Goats and Bloat

[Farmer Kitty]

I'm looking for info on goats and bloating. We have a lot of good info on the forum for goats but, it seems that bloating isn't really covered so, I thought I would start a thread about it.

1. What are the things that may cause bloat?
2. What are the signs of bloat?
3. How does one treat bloat in a goat?

 

[Farmer Kitty]

I went looking and found some info on Fiasco Farms website.

 

[mully]

I went looking and found some info on Fiasco Farms website.

This is a good site for a lot of good goat information !! I keep it handy.

 

[cmjust0]

ETA: BLOAT PICTURE. (added text for searchability. )

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

thanks for the pix cmjust0!

here's my question for this very very useful thread....

sometimes after a day of grazing my little mini mancha looks really asymmetrical with a bulge as above on the left - like she has bloat.

but then the next morning she looks normal again... is this ok?? is this the way of things??

none of my gals have looked bloaty for more than a day - and i use the methods of giving them only dry dry hay, walking them around, etc. i've never had to use any of the treatment or oil or anything.

maybe i'm just lucky??

 

[Farmer Kitty]

cmjust0, thank you for the pics!

ohiofarmgirl, that is just the very reason I started this thread. We had a request for more bloat info.

 

[mully]

thanks for the pix cmjust0!

here's my question for this very very useful thread....

sometimes after a day of grazing my little mini mancha looks really asymmetrical with a bulge as above on the left - like she has bloat.

but then the next morning she looks normal again... is this ok?? is this the way of things??

none of my gals have looked bloaty for more than a day - and i use the methods of giving them only dry dry hay, walking them around, etc. i've never had to use any of the treatment or oil or anything.

maybe i'm just lucky??

This is quite normal when they have been grazing. It is very predominate on the left side due to how they digest food.

 

[norcal]

Thanks FarmerKitty! I was going to start a thread, and uh, forgot.

What exactly is the CD part of the CDT? I read about it, but it wasn't in layman's terms. Do they have a tetanus shot w/o the cd?

 

[bheila]

I have goats who look like they're bloated all of the time but I know they're not. Sometimes it's hard to know unless you've actually seen them get into the grain or whatever else it might be. For instance, my doe Daisy managed to open a 5gal bucket of molasses and take 10 big gulps before I could get her away from it. Within 3 minutes I could tell she was bloated. She just stood there HUGE, her hair was all puffed up and she "looked" sick.

You can buy meds for bloat at your feed store(which you should have at all times), use vegetable oil or use baking soda.

Once I knew Daisy was bloated I ran and gave her the bloat meds. It didn't seem to help. So onto the baking soda, it helped tremendously. I mixed 3/4c baking soda w/3c of water and drenched her with as much of it as I could get in her. She instantly started burping. While drenching her I had her front legs proped up on my lap so she was standing upright so the gas could come out easier. I was also patting(firmly) her rumen to get the gas to come out. A lot of people suggest to make them walk or run around to get things moving but I had better success with her upright on my legs patting her rumen.

 

[Farmer Kitty]

Thanks FarmerKitty! I was going to start a thread, and uh, forgot.

What exactly is the CD part of the CDT? I read about it, but it wasn't in layman's terms. Do they have a tetanus shot w/o the cd?

Here's a discussion that may help somewhat: http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1558&p=1