sick Momma Goat

[Vickir73]

She kidded Thursday afternoon - all appeared fine. She dropped twin boys with afterbirth afterwards. Friday she appeared tired, but not unusually so - we noticed some diarrhea. Saturday she was very listless although she was walking - but laying down mostly with more diarrhea. - Diarrhea smells normal (and I got pretty close to it to make sure and it just smelled/smells like regular poop) Not eating or drinking. I took the twins to be dehorned. When we got back, she did let them nurse. I contacted the lady who dehorned the twins (she, Wendy, was wonderful (she's been in the goat business for many a years), I may be in love .

With her advice, I took Momma Goat's temperature - 103.3. I took both other does' temperature - 102.6. Ok - Momma Goat has a fever and diarrhea. Not eating, not drinking and appears to be drying up.

I went to TSC and got Corid and CD&T. (Since the goats had not been treated for anything before I got them Wendy suggested I got ahead and give them CD&T injections). Saturday I treated all three does (Momma Goat, Daisi (who kidded 6-1-12), and Dafni (not ever bred)) 2 ml of CD&T each, followed the dosage for the Safeguard and gave to all three does, and mixed the Corid according to the drench instructions and began giving to Momma Goat on Saturday. She got a dose Saturday, Sunday, Monday (and will get another dose tonight and tomorrow). She appears to not be making much milk at all. The twins are still attempting to nurse, but when I'm out there she pushes them away (I know she's pretty mad at me right now and instead of coming up to me she tries to get as far away as possible - so I don't know how she treats them when I'm not out there)

Sunday Momma Goat's temp was 102.8 so the temp was going down. I have not been able to catch her pooping to see how it is, but I haven't found any new diarrhea spots, so I'm assuming the diarrhea has stopped. Sunday I got her to eat a little bit although not much.

Sunday I did milk Daisi (she is doing great from her kidding and her boy (who I'll keep to bred with) is a turd and gave a one-half of a bottle to each of the twins.

Last night Momma Goat did eat quite a bit more and the kids picked a bunch of fresh green weeds (that they have all eaten before) and she tore those up but was picking at her food (she ate at least 1/2 cup or more of feed before she started picking at it). I was not able to take her temp (I cut my had the night before and it's kinda difficult to take the temp with only one hand)

This morning when I went out there to check on her, her udder was pretty much empty (twins still trying to nurse and she still kept moving away from them) - although maybe the twins had already eaten by the time I got out there (but were still hungry)?. Daisi's udder was brimming . . .

Should Momma Goat's milk come back? Should I treat with something else? Is Safeguard crap when it comes to goats and worming? (Yes, I know it may work for some and it may not work for some.) I purchased a herbal dewormer but since they've never been treated with anything I kinda feel like I should use a chemical first.

Do I go ahead and pull the twins and bottle feed them? My thought was to just give them a small amount in a bottle so they would keep trying to nurse off Momma Goat in the hope that their attempts would bring her milk back (but in the meantime, they would hopefully not starve or get sick from something).

I did purchase a product called Mo'Milk and added a little to their food last night even though neither mother seemed to care for it.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Will anyone be willing to just shoot me???? Ideas / suggestions / anything would be helpful. Thank you!!

 

[elevan]

Make sure mama has lots of fresh water and a good food that is high in calcium such as alfalfa. What breed is she?

I would deworm her with something stronger than Safeguard, such as Cydectin, Ivermectin or since she's kidded you could now use Valbazen. Ivermectin is my post kidding dewormer of choice. Safeguard works for tapeworms here but that's about all and it's not the best at that.

 

[20kidsonhill]

If we use safegaurd at all, we use it at 3 x the label dosage for 3 to 5 days.

How hard is she to catch and drench. What about some energy drenches for her? If too hard to drench yourself, what about some mollasses in her water? Put a salt block for cattle in her pen next to her water to encourage her to drink.

her milk should come back, but I would think you are looking at 2 to 3 week recovery time.


Once she is doing better and you have finished your treatments, I would redo everything in 2 or 3 weeks. Her system will still be vulnerable. A rebloom of parasites is very likely, especially in her weakened state and she is in milk.

 

[Vickir73]

She is Nubian. This is her 2nd set of twins. I don't know how her recovery was after her first birth. I give them alfalfa every day. She's not hard at all to catch and she seems to actually like the Corid - TSC didn't have one of those drencher things so I'm using a big syringe (I used the same type to inject turkeys seasonings into turkeys when I cook them). total I think it holds about 3 oz (I don't have it here at the office with me).

