# Newbie ~ first goats, and some questions



## PJisaMom (Jul 8, 2010)

So, I have been researching goats for quite some time... and now I have some.  What do I DO WITH THEM?  

I found someone who is only a few years into her goat experience and had just had two sets of kids this spring, 2 bucks and 2 does.  We went to see them several weeks ago, and fell in love with the little critters (they are Alpines).  We had only just wanted "pets" and went to go see the boys (who we wanted as wethers), but they had one little girl to sell and one to keep... so, of course, we had to take the little girl, too.  

We waited until weaning time (and after a trip we had scheduled), I took the time to put up a fence, get the barn ready, spend lots of money on buckets and another paraphernalia I am not sure I needed, but I was "ready."

I kept reading what I would need, how I would do it, and found out so many conflicting things that my head is literally spinning.  

The more I read, the more I was sure I had already killed them, and I didn't even have them yet!  (After all, the lady told me to feed them all grain because they are kids and kids all need grain, but what I read told me that wethers shouldn't have grain because of UC and the treatment for THAT didn't sound fun!!!!  She also told me to give them a BoSe shot after I got them and that I could get that at TSC... um, no!  I didn't give it to them, but they seem fine!  I also have 15 bales of first cut alfalfa hay, which, I quote "is going to slowly kill your doe with protein" according to one article I read.)  Yep, they're goners for sure!!!!

So, transporting them proved interesting... we put them in the back of the Jeep with a bale of hay and a board blocking them from crawling over the seat.  Went pretty well and they all did great with minimal fuss.  (A little mess, but no fuss!)

Got them home and put them in the barn (which hasn't been used in over 7 years) that opens into a huge pasture, sectioned in three pieces by a non-working electric fence that needs repair.  I have built a smaller enclosure in front of the barn using cattle panels and added some wooden spools and cinder blocks for climbing fun.  

The eventual plan is to fix the fence and maybe let them roam, but then I noticed some milkweed plants in the pasture.  MILKWEED!  (Told ya I killed 'em already!)  So, what?  The entire pastures are off limits forever?

The girl is still being bottle fed for about another week yet (and it's fun for my human kids who LOVE the goats ~ Smith, Wesson, and Browning) and they are all getting grain twice a day.  (The amount is debatable, they scramble from bucket to bucket, so not sure who is getting more or less.  We did give the boys a bottle with with 3oz milk and 7oz electrolytes for 2.5 days after arrival and the girl 5oz milk and 5oz electrolytes to ease the transition and make sure they were hydrating enough (it's been HORRIBLY HOT in West Michigan).   But the boys are now done with bottles, and seem to be doing okay without them.  (We are sneaking them to "Brownie")

I have not wormed yet frankly because I am SO CONFUSED about what to do????  Feed medicated?  Switch around wormers?  Do a weekly herbal wormer?  Injection?  I need to do this NOW, as it just rained last night and I'm afraid that may kick something off.

I just got my shipment from Hoeggers today... Golden Mineral Blend (is this good?), hoof trimmers (so scared to do this, but I must, and then it will be easier!), CD&T vaccines, BoviSera (should I just give this for any reason?) and rumatel dewormer crumbles (ok, really, what should I do here?)

So, can you help me with WORMERS, whether the wethers need grain (it is a bagged sweet feed) and if so, should I be adding some ammonia chloride (right?) to it?  I can work on the CD&T as soon as I get better syringes and needles tomorrow (got 20 gauge, 1 inch that look dangerous).  If someone has a tried and true method/schedule/brand/dose in human terms, etc, I would appreciate your help!!!!  

I have had them for three days now and they seem to be doing great.  I love calling to them from the front porch and hearing them respond... they are fast learners... and so unbelievably cute!

Also, we hope to breed the doe eventually, but she seems incredibly small next to her brothers; she is about 2 weeks younger, but the sizedifference is quite noticable.  Will this not bode well for kidding?  Should I keep her on milk longer?

See, it's not for lack of research that I am asking these questions, it is because I've done too much!!!!!  I just want to do right by my new kids!

Thanks!  If anyone can help, I'd REALLY appreciate it!

