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I have lost 6 boar kids in the last 2 weeks with no signs of distress or worms! I have no idea what could be wrong, any advice would be a blessing! Thank you.
I need help with boar kids.
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1,911 Posts
Sorry about that 
If you haven't already done a fecal, I would definitely start with that. Are they free range, and open to any browse/grass? Predators?
If you haven't already done a fecal, I would definitely start with that. Are they free range, and open to any browse/grass? Predators?
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were they acting "off"? if so how?
temp
lower inner eye lid color
fecal done?
eating drinking pooping berries peeing ok?
temp
lower inner eye lid color
fecal done?
eating drinking pooping berries peeing ok?
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92,705 Posts
Cocci and worms can arise at 2 weeks of age.
May be that the kids didn't keeping up with her milk supply.
Sometimes it helps to check the Dam's udders for an over tight and painful udder, or mastitis.
If the Doe is sore and tight, milking out just enough to make her comfortable helps.
The kids will be kicked off if the Dam is in pain there. Which will allow the kids to starve to death.
Just some things that it might of been.
May be that the kids didn't keeping up with her milk supply.
Sometimes it helps to check the Dam's udders for an over tight and painful udder, or mastitis.
If the Doe is sore and tight, milking out just enough to make her comfortable helps.
The kids will be kicked off if the Dam is in pain there. Which will allow the kids to starve to death.
Just some things that it might of been.
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The kids are almost weaned. They free range during the day and are feed goat feed in the evenings. We just dewormed 3 weeks ago with safeguard. The kids that died did not have any signs if being wormy. Some did slow down and were unable to keep up with the herd, having to lay down frequently. This would happen one day and they would be dead the next. This episode did not happen with all kids so I do not know if all died of the same cause. The kids are different age groups with the youngest one being about 2 months old. And the oldest was almost 2 years old, he was a pure bred Toggenburg, my best goat! He showed signs of being wormy and was dewormed orally and seemed to be straightening up when he become very sluggish and did not want to roam with the herd. I had a vet tell me it was just side effects of the worms. This went on for a few days then he past too. I don't have very much experience with goats and worms. So I don't even know if this situation I'm in is even worms. I will see if I can get a fecal done. None of my older goats are showing any signs off illness or worms. It seems to be only affecting my younger generations. I don't know If any of this helps. I'll try my best to answer any of your questions. Thank you.
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I would think about a necropsy. (sorry for spelling, spell check isn't working)
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You definitely need to get a few different fecal samples and have them tested and make sure vet includes coccidia.
Did you know what worms you were treating when you wormed before? You may not have been treating with the right dewormer. It is very important to know what worms you are dealing with. Also an animal can have a high worm load including coccidia and have normal looking stool.
Did you know what worms you were treating when you wormed before? You may not have been treating with the right dewormer. It is very important to know what worms you are dealing with. Also an animal can have a high worm load including coccidia and have normal looking stool.
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The thing that comes to mind is Interstitial Pneumonia (Silent pneumonia) They can seem fine one minutes and be down the next..here is a quote from tennesseemeat goats
A good protocol to establish when a goat is acting off is to
Get a temp on him ( 101.5-103.5 is normal range)
Check lower inner eye lids for color. You want to see deep pink to red. Pale or white is a sign of anemia and can be deadly
check for bloat
watch them pee and poop..(especially the boys. they should have a stead stream of pee.. no sign of distress or pain)
I wish you the best is figuring out what happened to your goats..Im very sorry for our loss...but glad you are here to seek help in finding answers...
Safe guard no longer works for parasites in many areas...I would have a fecal done to see what if any worm might be present then choose a wormer that will deal with them...ask for cocci fecal as well...check each goat against the famancha chart for anemia..http://goat-link.com/content/view/110/107/#.UgJX6mSDQxc
A good protocol to establish when a goat is acting off is to
Get a temp on him ( 101.5-103.5 is normal range)
Check lower inner eye lids for color. You want to see deep pink to red. Pale or white is a sign of anemia and can be deadly
check for bloat
watch them pee and poop..(especially the boys. they should have a stead stream of pee.. no sign of distress or pain)
I wish you the best is figuring out what happened to your goats..Im very sorry for our loss...but glad you are here to seek help in finding answers...
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I had a fecal done on one of the kids that started acting abnormal today. It came back full of worms. The vet suggested I use safeguard again since it was worms commonly treated by that. I'm afraid he's getting anemic he's eyelids and mouth are very pale pink. And he has no energy to walk or stand. Any advice on how to help this little guy? The vet said to start probiotic tomorrow and maybe electrolytes to help keep him hydrated. He is still nursing mother but grazes and is hanging out near the water tub.
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safeguard is a waste of time and money. try valbazen or Synanthic. I really like synanthic, but the initial cost of a bottle is pricey. Of course having the goats die is pricey too.
I would be surprised if you also are not dealing with coccidiosis, this needs to be treated for at least 5 days. in drinking water or by hand orally. WE use corid, there are other choices, but that is what our vet recommends and we have been using it for years.
Pretty much what it boils down to is you need to improve your parasite management and get more aggressive with it. The fact that you are not loosing older stock is great, Means they have good worm resistance. Because safeguard is not that affective. Know if you gave it at like 5 x the dosage for 3 to 5 days in a row then it might help a little, But by the time you use that much it would be cheaper and easier to buy another wormer.
