Feeding my doe back her milk - interesting

I had read about feeding the doe back her milk as an old tyme mastitis remedy - and since I did find a tiny bit of blood in the milk, I've been giving her a cup or so of milk on the stand for the last few milkings.

My other big issue with this doe is that she never finishes her grain and she is fairly thin.

Well, today I was shocked to find a clean, empty grain pan after I milked. She ate every morsel and apparently licked the bowl clean. I don't think that has *ever* happened since I brought her home. Even before she kidded she never cleaned up her grain.

Coincidence, or not, I was just very :leap:

 

I am SO interested to see if she will eat her grain this evening. Maybe I'll sneak out and offer her an afternoon snack (milk and an extra bite of grain).

 

I made her a full size serving of grain for a snack and she hoovered it all down. Then I gave her a cup or two of milk, and that went down the hatch, too.

Decidedly weird for my goat!

 

Yeah, she ate up 3 portions of her grain today & drank at least a quart of milk. I just can't believe it!

I know this run of luck will probably end tomorrow, because let's face it: goats are weird.

:hair:

I have read that raw goat milk also cures peptic ulcers. I wonder if she's had an underlying issue...

 

It's hard to say. She didn't want the grain much, but did drink almost a gallon of milk. The fridge was full, so other than saving a few laps for the dogs, she got the a.m. and p.m. milk.

I do have some omeprazole (gastroguard) left over from treating a horse for ulcers a few years ago. I wonder if goats can take gastroguard? That would definitely put the ulcer theory to the test. I know how hard ulcers are on horses, it really bothers me to think she might be off her grain because of an ulcer issue. :sigh:

 

I did a bunch of reading about omeprazole (gastroguard). There are a lot of anecdotal reports from owners that it works in ruminants. However, they did a study with it in alpacas. The first stomach chamber is such an efficient digester that the drug got digested or broken into component parts by the bacteria in the first chamber before it could be absorbed in the blood stream, which happens in the 3rd chamber. Apparently, ulcers are a widely recognized issue in alpacas - my guess is because they are so $$$. They said carafate (not an OTC) was completely effective for ruminant species, or IV omeprazole. I have seen several references that goats can get ulcers, but not anywhere have I read what the usual treatment is?

Anyway, a simple option is aloe vera juice or gel, and I have that on my shopping list. I want to try offering her some soaked beetpulp with her grain in it (she seems to like a handful of BP, so there's hope). If she will accept aloe in it, that would give her a nicely buffered grain ration and hopefully I will see her eating pick up.

BTW, she did clean up her grain on the milk stand last night. I'm in a catch-22 that it may not be good to give her back her milk, but with her not eating grain well AND losing condition, I hate to withhold it at this point because it seems to be having a positive affect.

I also followed the breeder recommendation and bolused her yesterday. Good girl ate it in a marshmallow.

 

short followup: she ate all her usual grain again this morning (hooray!), and then ate about a half cup of soaked BP & half cup grain. No milk for her this morning, I need to take it all to town today.

 

Please let me know the remedy for it! I wouldn't be suprised if it ends up being a problem.

My doe took an aloe capsule tonight (I opened it on her feed) and she has eaten 3 full portions of grain today. That's a very good day for her. I am going to stop giving her milk, and see if an aloe capsule with each feeding of grain will do the trick.