Trouble with potential kid poisoning?

Rachel H

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I would love some communal input on a backyard herd dilemma. We have 6 Nigerian Dwarf goats in our 2 acre, mostly wooded lot. They are penned in a small (50 foot by 50 foot) "barnyard pen" at night. This is where their barn is. They have free access to the rest of the pasture fenced lot during the day. Mama Daisy and her two wethers are the adults, and Mama has 6 week old triplets. We have a lot of (really, a lot) azaleas and mountain laurel on our property. I know these plants are toxic to goats. The three adults do not eat them, much to my relief, as I thought we were going to have to move around temporary panels in problem-free areas. The goats are very social and group oriented, and enjoy roaming freely along the creek bank and playing, as goats do. The 3 kids have just begun nibbling small bits of things, hay, grain, bark, leaves... they all got sick about 2 weeks ago. I called our vet out, and he thought they might just be having a rough time getting their rumens going. Their symptoms were spitting up / coughing up brown liquid and grinding their teeth. They also hunched up their backs and seemed to be uncomfortable. No diarrhea. No fever. I kept researching, and think their symptoms line up more with poisoning, after perhaps tasting a few of the wrong leaves. I dosed them a few times with a remedy I found on a goat husbandry site, and kept them confined to the barnyard pen for the last week. They are now in fine shape, but very sad to be kept away from their grownups for most of the day. Does anyone have any suggestions for "teaching" the kids not to eat the bad plants? Can they learn from a bad experience, if that is what happened? I would love some advice. I wouldn't really mind taking out all of the azaleas, but it would ruin the creek bank to try to remove the lovely and abundant mountain laurel. More fencing is becoming ridiculous at this point in our yard... I'm hoping someone has come up with a creative solution I may not have thought of, as we critter keepers so often must do! Thanks in advance for your feedback!
 

CntryBoy777

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I think your vet was probably right....we were a bit "fretful" over the same exact things at first.....we had 1 doe and 2 wethers without any fencing on 20 acres....after reading all we could on toxic plants and being able to "identify" them....that were local to us....we were wary of taking them out of their pen on leads.....what we found out was, they are pretty smart critters and the young ones will taste everything in lip and tongue distance to them....they will pay attention to what mom or the herd queen is eating and then look for it in other areas to eat......they have been raised for thousands of yrs, so just relax a bit and just let them be goats and enjoy the "experience"......we had azaelas and others, but we had other things that they preferred much more and would eat it....in the list of "toxics".....it depends on what part of the plant is toxic in what part of the year....along with "choking" hazards....so, most of the toxic are bitter and not "preferred".....the problem usually happens when there are fewer and fewer "options" for them to choose from......they always love treats in their pen yard....they love sweetgum, live oak, cedar, and many other leaves....they will clean every leaf off and leave the skeleton for the burn pile.....they love honeysuckle, too.....during growing season your hay bill can be fairly low if that is done, but keep hay available so they can maintain the balance of their rumens.....one thing is Sure....they will have ya smilin' and scratching your head at the same time......:)
 

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