We did give her a hot water and syrup mixture after she gave birth and I was trying to giver her some soda this weekend (I was just trying to get her to drink anything) but Daisi kept drinking it. . .

I don't want to over do it, but should I go ahead and give her another dose of safeguard? Can I get Cydectin, Ivemectin, or Valbazen at TSC or do I need to order it from the vet? If I have to get it from the vet, it will have to wait until Saturday (I get home after the vet's office is closed)? Should I go ahead and give to the other does also? Is it still ok for the kids to nurse after I give it to her/them?

In the meantime to I supplement the twins with milk from the other doe? and if so, how much?

 

[Vickir73]

I was also given some Immune ST (from Molly's Herbals). Can I give this too or just the Corid (and wormer)? I just don't want to overdo anything and make the situation worse instead of better.

 

[babsbag]

I know you can buy Ivemectin at TSC. I buy the injectable one for cattle and give it orally. Not sure of the dose without looking it up, but I know it is on this site somewhere.

My friend says the Safeguard is safe for the goat and safe for the worms

As far as the milk, get her some good grain, and some Black Oil Sunflower Seeds in addition to her Alfalfa. She should have all the hay she wants right now, all the time. Also, our TSC has a pelletized feed called Noble goat. But make sure you get one for dairy and not medicated; you have to read the tags.

I would check her temp again somehow. She could have a low grade infection and then you would need the antibiotics to clear that up.

I would give the twins a bottle from the other goat if they will take it, but you want to either milk her or make sure they are trying to nurse to stimulate milk production. Have you milked her, does her milk look normal? But at this stage I guess it would/could still look like colostrum so it might be hard to tell. But I would keep an eye on the quality of her milk as well as quanity.

 

[Roll farms]

I would give her a B vitamin injection (energy and improves appetite), deworm w/ ivomec (1cc per 25# orally).

Pull her eyelids down and look at the mucous membranes...are they pale or pink? If she's anemic (pale), start giving her red cell daily for a few days and have a fecal ran in 2-3 wks to see if the ivomec worked.

Can't comment on the Immune ST b/c I dunno what's in it.

Probiotics should help get her poops cleared up.

If she's still running a temp tomorrow, you may want to get a goat vet's opinion.

 

[20kidsonhill]

I was also given some Immune ST (from Molly's Herbals). Can I give this too or just the Corid (and wormer)? I just don't want to overdo anything and make the situation worse instead of better.

Sorry I don't know anything about he Immune ST. Giving her more safegaurd wont hurt anything, may not help, but wont hurt.

 

[Vickir73]

I did milk her some Thursday night (after kids were born) because she's got a double teat on one side and it was so full the kids couldn't get their mouth around it-once I milked a bit out the kid hasn't had any trouble. The milk/colostrum looked normal.

I've been feeding her/them Purina Goat Chow feed from TSC, it reminds me of sweet feed - it's got molasses and oats in it. The 2 moms were up to eating 4-6 cups per day, but since Thursday Momma Goat has yet to eat that much total. I've also been giving them 1-2 flakes of alfalfa a day to share. I was afraid of giving too much - (1) will too much make them sick and (2) will it spoil them and they not eat the grasses that they were eating before? [I kinda feel like that's a stupid question but . . .]

I will take her temp again tonight.

 

[babsbag]

The Purina goat chow does look like sweet feed, we feed it sometimes. My goats love it.

The alfalfa might spoil her but that is all mine get so I can't really say, especially when they are in milk. Last year I switched my milker to some wheat hay and her milk production dropped like a bomb, and quickly. It was near the end of her lactation so I just let it go, but I was surprised at how fast she responded to the lower quality hay. Mine eat at least a leaf a day per goat when it milk. But I only grain them on the milk stand. If they are not used to alfalfa I would introduce it slowly, but eating only alfalfa won't hurt them once they are used to it.

If she is off her feed there is a reason, and would suspect more than worms, but maybe I am paranoid. It is critical that you find out what that is and treat it. They have to eat for their rumen to funcion, and no rumen movement will kill them.

Do as Roll Farms suggested with the vitamin B and the probiotics, but I would seriously get the temp. taken and get a fecal done. If she has even a low grade infection she needs antibiotics, and not eating can lead to a whole host of other problems.