Use valbazen at 1 cc per 20 lbs, although I have heard of people using it at the rate of 1cc per 10 lbs, repeat every 10 days for 3 times.
use synanthic at the recommended dosage on the bottle, can go a little stronger. For most wormers you should over estimate the dosage, except Prohibit.
Can NOT use valbazen on pregnant animals, IT WILL abort them!!!
Our worming schedule and kid management this year.
We kid in winter time as much as possible to avoid summer parasite loads with our young kids and to not have nursing mom's have to deal with summer parasite loads.
Normally start kidding first week of February(live in Virginia), When the oldest kids are 3 weeks old we put corid in the drinking water for 5 days, at 4 weeks old we worm the kids with a white wormer(synanthic) and weigh the kids and give their first CD&T shot.
All our kids are weighed at birth, so we can now calculate daily gain, Mom's are looked at and wormed accordingly based on their appearance and if the kids seem to be growing well enough. Slow growing kids can be a sign that mom is not milking well due to a worm load problem. Not always the case, but it is something to consider.
21 to 28 days after last treatment day of the corid we run the corid again in the water, we continue this in all pasture/pens where there are any goats under 2 years of age, even if there are older goats in with them.
We feed a medicated feed with Rumensin in it as well,and set up a creep feed area for the kids. they often start munching creepfeed by 2 to 3 weeks of age and are eating a lot of feed by 5 to 6 weeks of age. Since we can have a range of age by about 4 to 6 weeks, we just deal with this the best we can by keeping plenty of creepfeed out for everyone, so the younger ones can much when the older ones are done eating.
at 8 to 9 weeks, making sure the youngest kids are at least 8 weeks, we band wethers, give the 2nd CD&T shot, give the first CL shot, worm again, weigh again and wean the kids. We keep the kids in groups with no more than 3 weeks age difference in the group, so one group could be weaned and another group could be just getting their first CD&T shot. Mom's are weaned up to pasture and grass hay.
We do not worm the entire farm on a regular basis, but the younger animals are watched closely for weight gain issues and rough hair coat, ect.... If it is a dryer spring and summer we can go longer with out worming and treating for coccidiosis, more rain like we have had this year and we have not missed a 3 to 4 week cycle of putting corid in the water and we have wormed more this year that past years.
Hope that helps.
Good luck, I hope it gets better for you all.
I would be surprised if you also are not dealing with coccidiosis, this needs to be treated for at least 5 days. in drinking water or by hand orally. WE use corid, there are other choices, but that is what our vet recommends and we have been using it for years.
Pretty much what it boils down to is you need to improve your parasite management and get more aggressive with it. The fact that you are not loosing older stock is great, Means they have good worm resistance. Because safeguard is not that affective. Know if you gave it at like 5 x the dosage for 3 to 5 days in a row then it might help a little, But by the time you use that much it would be cheaper and easier to buy another wormer.
Use valbazen at 1 cc per 20 lbs, although I have heard of people using it at the rate of 1cc per 10 lbs, repeat every 10 days for 3 times.
use synanthic at the recommended dosage on the bottle, can go a little stronger. For most wormers you should over estimate the dosage, except Prohibit.
Can NOT use valbazen on pregnant animals, IT WILL abort them!!!
Our worming schedule and kid management this year.
We kid in winter time as much as possible to avoid summer parasite loads with our young kids and to not have nursing mom's have to deal with summer parasite loads.
Normally start kidding first week of February(live in Virginia), When the oldest kids are 3 weeks old we put corid in the drinking water for 5 days, at 4 weeks old we worm the kids with a white wormer(synanthic) and weigh the kids and give their first CD&T shot.
All our kids are weighed at birth, so we can now calculate daily gain, Mom's are looked at and wormed accordingly based on their appearance and if the kids seem to be growing well enough. Slow growing kids can be a sign that mom is not milking well due to a worm load problem. Not always the case, but it is something to consider.
21 to 28 days after last treatment day of the corid we run the corid again in the water, we continue this in all pasture/pens where there are any goats under 2 years of age, even if there are older goats in with them.
We feed a medicated feed with Rumensin in it as well,and set up a creep feed area for the kids. they often start munching creepfeed by 2 to 3 weeks of age and are eating a lot of feed by 5 to 6 weeks of age. Since we can have a range of age by about 4 to 6 weeks, we just deal with this the best we can by keeping plenty of creepfeed out for everyone, so the younger ones can much when the older ones are done eating.
at 8 to 9 weeks, making sure the youngest kids are at least 8 weeks, we band wethers, give the 2nd CD&T shot, give the first CL shot, worm again, weigh again and wean the kids. We keep the kids in groups with no more than 3 weeks age difference in the group, so one group could be weaned and another group could be just getting their first CD&T shot. Mom's are weaned up to pasture and grass hay.
We do not worm the entire farm on a regular basis, but the younger animals are watched closely for weight gain issues and rough hair coat, ect.... If it is a dryer spring and summer we can go longer with out worming and treating for coccidiosis, more rain like we have had this year and we have not missed a 3 to 4 week cycle of putting corid in the water and we have wormed more this year that past years.
Hope that helps.
Good luck, I hope it gets better for you all.
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