My 19w Pregnant Doe broke into the feed yesterday ALL DAY

[MuddyKnickersFarmMama]

Our goats somehow managed to remove the lid from our steel bin we keep their feed in yesterday. I had just filled it this week with a 50 pound bag of feed. When I realized last night what had happened the feed is more than half gone between four goats. The goat I am most concerned with is my pregnant Nubian. She is 19 weeks along and I did notice her grinding her teeth last night when I was sitting with them. She also was reluctent to stand...but that could be because she is SO HUGE...and she was more irritable towards the other does. This is my first experience with goat pregnancy and birthing...Do I need to be worried she has brought harm upon herself and or the unborn babies by eating so much>? HELP PLEASE

 

[bonbean01]

My concern would be bloat...hope someone with more experience posts soon...many goat people have excellent advice on bloat...have you checked and read through all the threads in Emergencies and goat disease to find a thread with information on bloat? That would be my first action...if it is bloat, you don't want to wait too long to help her....hope she and her babies will be alright!!!!

 

[ThreeBoysChicks]

Ask a Mod to move to to the Emergency Section. - Definitely bloat is a problem. I lost a doe who got into a bag of pelleted chicken feed and ate too much. If she is not wanting to stand, that is a problem. Is she having difficulty breathing? Is she foaming from the mouth?

Mine was a couple of years ago, and I was told to get mineral oil into her and baking soda. But I do not remember how much of each. Unfortunately, I lost my doe.

Hopefully someone will be along shortly with more experience.

 

[Pearce Pastures]

Keep her up an moving, take her on a walk, just anything other than sitting or laying so you can keep that gas moving. Mineral oil for and baking soda are usually what I see recommended, but in severe cases, I have also heard of having to put in a vent through the abdomen which is something I would leave to a vet.

Link to some bloat treatments
http://kinne.net/bloat.htm
http://www.goatworld.com/articles/bloat/bloat.shtml
http://www.esgpip.org/PDF/Technical bulletin No.31.pdf

 

[Isthelifeforme]

I have had goats severely bloated (though perhaps not as bad as you) on new grass. Mine were foaming at the mouth it was so bad. What I did was take a bowl of baking soda and since they wouldn't eat it, I stuck their faces in it so when they licked their mouths they were, in effect, eating it and swallowing it. I think they eventually figure out it is good for them and eat it on their own. I may have even forced their mouths open and stuck baking soda inside.

Mine both started immediately doing better after they ate the baking soda.

Now my 10 year old keeps baking soda in the barn for when we move them to fresh new green pasture so he can just put it out free choice.

Best of luck!

 

[jodief100]

A baking soda drench will do wonders. Dissolve the baking soda in water and drench them with it. It won't hurt and if they start to bloat, can help.

Keep an eye on them. Look for foaming at the mouth, bloating, discomfort, difficulty moving, etc.

 

[20kidsonhill]

Give them some baking soda
lots of exercise
No more grain, no alflafa hay, just offer only grass hay and fresh water for the next 2 or 3 days.
Runny poop is okay, but monitor their body temp for the next 48 to 36 hours, An elevated temp. is a good indication they are developing overeating disease.
If they bloat really bad and get frothy bloat(foaming at mouth) they may need to be drenched(or tubed) large amounts of mineral oil. CAn drench with mineral oil.

Can give a few cc's of Procain G orally.

Also, C&D antitoxin(not the vaccine) would be helpful for treatment and prevention of overeating disease.

Lots of probiotics the next few days.

 

[MuddyKnickersFarmMama]

Thank you ALL for the quick responses and reference links. She is not foaming at the mouth; non of them are. She seems to be the worst affected and likely the one to have eaten the most of it since she is my "herd queen". I did get her up on her feet today and did some exercise with her. I also pulled down some bows of our pine trees which she eagerly started to eat. All the goats have free access to baking soda and LOTS of fresh clean water. I did give her a dose of Probias paste and the other girls too. This morning she was breathing kind of fast and rather than stand and poop she was laying in an unusual place in our barn and was pooping where she laid. None of them are having loose or runny poo but Rowan, my pregnant girl, is pooping large almost human looking stools. They all have free access to a large round bale of grass hay. I will abstain the next couple of days from the grain for them. I also plan to monitor her temp. If there is any other advise I am eager for it from people with experience and good intentions. Would it be inapropriate for me to post my phone number?

 

[alsea1]

Baking soda is great. Also get them moving, but not so much they tire out. I have found that massaging their tummy helps. Gently. I think it helps get that gas moving so they can get some belching done. But don't delay

 

[Pearce Pastures]

How is she today?