My NDG doe got some chicken feed! Hard to wake up!

dairygoatlady

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I checked on my goat and the wether was baa'ing, but the doe wasn't moving. They are Nigerian Dwarf goats, we've only had them a couple of days.

Anyway, normally the doe will baa and come when we are out too. Her head was laying in some chicken feed, I couldn't wake her up at first. I had a turkey chick in there, I thought she couldn't get to it, but she managed to wedge her head in and eat it.

It freaked me out, I seriously thought she was dead. She finally woke up and we let her out and she is acting fine now. But should I take her to a vet? She's probably eaten about 1 quart mason jar full of chicken feed in the last 24 hours. Is this an emergency?

Money is nonexistent right now, but if it's serious, we will take her to a vet. What symptoms do I watch for? I called a vet and they said check her gums. Her gums are very light pink. They said watch for gray gums and for bloat.

help, I'm clueless!
 

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She should be okay, but she's gonna regret it, big time. She will most likely have one helluva stomach ache.

What I would do is dose her up heavily with probiotics (Probios) or if you cant get that, either yoghurt or a fermented milk drink (the brand here is Yakult). That will help keep her gut going.

Now I'd watch her very closely, she will probably go one way or the other, either scouring or bloated. If she scours, just keep the fluids and electrolytes up to her, but dont try to stop the scours - its her bodies way of getting rid of the chicken feed. If she bloats, you can dose her with oil (either mineral oil or just regular cooking oil) with some baking soda mixed into it. Also, a cold cup of strong tea is good too.

But for now, I'd just give her the probiotics and watch her very closely. I'm sure she will be fine.

Good luck :)
 

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Oh I forgot, no grain for this girl for a day or so, just good dry hay (grassy hay preferable over alfalfa).
 

dairygoatlady

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Thank you so much!

Is scours diarrhea? Is it hard to get them to eat yogurt? I normally give her grain when she's being milked. Should I just put hay in there instead? Will orchard grass hay work?

Thanks!
 

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Yes, scours is diarrhea (easier to spell ;) )

With the yoghurt, some will eat it happily, some wont. If she wont eat it, draw it up in a syringe (minus the needle) and squirt it into her mouth, get it as far back onto her tongue as you can, and hold her mouth closed till she swallows. Sometimes it helps to rub their throat.

Orchard grass hay will be fine, yes, I would try using that when you milk, but just be prepared, she may throw a bit of a tanty when she realises she doesnt have her grain during milking. Just grit your teeth and get on with the job, and if all goes well she can have her grain as normal tomorrow.
 

freemotion

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UT, can chopped veggies or fresh greens be substituted on the milking stand, or is that still too "rich?"

It is amazing, sometimes, the spaces a goat can squeeze into. We had to make our coop pop door smaller and smaller, so small the bigger chickens squeeze through it, before one of our goats (now nicknamed "The Boneless Goat") stopped squeezing in there. Fortunately, we don't use commercial feed, I scatter whole grains on the ground most of the year, so we did not have an emergency when this was happening.
 

dairygoatlady

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THanks for the advice. She wouldn't eat the yogurt, and I hadn't read this about squirting it in there yet. I'll try that tomorrow.

She did eat the orchard hay, no problem. She acted normal the rest of the day.

However, her milk tonight smelled fishy. And yesterday and today, her right side took longer for the milk to come in while milking (the left side always starts giving milk right away). And there seems to be more milk at the end on the left side....it takes longer to finish.

She doesn't have mastitis or something, does she? Do I throw out the fishy smelling milk? Or have it tested? My husband discovered someone who tests milk.

Or should I take her to the vet tomorrow? Not sure how serious the fishy smell in milk is, or if it's related to the chicken feed. Thanks!
 

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freemotion, I would stick to the dry hay. The only greens I would give are blackberry leaves, which are good for settling upset stomachs.

DGL, its quite normal to finish one side of the udder before the other (this is assuming you milk with two hands). It just depends which of your hands is stronger. And you will find, the stronger hand, that side will produce slightly more milk, because your weaker hand will invariably not get out all the last bits of milk, not as much as the strong hand, so the weak hand side of the udder drops in production ever so slightly, which the strong hand side boosts in production. goats are very much supply/demand animals. if you or a kid demands more, she will supply more. its also not uncommon for does to have naturally slightly uneven udders. now, if you milk with one hand, ie one side, then the other, she probably just has a naturally uneven udder.

About the fishy smell, I'd be thinking at this stage that it is just the chicken feed, and it should clear up in a few days. However, if you want to test for mastitis, here's a simple and cheap method:

1) Take 1/2 glass of fresh milk (not chilled, straight from the doe)
2) Take 1/2 glass of warm water
3) Into the warm water, mix 2 - 4 drops of detergent (I use my dishwashing detergent). Mix thoroughly
4) Pour the warm water and detergent into the 1/2 glass of fresh milk, mix well
5) Pour the mixture through your hand into the sink. If there is mastitis, the mixture will be slimy, thick and gooey (note that this will also happen if there is colostrum in the milk - generally for the first 3 days after kidding). If the milk is fine, it will just be thinned out milk.
 
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