Baby goat has runny loose poop

Jody

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My baby Nigerian wether is 17 days old. Up til today his poops have been normal. He's been living inside my home since I got him when he was 8 days old, up until yesterday which was his first overnight out doors.

Today, 2 times I noticed loose runny poops.. not quite a liquid, but more like a super squishy gel. It was yellow, whereas before his poops were a bit more orange and more firm.

How do I know if it's due to bacterial, viral, protozwhatever, or coccidiosis related, or even if it's from the milk replacer?

What's changed other than housing is in the milk mix I added 2 and half grams of probios to 2quarts milk. Could this be the cause?

He's been on a calf milk replacer since I got him, however, I mixed 2qts with 1 can carnation canned milk + 1qt buttermilk, & 1 pump of Nutri-Drench and he was fine on that

The diareah come after having the milk with probios. Could this be the cause?

I'm trying to keep him hydrated with fluids. I gave him water with electrolytes, but he won't drink much.. That was this morning.. he had maybe around 2 ounces..

Tonight I tried getting him to take more, but he won't suckle.. got maybe a couple squirts from the nipple.

In my water/electrolyte mix I added 1/3 teaspoon of corrid into 20oz water

He's active when awake, however does sleep alot, has been wanting to drink milk when it's hungry and has been chewing tiny pieces of hay.

The poops fall off and are not quite the mess as seen in some photos found online, but they're gel like and concern me.

What should I do other than make sure he gets water/electrolytes and just incase it's coccidiosis or to prevent such, how much corrid do I mix into a 20oz bottle of water?
 

helmstead

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CoRid is only effective at VERY high doses, and not diluted. This sounds like a cocci bloom to me...altho you do need to stop changing his diet, and quit giving him anything besides milk out of the bottle (use electrolyte paste if you want to give him electrolytes).

I'd switch to Dimethox/Albon and treat for cocci. If you would rather use the CoRid which you already have, PM me for correct dosages.
 

ksalvagno

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I don't know if this is true in goat kids but Corid doesn't work for alpaca crias. We use Albon or SMZ-TMP.
 

helmstead

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It will work at a very high dosage...but I don't use it as a primary...I might use it in conjunction with Dimethox or following Dimethox when I have a particulary bad run with cocci...

The reason it's not effective is the darn directions on the container...they WAY underdose, which has created resistant strains.
 

Roll farms

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I prefer not to use corid, as it inhibits vitamin b absorption....which is what kills off the cocci....and can (not usual, but possible) lead to goat polio (thiamine deficiency).

I have to second the 'stop changing the kid's diet'....Mother nature gives them milk alone, and she seems to know what she's doing.;)
 

aggieterpkatie

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At this age kids don't need probios because their rumen isn't even functioning much, if at all.
 

cmjust0

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atk said:
At this age kids don't need probios because their rumen isn't even functioning much, if at all.
I'll second the above -- Probios is for the rumen.

What you have to understand is that when a baby goat nurses, something called the "esophageal groove" closes and allows the milk to bypass the rumen and go directly into the abomasum. Sooo...feeding probios in a bottle allows the probios to go directly into the abomasum instead of the rumen.

Not to mention, probios is made of active bacterial cultures which are designed to break down fiber. I have literally no idea what they do when they get in milk replacer, but milk + live bacteria....I wouldn't think it would be a good thing, necessarily.

What's especially troubling is that you mentioned mixing the probios in 2 quarts of replacer... A 17-day old baby doesn't take two quarts at a time, which means the Probios was mixed with the replacer and then allowed to "incubate" until the next feedings.

But, again...I dunno how the bacteria in Probios react to milk replacer anyway.


If this one were here and its stool softened up a bit after me changing its diet around, I'd probably just withhold the bottle and see if it stops. Sometimes that's all it takes.

Of course, that's provided it's not obviously depressed, squirting water, and becoming dehydrated. At that point, I'd put some kind of antibiotic (Scour-Halt, Neomycin, SMZ-TMP, etc) in his gut. If the squirting was really bad, I'd probably hydrate him with SQ Ringer's solution, too...just to avoid putting more stuff in an already-troubled gut.
 

Roll farms

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OK, I keep seeing this "Probios is no good for baby goats" comment and it's making me buggy.... humans and chickens don't have a rumen at all, yet they STILL recommend it to both...and horses...and dogs...

The good bugs are ALSO in the intestine, NOT just the rumen, and I have seen Probios help 1-2 wk old kids w/ scours as well as baby chicks w/ sticky bums...

New slogan..."Probios, it's NOT just for rumens anymore."
 

cmjust0

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This thread got me looking at what exactly is in Probios for rumenants.. A quick google search tells me that folks use three of the bacteria (lactobacillus-acidophilus, -casei, and -plantarum) to create a fermented milk product that's supposed to do...something...for health.

The term "lactobacillus" apparently means "milk bacteria," so it would make sense that something would happen if you were to drop a few billion of them directly into milk or milk replacer..

I don't claim to know how the fermentation process works, but perhaps what happened here is that the OP fermented the milk accidentally by infusing it with live cultures in Probios....and perhaps it's the fermented milk -- while not toxic or spoiled, per se -- that's causing the scour on account of having become something just plain old different than regular milk.

Pure speculation, of course.. :hu

ETA:

In looking up 'fermented milk products,' the US name is "Clabber" according to the always correct, never-ever wrong Wikipedia. :lol:

I will say this, though...there's a reason why rennet is used to make cheese, and there's a reason why rennet occurs naturally in the stomachs of mammals. It turns milk to cheese in the stomach, basically.

Which begs the question...would rennet turn fermented milk into cheese?!?
 

Jody

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cmjust0 said:
What's especially troubling is that you mentioned mixing the probios in 2 quarts of replacer... A 17-day old baby doesn't take two quarts at a time, which means the Probios was mixed with the replacer and then allowed to "incubate" until the next feedings.
One, because the mixing instructions are 1 cup powder to 2qts water.
It's not an actual cup of powder, it's one level cup of the one included in the package, 10oz I think, and I have no means of measuring ounces, so 2qts it is at a time.

Two, because I have more than 1 baby goat.

Anyway, starting today I am withholding milk and giving him just water with electrolytes and CorRid. During 2nd feeding of this today, his stool appears to be thickening. It's not diareah like, more like a soft squishy paste and is schoolbus yellow
 
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