[Kristina Calli]

Hi there,

First time goat mom of two 10 week old bottle fed Alpine wethers. They are down to two bottle feeds a day, on good quality grass hay, fresh water, and about 3 hours a day of west coast foraging/day (blackberry bramble, salal, huckleberry, fir trees, grasses, etc). No loose minerals or grains as their formula contains selenium and they were banded at a couple days old.

They have both recently developed milk neck (it’s soft and visible in pic of the one below), but have otherwise been happy healthy and BIG goats (both 40 lbs).

The last week or so one has had intermittent soft stool in the afternoon. The last 24 hours has been continually very soft. He was given 3g of probiotic one week ago and I gave 5 g of probiotic this morning, but so far (5pm) no improvement in his stool.
They’ve had their CD&T shot and booster, and baycox twice.

FAMACHA scores for both are good (1).

I thought of keeping them both in their pen with no foraging for a day to see if it might be something he’s sensitive to, but he really didn’t like the idea.

Any thoughts??

 

[NigerianDwarfOwner707]

No loose minerals or grains as their formula contains selenium and they were banded at a couple days old.

First, they need loose minerals.

and baycox twice.

I would wait 7 days after you last did Baycox, and then get a fecal test for worms and coccidia - especially coccidia, to make sure baycox was successful if that was the culprit.

Can I get a rectal temp?

In the interim, start on tummy trouble paste 2x a day to help with poop, and worms, and immune support, all of the above:

1/2 teaspoon of cayenne, cinnamon, slippery elm bark powder, and ginger (can be substituted for a slice of raw ginger the size of a quarter about 1/2 cm thick). Blend with 1 raw clove of garlic, molasses, apple cider vinegar, and enough water to drench.

What color is the poop?

How much are you giving at each feeding? Is it replacer or whole milk?

 

[Kristina Calli]

Thank you, NDO!

I gave baycox at 21 days and again 21 days later. Do you think Cocchia could still be the culprit? I guess these symptoms did start to appear about 16 days after the last worm..

His poop is green, maybe a bit on the yellow side (I’ll snap a pic next time).
While he was pooping this afternoon I could see that his bum did look a bit inflamed/irritated.

They’re down to 300g a day of “Kid-o” milk replacer, but I was planning to put that down to 200g starting tomorrow, on their 10 week birthday.
The bag says not to give any other product containing selenium (which their MannaPro minerals do), but I guess now that they’re being weaned it’s okay to start giving them some?

I don’t have a thermometer for them yet, but I will get you their temp once the pharmacy opens tomorrow.

Thanks again for your help!

 

[happybleats]

Green poops is usually dietary. Maybe too much fresh greens. Dry lotting a few days may help. 3 hours of browsing shouldn't be bad for them but once dry..start with an hour of browse time...increase time allotment slowly. Make sure dew is dried up before setting them out.

 

[Kristina Calli]

Thank you, happybleats. This makes a lot of sense as he is the most voracious eater of the green stuff of the two of them. His poos were also better in the morning when all he’d had was hay overnight, before having 24 hrs of runny poo.

As an update, last night I gave him about 3cc of the concoction NDO mentioned above (minus slippery elm as I didn’t have any on hand), and his poops are much better this morning! Maybe the probiotic I gave him yesterday morning has helped too.

I’ll keep him in the pen with only grass hay for the rest of the day, and will see how his afternoon poos are.

Thank you again!

 

[happybleats]

That is good. News..yes sound like he loves his greens. Sometimes giving a little probiotics before sending out to graze helps too.

You can grab slippery elm at the pharmacy in capsule form for humans or order off Mountain rose herbs. Its a great herb to keep on hand.

 

[goatblessings]

When you put him out again, only do in slow increments to get his rumen used to the fresh greens

 

[Kristina Calli]

As an update, his poops continued to improve today with only some pellets being a bit soft tonight. I expect they could be back to normal by tomorrow morning. If so, then think I will try letting him forage an hour tomorrow spread out over two sessions. Will see then how he does.

Thanks again everyone. Your input has sincerely made me (& Pickles) feel so much better.

 

[toth boer goats]

Glad there is improvement.