General schedule and timeline for a goats first year

[Carla D]

After some very heavy thinking about the welfare of all of our animals this winter. I came up with the worst/best possible option. It was one that was heartbreaking. I’m not sure this is for the best the farm, us, and our animals, but my husband told me that what I had been thinking about was not an option at this time. So with that in mind I need to figure some rather important things out so we can have the healthiest goats possible not only for their betterment but to control costs of treating a sick goat. We have been winging it for six weeks now. We are trying desperately to come up with the money needed to have them disbudded and treated for their parasites. We have to get it done either this weekend or Monday at the absolute latest. This has reached a very serious and dangerous level on the priority/must get done IMMEDIATELY status. But, we need to come up with a schedule or timeline of things that must get done in the first six month and first year timeframe. We are going to have to take these expenses very seriously, effectively, and budget friendly manner as possible. We are past the “trying to figure things out/winging it” point. We are now at the “better get your s&#@ straightened out” point.

Has anybody found a really good website, book, anything place to where I can get this timeline/schedule figured out? Thank you.

 

[Southern by choice]

It really depends on exactly what you schedule id to accomplish.

As far as parasites. I may have missed it but what did the vet report. Most products are OTC (over the counter)
Working with your vet is great but generally in livestock it is the livestock owners that learn and treat for all the basics, vets are generally emergency.
Vets are not in the business of helping or assisting with management etc. Unless brand new most vets would be shocked for someone to make an appointment for CDT schedules etc.
Newbies who do not have good breeders that will mentor them find themselves here. And there is a wealth of info here.
As you have seen there is great support.


When treating for parasites there are somethings to watch for but without knowing what they were diagnosed with and what your vet wants you to give them it is not possible to share what to watch for.

 

[Carla D]

It really depends on exactly what you schedule id to accomplish.

As far as parasites. I may have missed it but what did the vet report. Most products are OTC (over the counter)
Working with your vet is great but generally in livestock it is the livestock owners that learn and treat for all the basics, vets are generally emergency.
Vets are not in the business of helping or assisting with management etc. Unless brand new most vets would be shocked for someone to make an appointment for CDT schedules etc.
Newbies who do not have good breeders that will mentor them find themselves here. And there is a wealth of info here.
As you have seen there is great support.


When treating for parasites there are somethings to watch for but without knowing what they were diagnosed with and what your vet wants you to give them it is not possible to share what to watch for.

It was barbers pole, round worm, and either Coccidia or coccidiosis. I don’t remember which he said. He has a heavy German accent and I struggle to understand him on the phone sometimes.

I’m a bit of a newbie. I’ve gotten better with the pigs than I was last year and this spring. But most of this brand new territory for me where goats are concerned. I’m trying to learn these things so I can do them on my own if I decide to get more goats down the road. It’s not a matter of can’t do. It’s more I don’t know what to do. I have no problem giving shots, oral medication, rectal temps, or a bag of ringers solution. But I need to know about certain things to do or to look for to maximize their growth and optimal health. That’s all.

I don’t want to miss anything essential. I missed the disbudding time frame. But, I’m still not at the time frame where many people would be banding their bucks. I’ve done the the CD&T shots already, they will be getting their booster this weekend. I’m worried I might miss something essential to the health awareness/sickness prevention aspect of caring for the goats. We can’t afford to forget anything that could likely prevent one or all of them getting sick. It would be cheaper at this point in time to do all preventative or general maintenance things in a timely manner versus either not knowing something needed to get done or missing a particular time frame if there is one. Kinda like when children are young they go through several series of immunizations and scheduled wellness checkups to monitor growth and to catch any problems as early as possible. That’s the kind of thing that I’m looking for. If there is anything like that out there to learn from or to refer to.

 

[Southern by choice]

Barberpole is a blood sucker and will cause anemia treatment is critical
Round worm eh, not a huge deal
Coccidia also must be treated if a high load (Coccidiosis is the disease caused by coccidia)- this is the #1 kid killer.

There are products for each of these over the counter. Ask your vet what they want you to use the dosage they'd like you to use, course of treatment and go to the farmstore today.
Because you have coccidia and barberpole at the same time treatment is going to be very rough on the kids
Depending on the severity of the loads they are infected with.

Not treating- they will die
Treating- they may still go "down" and even possibly die you will want probiotics and vitamins as well. However they may go through treatment just fine and that would be great.

Your vet should be able to advise on the protocol.

Basic things like CDT
If you do your own fecals monitor every 3 months til you get an eye for things.
Hooves, monthly.
Copper and or Selenium as your farm warrants

Management is very individual from farm to farm. There really is no set schedule.

Because of the coccidia and barberpole worm you should not dehorn or castrate at this time, their system will be too weak to go through all of that. They will not make it.

 

[Carla D]

Barberpole is a blood sucker and will cause anemia treatment is critical
Round worm eh, not a huge deal
Coccidia also must be treated if a high load (Coccidiosis is the disease caused by coccidia)- this is the #1 kid killer.

There are products for each of these over the counter. Ask your vet what they want you to use the dosage they'd like you to use, course of treatment and go to the farmstore today.
Because you have coccidia and barberpole at the same time treatment is going to be very rough on the kids
Depending on the severity of the loads they are infected with.

Not treating- they will die
Treating- they may still go "down" and even possibly die you will want probiotics and vitamins as well. However they may go through treatment just fine and that would be great.

Your vet should be able to advise on the protocol.

Basic things like CDT
If you do your own fecals monitor every 3 months til you get an eye for things.
Hooves, monthly.
Copper and or Selenium as your farm warrants

Management is very individual from farm to farm. There really is no set schedule.