PJ


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## Roll farms (Jul 9, 2010)

Sweet feed is 'textured', meaning it has grain in it...grain *can* lead to UC problems (if not balanced out w/ the right hay....too complicated for me to stress over)....so I feed a pelleted (no grain in it) feed from TSC called, "Noble Goat" that already has the UC in it....made by Purina, to all my boys.

Question:  Are the boys banded yet (wethered?)  The longer you hold off banding them (I do it no sooner than 2 mos of age) the longer their urethra has time to grow, which helps in UC prevention.

As far as deworming, you can take a sample of their poop into a vet for a fecal exam, also ask them to check for coccidia.

Based on what they find (high count of eggs, no eggs, 'normal' level of eggs, etc.) you can make an informed decision on what to use to deworm.  
Not all dewormers will kill all worms, you have to experiment and do repeat fecals to make sure it's working on your problem.
(Learning how to do a fecal might not be a bad idea...)

http://www.extension.org/pages/Goat_Dewormers

http://www2.luresext.edu/goats/training/parasites.html#ip

We do Famacha eye checks here, and so far have had really good luck keeping things under control.

If they find coccidia present, that's a whole OTHER parasite / treatment...but I'll let you absorb the 'worm' info and go from there, if you'd like.

A medicated feed w/ deccox will ONLY prevent coccidia if they eat enough to get the medicine in their system at therapeutic levels...so I medicate mine every 3-4 weeks to 'prevent / treat' for it and have had really nice, big healthy kids for several years by doing it this way....as opposed to runty, weak, sick, and DYING kids I had the first year or so we had goats....not fun.

If your doeling seems stunted, coccidia may be the issue (or may not.)

There is milkweed in our pasture on occasion (I yank it up when I see it) but typically if the pasture is big enough / has enough browse, the goats will ignore the 'bad' stuff and eat the good...or eat enough of a variety that they don't get a toxic amount.

I bought BoviSera but have to admit I've only used it one time...the bottle expired and I tossed it.  I do vaccinate w/ CDT at 2 and 6 weeks (roughly) and then boost annually.

Soooo....after you absorb all that info....let me know if you have more questions.


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## PJisaMom (Jul 9, 2010)

NOTE:  apparently not only do I need a goat primer... I need a "quotes" primer, too!  

Sweet feed is 'textured', meaning it has grain in it...grain *can* lead to UC problems (if not balanced out w/ the right hay....too complicated for me to stress over)....So, am I "killing" mine by going with alfalfa?

so I feed a pelleted (no grain in it) feed from TSC called, "Noble Goat" that already has the UC in it....made by Purina, to all my boys.So, I will gradually switch them over to the Noble Goat, and leave the doe on the sweet feed?

Question:  Are the boys banded yet (wethered?)  The longer you hold off banding them (I do it no sooner than 2 mos of age) the longer their urethra has time to grow, which helps in UC prevention.Yes!  They banded them for me at about 6 weeks old.

As far as deworming, you can take a sample of their poop into a vet for a fecal exam, also ask them to check for coccidia.I think I can manage that.

If your doeling seems stunted, coccidia may be the issue (or may not.)She poops well, was very well cared for and is vigorous and healthy, I just think she's a little on the smaller side...


Thanks for the great info!  It's somewhere to start!  I WILL be back!


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## Roll farms (Jul 9, 2010)

I usually only give alfalfa to milking does or heavy bred does...kids, dry does, and bucks get grass or grass alfalfa mix.

(And, keep in mind, for every goat farm, there's a different opinion / idea on how / what to feed...so don't take my opinion as the be-all to end-all.)

And I give all my kids that Noble Goat as well, I wasn't saying _not_ to give it to the doeling, just that it's the ONLY feed I give the boys...the AC won't hurt the girls.  

IMHO, any 'good' goat feed, 16% protein, w/ AC and deccox or rumensin for cocci prevention, and copper in it, will work.  
Sheep / goat feeds generally don't have enough / any copper in them, and I found out the hard way that they NEED that copper.

I mix my own sweet feed / corn / black oil sunflower mix for the adult does, that's also top dressed w/ Probiotic powder and ADM Goat Power mineral.

A goat can have subclinical coccidiosis, and not show any symptoms...but the bugs are still in there, damaging the intestinal lining, and feeding off of their B vitamins so that they don't get any....and then *boom* one day the goat is sick, and can die as quickly as the next day.

