AboutGoatlady Expertise Specializing in New Goat Owner understanding of goat physiology, goat anatomy, goat care and herd management. *I am not a veterinarian, any advice and information should be verified by your veterinarian before administering to your goats.
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Note: Keep in mind, the goat expert is volunteering her time to help other goat owners, she also runs her farm with her own herd of 100 goats and may not be at her computer at all hours. Questions are answered as soon as she can possibly read and answer them, usually within 24 hours.
Experience 18 years experience of raising goats and herd management. Active hands on experience with goat herd and research with various Caprine University Research and Extension Centers nationwide. 15 years dedicated to helping other goat breeders/owners with goat anatomy, goat disease and goat health care issues via phone, published goat care articles and internet interaction. The information I have to offer is not only from personal experience and years of research updated often as new information is made available to me, but supported by many Veterinary Research colleges and all medications and information I have to offer on how the medications work and what dosages "I" use, is information I have acquired by discussing directly with the company's veterinarians and staff research experts.
Organizations 5 year active member of International Veterinary Information Service
Publications United Caprine News, Homesteaders Magazine, Columnist for Goat Magazine, Owner and Author of GoatPedia™
Education/Credentials Graduate Programs in Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University
I am located in Elkesley in England and have no previous experience in goat keeping.
a couple of months ago we bought a small holding. The previous owner did not take her goat with her and just left her there. I gather from the neighbours that the goat is about 10 - 12 years old. She is an Anglo Nubian. She was quite thin and her hooves were overgrown. With some smallholder all round goat mix, hay, foot trimming and a bit of love & attention she is in much better health now. One thing I have noticed is she sometimes has a 'snotty'& running nose and she walks funny, sort of crosses her front legs over when she walks, although doesn't seem to be in any discomfort. When stood still she sometimes looks a bit uncomy, she arches her back and does funny stretches. I don't know if that is normal or maybe just part of old age?
I have recently picked up 5 new goats as I thought she might be lonely. The new goats are all female and they are Saanen's. One is 2 years old with her 5 month old kid, one is 5 years old and has just had a miscarriage and the other 2 are 4 years old.
The mother seems to be very thin with a very poor coat. She has lost her goat along her spine and her skin along there is a little bit red. I have treated them all with louse powder as they have external parasites but I am not convinced it has done the trick! Is there a recommended pour on I could purchase or do I just need to use the powder again? The last time I used the powder was only a week ago, and there do not seem to be as many parasites now.
I have also wormed them with Panacur as a couple had runny, sloppy pellets which I gather is not normal. They seem to be a little better now but still not perfect. (I wormed them 4 days ago)They have had access to more grazing and greenary than where we got them from and I'm wondering whether that could be the cause?
I currently feed them all round smallholder goat mix twice a day. Mother and baby have 2lb a day between them and the others have 1lb a day each.They also have access to good quality hay at all times and fresh water that is changed daily.
They are in a field shelter that is plenty big enough for them all to have their own space and are just in the process of splitting it off so half of it can be used as sleeping quarters to keep them out of a draught.
I am worried that I may not be doing something right and that there is possibly something more I should be doing to help mother and baby?I would hate to think there is something I should be doing but have missed.
I would be grateful for any advice given.
Many thanks
Kind regards
Lucy
ANSWER: Hi Lucy,
You are doing a wonderful thing with these precious goats! I would suggest changing dewormer to Ivomec or Ivomec PLUS depending on your area if it is hot and humid there. Panacur is the same as Safeguard and not a very effective dewormer for goats really except for tapeworm removal -take some rectal temperatures to see if anyone is running a fever (the goats with snotty noses) normal is 101.5 to 103.5 F-
The doe with the arching and stretching sounds like she may have gut issues, typically when goats stretch like this they have digestive upset. ANY chance she could have eaten too much grain or gotten some moldy feed? I would give her some fortified B complex injected at the rate of 1cc/25lbs once a day- you are looking for the Thiamine content which is why the fortified B complex, regular B complex does not have enough thiamine in it per ml to help- IF You can get a vet to give you pure thiamine then great- I use 200mg/ml strength thiamine at the rate of 1cc/100lbs injected SUbQ. This may also explain her walking- thiamine deficiency.
Keep me posted on how they do with these changes and sounds like you are on the right track with everything else. Thank goodness you took them in.
OH and for lice, Ivomec POUR on used topically - I use it at the rate of 1cc/20lbs dribbled along the backline of the goat from neck to tail - you will have to dribble move some and dribble more to make the dosage last the entire goat length. You can use this along with the ivomec injectable dewormer- now the pour on says it is also a dewormer but for goats it is not effective as such- but is a great delouser.
goatlady
Goat-Link.com
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Hi, thanks so much for such a quick response. I have had a complete
nightmare this evening! The old goat (Wilma) seems to be getting bullied by 2
of the other goats. So much so that this evening they pushed her over and
was destressed and bleating and struggled to get up. I though she had really
hurt herself but we checked her over and she appears fine.
My partner sectioned the field shelter off today so I have put Wilma by herself
in one side and all the others in the other side. I don't know what to do for
the best. I dare not leave her in with them as I'm worried she will get hurt,
but I feel like I should leave them to sort things out themselves as we have
only had them a week so far.
The field shelter has been split so that I can put the goats out of the draught
at night.
I have left wilma in the part of the field shelter in front of the gate and am
worried that she might be cold there so I have put some straw bales around
her to keep her out of a draught.
I intend to buy the said wormer Ivomec, I have 2 days off Tuesday and
Wednesday so I will sort it out then.
There is no chance that Wilma could have eaten moldy food or straw and the
food I have given her has always been the same. I am in the process of trying
to find a vet in the area to use.
Kind regards
Lucy
ANSWER: Hi Lucy,
the falling over and not being able to get up is probably due to weakness more than likely due to wormload- once she is dewormed with the ivomec she will begin to get stronger and gain weight.
In the meantime you can add molasses or corn syrup to her warm water daily to give her added energy. It's a good thing you found her as getting over on her side this way and not being able to get up can be a fatal situation for her as the ability to pass needed belching stops and the goat is suffocated from within by bloating up and pressing on her heart and lungs. This can happen as quickly as an hour- so the move for her was a wise one. Until she is stronger and can hold her own.
Keep me posted and anytime you need help I'm here.
goatlady
Goat-Link.com
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Hello again,
I'm so sorry to keep bothering you.
I have just done some research on the internet and have also read your article
about the ivomec, am I right i thinking I can buy the pour on and use it
externally and orally?
Kind regards
Lucy
Answer HI Lucy,
No. I know some people are using pour ons orally but no - do not.
Use the pour on Ivomec as a pour on and it is only good as a delouser- even though it is also a dewormer for cattle it does not work as such on goats- use the injectable ivomec injected SubQ to deworm- now you can deworm and delouse at the same time to make things easier- but one product is for one thing and the other is for something else. Using the injectable ivomec for routine deworming is Ok but preferred use is injected as it does the job more completely and stays in the body longer working more effectively.
