New goat dad in PA

[abuck]

Hello!
I became a member of BYC a while back and found the site extremely useful in building a coop that suited my needs. Now my family is on to goats. Last week we adopted two female Guernsey goats who have deformities in their utters, so they can not be registered as dairy goats. We don't plan on breeding them, as our farm experience is more just a quality of life experience for us. Hope that makes sense.

Anyway, the goats are great! I love them so much more than I thought I would. I was really just expecting another chore, but they are as sweet and as playful as a dog. Wonderful animals.

I am going to post in the "emergencies" section, as the goats have been experiencing diarrhea. We have them in pasture (they were raised in a dry lot), so I'm sure the diet change is an issue, but I am concerned about coccidia.

Thanks in advance for all of the friendly guidance I will surely receive in this forum.

Your friend,
Adam

edit: Actually, I'll post the diarrhea issue in "diseases," not "emergencies."

 

[Latestarter]

Greetings Adam and welcome to BYH and the world of goats! I'm no expert or anything near to one, but I imagine it's a bit like taking a person who has been raised on a very regimented diet of food, and then gets released inside a dessert bakery with all that rich food... after being moved to a new residence. They'd most likely overdo it and get tummy issues (I overdo it quite regularly and I know better ) Another factor could be the stress associated with a move to a new place. Goats really can have issues with "change"... a lot like some of us humans. Generally, the first thing you'll want to do any time you think there's an issue is take their temperature. A regular thermometer, (labeled for goat use only) stuck up her backside should do the trick nicely. If it's not within normal range (you'll establish this over time... normal for one animal might be high or low for another one, but there is an accepted range), then there's most likely something going on that needs to be addressed. High temps normally indicate an infection of some sort.

You might want to get a fecal sample to a vet (try to make sure they know something about goats, a "farm" vet vice a "pet" vet) as soon as you can. That will help identify if your girls are experiencing a parasite (worms) bloom due to stress, have cocci, or if it's a rumen issue due to the feed change. @Southern by choice has a thread (actually a set of three) on the site that will teach you all you need to know about doing your own fecal analysis... save you a bit of $$ over the years.

Anyway, I'll tag a few of the goat experts who may have better/more detailed info/suggestions for you. Glad you joined! Share a few pics of your new girls if you will!

Already tagged Southern above... @Goat Whisperer @babsbag @Epona142 @OneFineAcre @Ferguson K @frustratedearthmother and there are so many others...

 

[TAH]

Welcome!
Oh yes goats are the coolest things in the world, okay maybe. Anyway make your self happy and hop on any time.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

Scours can actually be both

I would run a fecal ASAP to make sure it's not parasites. When you move goats to another farm it can cause a parasite bloom. You don't generally see many cocci issues in adult goats but it's always good to check. Make sure you mention that you want them to check for parasites as well as cocci.

Take the goats temp.

You can give some probiotics to help with the pasture change.

How bad are the scours?

You may want to put them on electrolytes.

At this point I would think it's either the pasture change or parasites.

 

[Poka_Doodle]

Welcome from Colorado. There are a lot of helpful knowledgeable goat people here.

 

[chiques chicks]

Welcome from another PA goat dad! (And chicken, turkey, rabbit, dog dad, too)

 

[Epona142]

Looks like folks have you covered - scours can come from many many sources, but running a fecal and looking at the diet are the best first stops.

 

[abuck]

Thanks, everyone. I just heard back from the woman who I got the goats from. She had a coccidia outbreak at her farm last Thursday, so this is likely coccidia in my goats. She told me how to treat it with a Corid/Imodium mix (which I have started already), so hopefully this will clear up shortly.

So this is the wild life of goat herding, huh?

 

[Goat Whisperer]

Thanks, everyone. I just heard back from the woman who I got the goats from. She had a coccidia outbreak at her farm last Thursday, so this is likely coccidia in my goats. She told me how to treat it with a Corid/Imodium mix (which I have started already), so hopefully this will clear up shortly.

So this is the wild life of goat herding, huh?

This is the easy stuff

Just wait until you get the really hard things ....

Hopefully that wont happen

It would still be good to have a fecal run. Especially after treatment, you want to be sure their count is down. Sometimes it can take several treatments. I don't know the protocol for corid, but with Di-methox & baycox I would still treat them 10 days later. Possible again 10 days after that depending in the fecal.

 

[norseofcourse]

Welcome from Ohio, congrats on your new goats and hope they are doing much better soon!