yellow. This is normal. They will stay that color until the kid starts eating hay or grain. The kids feces should be formed, but may be slightly soft.
When a kid begins to eat hay and grain, you will start to see a change in the color of the feces to brown. As the rumen develops you will begin to see small pellets, like those of adult goats and rabbits.
Adult goat feces should be firm “berries” that are brown-colored. They may be a greenish color if the goat has a diet high in alfalfa. Goats that eat a lot of grain, such as those that are milking, can have feces that are more clumped than usual. This is not a problem.
Diarrhea, in goats, is often referred to as “scours.” Scours can be caused by a sudden change in diet—for example, lush green pasture or adding grain. They also can be caused by parasites, such as various worms or coccidia (a protozoa); bacteria, overeating, or enterotoxemia (an overgrowth of clostridium perfringens in the gut.
The first step to take when a goat develops mild diarrhea is to give it kaolin pectin or pepto bismol, or slippery elm powder (to soothe the gut) and probiotics (to ensure that it has enough good bacteria to counterbalance the bad). If that doesn’t work, take the goat’s temperature and look for other symptoms.
In kids, coccidiosis is a very common condition. It can be easily treated with Di-methox or another drug aimed at these virulent critters. An overload of coccidia can be determined by looking at the feces under a microscope to determine whether a large number of eggs are being released. The same is true for other intestinal parasites; although tapeworms can be detected by looking at the poop—they appear as white segments, much like grains of rice. These and other parasites can be treated with one of the many dewormers on the market.
Besides color and form, another indicator of sickness in a goat is blood in the feces. Old blood causes black feces and is caused by bleeding higher in the digestive tract. Bright red blood is caused by bleeding in the intestine. Blood in the feces is an indicator to call a veterinarian.
This kind of observation is one that should be done on a daily basis; like other indicators, evaluating a goat’s poop can go a long way in ensuring that a goat is healthy.
You can read more about coccidiosis and enterotoxemia in Goat Health Care.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
New Goat Health Care Book
I plan to use this venue to share health care news related to goats, as well as some of my personal goat care experience, with the intent of educating and entertaining the reader.
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