Sneezing, snotty, coughing goats! Help!

[dairygoatlady]

I just got two Nigerian Dwarf goats a few days ago. One is a doe in milk (we are milking) and the other is her 4 month old wether son.

I noticed when we got them they were sneezing a bit. Now they sneeze, have mucus in their noses (not a ton, but it's there) and I think I've heard a cough from both of them too. And I am pretty sure the wether's ear is bothering him. He was rubbing the side of his head on my leg today, and not his normal frisky self.

They were wormed a couple of weeks ago before we got them, and the doe was tested for CAE this past spring. The wether was bottle fed.

Is this serious? The wether seems to be less active today. Before we got them, they only ate hay, and the doe, grain during milking. We have a pasture and they've been browsing on weeds and stuff.

These are our first goats so we have no clue what to do. Any ideas?

 

[Rockytopsis]

Do they have a temperature? It could be from the change of moving, change in feed, change in hay.

 

[lilhill]

I agree. Get a temp on the goats. If they have an elevated temp and their mucus is a greenish color, then it could be shipping fever (pneumonia) and I would start them on antibiotics.

 

[Chaty]

I agree with ROcky and lilhill as this could be the start of problems.
when I get a new goat she or he is wormed when I get them home even if they were previously wormed at the other place. If the temp is over 102 I would start them on BioMycin or LA200 2x daily for at least 5 to 7 days.

 

[dairygoatlady]

The mucus is clear. They seemed better today, overall, as far as this goes. (but see my other post about the doe eating chicken feed.)

How do I take their temps? What do I use to do this?

 

[username taken]

General rule with snot, is if its clear and runny, leave them be, if its white, chunky, or any other colour they need treatment.

I tend to treat them if they are not themselves ie lethargic, off food etc. but if they are happy, eating and playing I dont treat

you take a temp with any normal human thermometer, insert the tip gently into the rectum.

 

[cmjust0]

I agree with ROcky and lilhill as this could be the start of problems.
when I get a new goat she or he is wormed when I get them home even if they were previously wormed at the other place. If the temp is over 102 I would start them on BioMycin or LA200 2x daily for at least 5 to 7 days.

Bio-Mycin, baby!

I have a brand new bottle of LA200 I won't even use the stuff.

I know a guy who -- on two occasions, with two seperate goats -- gave a shot of 'regular' oxytetracycline and watched the goat "stroke out," as he put it. It may very well have been old, oxydized oxytet, but it apparently hurt so bad they died of shock. He said his would routinely go lame for a while after LA200, so he switched to Bio-Mycin..

Same stuff, less sting...I just finished a fairly sensitive little goat on three days of it for a skin infection (danged wet weather.. ) and she barely quit eating grain as I was pushing the plunger. No lameness, no freaking out..

Bio-Mycin is good stuff. Only $12+/- for a 100ml bottle at Jeffers.