4 Month Old Alpine kid Foaming & Puking

2171 Views 54 Replies 11 Participants Last post by toth boer goats, Sep 15, 2021

Khelms829

Discussion Starter · Sep 1, 2021

Hey I’m new to this group, even though I’ve visited the site many times in the last year for advice.

Ive got 5 Alpines (2 females, 2 withered, and 1 buck) and 2 Nigerian Dwarfs (1 female a little over a year old and a buckling). The 2 withers are babies of my females (1 was born 4/16 and the other 4/20) and after they were banded they stayed with their moms. We separate them mother/son at feeding time.

Forrest, born 4/20, is the product of full brother and sister mating. We were told by the vet to get a buck apron to prevent breeding while we finished fencing in a separate pasture for the females, obviously the buck apron didn’t work because he got his sister and our other female pregnant and they delivered 4 days apart. (Needless to say our buck has his own large pasture to himself away from our girls)

About 2 months ago we noticed Forrest foaming at the mouth and he puked when he was getting a mid-day treat of grain. We kept him off feed and he strictly was on hay for a few days. But he foams and pukes (sometimes it’s grain and sometimes it’s cud) at night when he’s eating his grain (he’s on Purina Goat Grower), sometimes 2-3 times a week. A fellow goat farmer suggested that he may be eating to fast and to put a rock in his dish and it should slow him down so we did. Then we went several days without any foaming or vomiting. Once his testicles fell off we put him back with his mom and he eats beside her every night but we didn’t put the rock back in the dish because we watch them eat sometimes and it doesn’t seem like he eats very fast but he’s foaming and vomiting.
Does anyone have any suggestions on what could be going wrong? Could he have an issue as a result of being interbred? He acts fine before and after and he’s been wormed and vaccinated.
Thanks in advance for any advice!

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K.B.

· #2 · Sep 1, 2021

When was the last time he was wormed? Have you seen anything odd in the foam/ vomit? Is he getting a good loose mineral? It sounds odd, is the temperature normal? Trying to think of questions someone else might ask!

K.B.

· #3 · Sep 1, 2021

Anything else change, new hay? Change of feeds? Any strange plants he could eat?

Khelms829

Discussion Starter · #4 · Sep 1, 2021

K.B. said:
When was the last time he was wormed? Have you seen anything odd in the foam/ vomit? Is he getting a good loose mineral? It sounds odd, is the temperature normal? Trying to think of questions someone else might ask!

He gets free range loose minerals and I sprinkle loose minerals on their food at night. He was wormed 6 weeks ago and his gums and eyelids are pink as they should be…. Nothing looks odd in the vomit / foam..

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K.B.

· #5 · Sep 1, 2021

Khelms829 said:
He gets free range loose minerals and I sprinkle loose minerals on their food at night. He was wormed 6 weeks ago and his gums and eyelids are pink as they should be…. Nothing looks odd in the vomit / foam..

Can I ask what he was wormed with? And why he was wormed, like did he have worms? Have you had a fecal after at all?

Khelms829

Discussion Starter · #6 · Sep 1, 2021

K.B. said:
Anything else change, new hay? Change of feeds? Any strange plants he could eat?

We grow and bale our own hay, he’s been on Purina Goat Grower since he started getting grain. At first we thought he may have got into something plant wise the first time he threw up but his pasture is clear of all poisonous plants as is the area around the fence (to make sure he wasn’t sticking his head out of the fence to nibble…

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K.B.

· #7 · Sep 1, 2021

Okay that's good! I'm glad he's not getting into anything he shouldn't be!

Khelms829

Discussion Starter · #8 · Sep 1, 2021

K.B. said:
Can I ask what he was wormed with? And why he was wormed, like did he have worms? Have you had a fecal after at all?

He was wormed with Cydectin and Valbazen (both prescribed by the large animal vet) about 6 weeks ago. His mother was wormed the day she gave birth, per the vet’s instructions. We were told by the vet to worm the kids, as a preventative, when he was out for one of the females who have pneumonia. The vet did fecals on the 3 adults and found no worms.

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K.B.

· #9 · Sep 1, 2021

Hmmm did you talk to the vet about this? It would be worth a call, I don't know if you can call and just tell them what's going on without the extra cost. Especially since your vets seen them!

K.B.

· #10 · Sep 1, 2021

Is he drinking enough water? Hard to tell I know but dehydration popped up in my mind. @ksalvagno @happybleats @MellonFriend @NigerianNewbie @goathiker might have some thoughts for you!

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K.B.

· #11 · Sep 1, 2021 (Edited)

Do you think he could be bloating? That can come with a "frothy bloat"
I would put the rock/rocks back in if that was helping! Eating too fast may cause some of this.

Khelms829

Discussion Starter · #12 · Sep 1, 2021

K.B. said:
Is he drinking enough water? Hard to tell I know but dehydration popped up in my mind. @ksalvagno @happybleats @MellonFriend @NigerianNewbie @goathiker might have some thoughts for you!

