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How to deal with a picky eater

6K views 79 replies 12 participants last post by  toth boer goats 
#1 ·
Corey, the disaster princess, is an extremely picky eater. Shes always been outside all day so it hasn't been a problem cause she eats grass and leaves and such, but with winter coming and her being kept inside now, we're running into the issue that she wont eat hay. She'll pick at it, but she wont eat about 80% of the hay, just the bits of grass and clover mixed in, and she wont eat alfalfa pellets. Only sweet feed and fresh veggies. Obviously this is unsustainable, and its extra bad because shes still recovering from coccidia and needs to put on some weight.

So does any one have any advice for getting a picky goat to actually eat? Letting her be hungry doesn't seem to be doing it, and we're getting worried.
 
#67 ·
So we still havent gone back out, but Im going out tomorrow and Im getting a thermometer if its the last thing I do, but we're really starting to think its pneumonia. Her feet and legs are cold all the time and she keeps getting worse again. So we're going to try a 14 day round of antibiotics, starting in the next few days. Hopefully that will wipe everything out once and for all. I'll report back with her temp tomorrow.
 
#69 ·
Trimethoprim and sulfadoxine. Is that an okay one to use for this? She seemed to get a lot healthier on it before.

Also finally got a thermometer! Shes 39.1C or 102.4F, so I think thats normal range.

I've also realized just how undesized she is for her age, presumeably from the coccidia. Will she ever reach full size? Or will she be runty forever?
 
#71 ·
I'm not sure what is available where you are. I would try to get Draxxin or Nuflor if you can, and give her lots of probiotics and rumen support while she is on antibiotics. She may not ever reach her full size. Do you know her G6S status?
Alright. I dont know her G6S status, and just had to look that up. She is 9 months now so hopefully shes fine on that.
We have been procrastinating antibiotics because we really don't want to and now we\re trying to figure out if we can get away without it. She seems better in some ways, her cough is less, but is louder when she oes cough, and shes still getting heavier, but thin. She's also started drinking less water, and tonight her leg started spasming. Mom thinks we might be missing something in her diet, but we arent sure what. We're giving her B12.

Things have gone back to full lockdown here, so its going to be a bit difficult to look into various meds but I'll see what we can find. Thank you!
 
#72 ·
Davi - G6S can present immediately or as the kid should start to grow and develop. You may only notice a failure to thrive, lack of muscle mass, poor immune system and then weakness neurologically often in the legs and hind end. A test can be taken by hair root and sending off to a lab. Affected animals do not live very long and often struggle with a mulitude of health issues.For this doe in particular I think you should know what you are dealing with. She sounds very compromised, I would try to get a vets opinion on her.
 
#74 ·
Talked with mom, and shes been doing some research, and we've come to the conclusion that its unlikely Corey is going to last too long. We aren't sure what she has, but its clear she has something deeply wrong and its very likely that its something incurable like CAE or G6S. Mom doesn't think getting testing done is worth it due to this, as there is very little chance there is anything we can do. We're just going to keep spoiling her and make her as comfortable as possible until its time. Thank you all for your help and advice through this. Currently she still seems happy and energetic, despite everything, so we'll watch for her getting too bad.
 
#77 ·
Corey is gone now. She took a sharp down turn the day after I posted and we've just been coping. We gave her a bunch of cuddles and spoiled her rotten as best we could before we had to end it. It hurts a lot, she spent so much time inside she was more like family, and I can't help but wonder if we did something wrong, but its more likely that this was inevitable, and Im just glad she had a great life for as long as she did.

Thank you again to every one for their advice and help, it helped a lot <3
 
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