Because of the coccidia and barberpole worm you should not dehorn or castrate at this time, their system will be too weak to go through all of that. They will not make it.

Thank you Southern by choice. That is the exact kind of thing I was looking for. This is what the vet wants me to give the boys. CoRid, dectomax, thiamine hydrochloride to treat the parasites.

He didn’t seem too concerned about dehorning them and the treatment plan he gave me. In fact because they are getting so big and need to have surgery to remove them he wants to do it ASAP. The boys have surgical date and time of Tuesday at 1:00pm. I was given instructions Meloxicam for 5 days, and to start that 2 days prior to surgery. With taking in account of what you said, should I question the vet if it’s wize to do their surgery on Tuesday? The longer I wait to have them dehorned is only going to make the surgery tougher to do and recover from.

The boys do seem quite strong and healthy besides the parasites. They are a little bigger, older and stronger than they would be if this situation had come up 4-5 weeks ago. They have to be at least 20# each. Do I have reason to be extremely uneasy about the two being done at the same time or do you think I should trust the vet on this one? I do see your point. From what I’ve read about CoRid it’s not unlike chemotherapy. It’s really tough medicine, weakens the body physically, wipes out their immune system pretty drastically, and isn’t easy to recover from. Am I getting somewhat close about the treatment plan? I think someone mentioned the medication for barbers pole is also really tough on the body as well.

 

[Southern by choice]

Your vet has the info as far as the load the kids are carrying.
I guess the vet feels comfortable with it.
Vet to vet they all do things differently. Some prefer such and such treatment others will do something quite different.
Interesting on the meloxicam.
Working with your vet is your best option in this situation.

CoRid is is not really tough on the system, it is the most common coccidia treatment used. Not most goat people's preference.
That is why the thiamine is being prescribed so you don't end up with goat polio. CoRid is basically a thiamine inhibitor.

The immune system is already weakened by the barberpole and the coccidia.
Any treatment is hard on the body when the load is high or at a dangerous level.

Did you read the article about FAMACHA? That is directly for barberpole identification as a quick check. Not coccidia or any other parasite. The Barberpole is a blood sucker, there fore the anemia. The FAMACHA is an indicator only.

Make sure you have a thermometer on hand, get the vaseline and cover slips for the thermometer. Temperature monitoring is important. Temps are taken rectally.

 

[Carla D]

Your vet has the info as far as the load the kids are carrying.
I guess the vet feels comfortable with it.
Vet to vet they all do things differently. Some prefer such and such treatment others will do something quite different.
Interesting on the meloxicam.
Working with your vet is your best option in this situation.

CoRid is is not really tough on the system, it is the most common coccidia treatment used. Not most goat people's preference.
That is why the thiamine is being prescribed so you don't end up with goat polio. CoRid is basically a thiamine inhibitor.

The immune system is already weakened by the barberpole and the coccidia.
Any treatment is hard on the body when the load is high or at a dangerous level.

Did you read the article about FAMACHA? That is directly for barberpole identification as a quick check. Not coccidia or any other parasite. The Barberpole is a blood sucker, there fore the anemia. The FAMACHA is an indicator only.

Make sure you have a thermometer on hand, get the vaseline and cover slips for the thermometer. Temperature monitoring is important. Temps are taken rectally.

I did read about FAMACHA. It’s the examining of the eyelid to see if it has good color or pale and to what degree. Right? If that’s the case I have tried to look at that on my goats. I must be doing something wrong or there is something health related preventing me to grasp/flip the lid to see it. The part that is on the very edge and not covered by fur is pinker on some more than others. That much I’ve been able to observe. I do have a thermometer and lubricant at the farm. We had a sick pig last year and that had to be monitored. I am relieved to know that CoRid isn’t as harsh on the system as I had thought. Can you tell me why meloxicam is an interesting choice? Today seems to be one of my better days as far as thought processes go. Some of my questions seem a bit more educated than dumb to me. Almost a day where I really miss nursing and think I possibly would be able to do it again if I took refreshers.

 

[Carla D]

Your vet has the info as far as the load the kids are carrying.
I guess the vet feels comfortable with it.
Vet to vet they all do things differently. Some prefer such and such treatment others will do something quite different.
Interesting on the meloxicam.
Working with your vet is your best option in this situation.

CoRid is is not really tough on the system, it is the most common coccidia treatment used. Not most goat people's preference.
That is why the thiamine is being prescribed so you don't end up with goat polio. CoRid is basically a thiamine inhibitor.

The immune system is already weakened by the barberpole and the coccidia.
Any treatment is hard on the body when the load is high or at a dangerous level.

Did you read the article about FAMACHA? That is directly for barberpole identification as a quick check. Not coccidia or any other parasite. The Barberpole is a blood sucker, there fore the anemia. The FAMACHA is an indicator only.

Make sure you have a thermometer on hand, get the vaseline and cover slips for the thermometer. Temperature monitoring is important. Temps are taken rectally.

Coccidia and coccidiosis are two completely different beasts. Right?

 

[Southern by choice]

no, coccidiosis is the disease caused by coccidia

All goats have some level of coccidia in their system, when those numbers get out of control it causes coccidiosis the disease.
This is why many do a coccidia prevention program for goat kids til 4-6 months of age.

 

[Carla D]

no, coccidiosis is the disease caused by coccidia

All goats have some level of coccidia in their system, when those numbers get out of control it causes coccidiosis the disease.
This is why many do a coccidia prevention program for goat kids til 4-6 months of age.

I had thought that could be an organism/disease relation. But, I wasn’t sure. Thank you. I did get the dosage for the CoRid. 2.5 mL / 20oz bottle. Two times a day. The other two he told me to follow the direction on the manufacturers label.