# Sudden, chronic goat cough



## tina w (Oct 25, 2015)

Hello, we have a small herd of 4 goats and today they all developed a sudden, chronic cough. The two adult females seem to cough the most, about every couple of minutes they cough at least three times and don't appear to be chewing the cud after. The two youngest cough but not as much and not as often. We were outside with them all day and just started this chronic dry cough this evening. Our area is moist and cool right now so I don't think too many allergies are a problem. Any suggestions?


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## Southern by choice (Oct 25, 2015)

If they have a respiratory infection they will need to be treated by a vet with the proper anti-biotics and dosage.
If it is something from hay etc that is different.

Are you new to goats?
How long have you had the goats?
Any sudden changes in weather?

First thing I would recomend is to take their temperature. You need to take it rectally. Having a digital thermometer specifically for your goat cabinet is must so if you don't have one you will need to get one. 

Check to see if they have a fever. Try to listen to the lungs on each one do they sound clear? What kid of goats and how old are they?


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## tina w (Oct 25, 2015)

We are fairly new to goats. We've had the two adult females for a year. One of them had kids this spring and we kept the one female from her. We purchased another female kid this summer for our doeling. We have an adult Oberhasli and one kid Oberhasli. The other doeling is a mini alpine, as for our other adult female she is a mix and we aren't sure exactly what she is mixed with. When we bought her the previous owner said the mother was a Nubian but didn't know what she was mixed with. The vet suspected she is  a boer-nubian mix. The weather has been great up here. No temperature fluctuations in the last week. Our oldest female is 3 years old. The other female about 16 months old, and the kids were both born in May. I will check their temperatures, thanks for the suggestion.


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## goatgurl (Oct 25, 2015)

have you changed hay or feed?  dusty hay can cause a cough too.  what were their temps?  do they have any nasal drainage?


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