Last year I had a case of joint ill in my herd and had to put the baby down. This year I made sure to triple dose all newborns with iodine on their navels and also dip their hooves as I had read an article about bacteria possibly entering the bloodstream through a newborns hooves if they stood while the hooves were still soft.
This year I have had 10 babies. One by one they are contracting joint ill. Usually appears between 3-4 weeks. The first never responded to anything and had to be put down. The second didn’t respond to anything the vet gave but he refused to prescribe Baytril since it’s an off label use in goats. So I posted on a local Facebook forum and was able to get Baytril from a farmer. My goat started to improve and is still on Baytril. Last night I noticed another baby goat (32 days old) limping with a swollen front joint. I cannot understand what is happening. I keep my barn clean, i’ve Literally powerwashed the whole thing, put down bleach, lime and hay in the newborn stalls. They goats spend most of their time in the outside pen or in the fields. The babies all received colostrum from mom, dam raised, very happy, jumping, active goats until BAM! Suddenly they start limping. I’m starting to think this is not joint ill. In trying to research this, I’ve come across something called Mycoplasma that also presents with swollen joints. It’s best treated with tetracycline so yesterday’s baby goat I started on LA200. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge about this? I’m dread even going out to the goats now, afraid another baby is down.
This year I have had 10 babies. One by one they are contracting joint ill. Usually appears between 3-4 weeks. The first never responded to anything and had to be put down. The second didn’t respond to anything the vet gave but he refused to prescribe Baytril since it’s an off label use in goats. So I posted on a local Facebook forum and was able to get Baytril from a farmer. My goat started to improve and is still on Baytril. Last night I noticed another baby goat (32 days old) limping with a swollen front joint. I cannot understand what is happening. I keep my barn clean, i’ve Literally powerwashed the whole thing, put down bleach, lime and hay in the newborn stalls. They goats spend most of their time in the outside pen or in the fields. The babies all received colostrum from mom, dam raised, very happy, jumping, active goats until BAM! Suddenly they start limping. I’m starting to think this is not joint ill. In trying to research this, I’ve come across something called Mycoplasma that also presents with swollen joints. It’s best treated with tetracycline so yesterday’s baby goat I started on LA200. Does anyone have any experience or knowledge about this? I’m dread even going out to the goats now, afraid another baby is down.