He has fresh clean water available at several spots in his pasture (my husband jokes and says I spoil them with my daily routine of feeding, dumping, cleaning out, and filling their multiple water troughs, and they get feed on a very strict routine at the same time every day 🤣) but I can’t say he’s getting enough as I don’t witness him drinking throughout the day. But I’ve done the hydration test (pulling his skin to see how long it takes to fall back in place), his gums look pink, and his urine is normal color and smell.
I am going to call the vet tomorrow. Sometimes they will give advice over the phone without charging and other times they tell me to bring them in for a visit. These visits, not scheduled ahead of time, are at a much higher rate than a normal visit (he has a nice big facility or he does farm calls). But no matter what my large animal vet is ALOT cheaper than my small animal vet (and I mean a lot $$$$$$)!!

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K.B.

· #13 · Sep 1, 2021

Khelms829 said:
He has fresh clean water available at several spots in his pasture (my husband jokes and says I spoil them with my daily routine of feeding, dumping, cleaning out, and filling their multiple water troughs, and they get feed on a very strict routine at the same time every day ) but I can’t say he’s getting enough as I don’t witness him drinking throughout the day. But I’ve done the hydration test (pulling his skin to see how long it takes to fall back in place), his gums look pink, and his urine is normal color and smell.
I am going to call the vet tomorrow. Sometimes they will give advice over the phone without charging and other times they tell me to bring them in for a visit. These visits, not scheduled ahead of time, are at a much higher rate than a normal visit (he has a nice big facility or he does farm calls). But no matter what my large animal vet is ALOT cheaper than my small animal vet (and I mean a lot $$$$$$)!!

Good thing you at least have a vet! Glad you tested the hydration level, I don't know why but it popped into my head! Would not hurt to get him to drink some electrolytes.

K.B.

· #14 · Sep 1, 2021

Sounds like you spoil them! Lol mine know when it's time to eat as well, Iike you I have a routine and boy do I get yelled at if I'm late!

MellonFriend

· #15 · Sep 1, 2021

So this is a problem only when he eats grain? Is he keeping any food down? If it's just grain it's possible he is just choking on the grain and vomiting it up because it's getting stuck in his system. A vet would certainly be a good idea since this sounds very odd to me.

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NigerianNewbie

· #16 · Sep 1, 2021 (Edited)

Khelms829 said:
foaming at the mouth and he puked when he was getting a mid-day treat of grain. We kept him off feed and he strictly was on hay for a few days. But he foams and pukes (sometimes it’s grain and sometimes it’s cud) at night when he’s eating his grain (he’s on Purina Goat Grower), sometimes 2-3 times a week.

Khelms829 said:
A fellow goat farmer suggested that he may be eating to fast and to put a rock in his dish and it should slow him down so we did.

Khelms829 said:
A fellow goat farmer suggested that he may be eating to fast and to put a rock in his dish and it should slow him down so we did. Then we went several days without any foaming or vomiting.

Khelms829 said:
we didn’t put the rock back in the dish because we watch them eat sometimes and it doesn’t seem like he eats very fast but he’s foaming and vomiting.

Sometimes the foam you are describing, comes from being fed too much grain. Froth is white with bubbles. There was no mention whether he has bloat when/after the foam/vomiting happens. He can do without a mid-day treat of grain, especially if he gets grain for breakfast along with grain at night.

Other times slimy, white, stringy, spit and hacking up feed is from eating too fast. If putting a rock in his dish helped to control the foam/vomiting, separate him at feed time, put the rock back into his dish and measure his grain ration to help control the intake. I noticed you didn't mention he would choke on his food, shake his head back and forth, or appear to act in a panic. This happens with a goat once in a while that gobble feed. Though the foam/vomiting up grain and sometimes cud suggests he's trying to swallow too quickly.

Less grain if it's frothy bloat, more hay and browse, rock in his dish and feed him separately from the other goats to remove the competitive urge to eat faster before it gets gone.

As suggested in the post above, if this continues, seek a vet, he could also possibly have a blockage in his throat.

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goathiker

· #17 · Sep 1, 2021

With goats that have reoccurring choke it's best to feed a soaked whole grain. I would choose whole oat and barley with a tablespoon of split peas sprinkled in. Soak for 24 hours before feeding.

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toth boer goats

· #18 · Sep 1, 2021

I agree with goathiker.

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NigerianNewbie

· #19 · Sep 1, 2021 (Edited)

The goat being discussed is a young wether. Would a feed of exclusively whole grains with a small amount of legume be an optimal diet for him?

NigerianNewbie

· #20 · Sep 1, 2021

Researched the calcium to phosphorus ratio.

Barley .08 cal -.38 phos = 1:4.75
Oats .10 cal - .34 phos = 1:3.4
Peas .13 cal - .42 phos = 1:3.23

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