I don't mean to scare you, but it can happen...eating / normal poop isn't *always* a sign that nothing's wrong...

We lost 4 kids to it one year, and it was AWFUL.  She may not have it, but when you have a fecal ran, it'd be a great idea to have her checked for that as well....tis the season for parasites.

Good luck!

eta:  I said "already has the UC in it" about Noble Goat....I meant AC to prevent UC....darn anagrams, anyway....


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## ksalvagno (Jul 9, 2010)

Check your labels. Some texturized feeds have AC in them too. The texturized feed I buy has AC in it.


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## cmjust0 (Jul 9, 2010)

ksalvagno said:
			
		

> Check your labels. Some texturized feeds have AC in them too. The texturized feed I buy has AC in it.


Maybe I'm wrong, but I think what Roll was getting at was the fact that textured feed has actual, discreet, recognizable grains in it...like, kernels of corn and so forth.

That can be dangerous because it provides the animal with an opportunity to cherry pick.  For instance, if you have a buckling or wether who mostly just eats the corn and oats out of a textured feed and leaves a bunch of everything else for the rest of the goats to eat, he's throwing the Ca ratio off on the entire ration -- for everyone.

I've actually seen that sort of thing happen before..  When we got our current herdsire, his breeders had him on some custom-mixed textured feed from their local feedmill.  To ease the transition, they sent us home with a bag of it.  

We already had some kids out there who weren't on much feed, so we put everyone on it and started mixing in the pelleted feed they'd all eventually be getting.

Despite the fact that it was supposed to be the bees knees, and a feed his breeders were quite proud of, it was GARBAGE imho.

Inevitably, when the kids walked away to eat some hay, there would be...stuff...left in the grain dish.  Sandy stuff, mostly, with little bits of this and that mixed in.

I *knew* those sandy leftovers were mostly the vitamin and mineral blend they were putting in the mix, along with the ammonium chloride.  

Not a good situation...there was NO WAY that what they were _actually_ taking in was representated by the gauranteed analysis tag.

Needless to day, they got switched to pelleted feed as rapidly as possible to avoid the problems that go along with inappropriate feed...because, as it was when it entered their little goatie pieholes, that's exactly what it amounted to.

I also know a few folks around here who have switched their animals to a really weird, super cheap feed from a local feed mill..  It's a mix of textured grains along with some big horse-sized pellets..  The tag looks right for growing goats; 2:1 Ca mix, ammonium chloride, rumensin, etc..

What *I've* seen, though, is that it's super dusty with that same sandy crap having migrated to the bottom of the bag..  When you feed it, they leave all that and eat mostly the grains and pellets.

I've been encouraged to try it (it's cheap...like $6/bag), but I'm just waiting for everyone to start having trouble with it -- especially UC problems in their wethers and bucklings.

Time will tell, I guess.  

Anyway...point is...pelleted feed is generally considered safer than textured, because it packs more or less the same ingredients in the same proportion into every pellet..  As such, the ratios, dosages, percentages, and PPMs of everything are much more consistent.


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## PJisaMom (Jul 9, 2010)

Thanks, everyone... and I hope I'm not breaking some rules, but I posted this under kids, too... I have a problem!


I emailed from the barn, but it doesn't look like it went through... 

I have officially had them for four days now and it's begun... at 7:45, Smith had a runny poop.  He's "ok", but not quite as active as normal, and I panicked, read up on Tennessee milk goats about coccidia, ran to tractor supply that had absolutely nothing I needed to rescue my baby goat.  As a last resort I picked up some electrolyte solution and left.  

I called two vets today, neither of which would do a fecal without having a working relationship with me, and we could schedule something for next week.  (And I had no inkling that I would actually NEED a vet tonight ~ I just wanted help with wormers.)

So I called the mobile vet service tonight.  She said that since he's still acting "ok", that giving him Straged(? ~ I have it written down in the car) wormer (comes in a tube ~ one or two "clicks" should do it) once a day for the next three days and some sort of lactobacillus source, he should be okay until Tuesday when they can get me some Corrid.  (I can get this Straged from TSC, supposedly but I have a hard time believing that ~ our TSC is, uh, lacking.)

Something tells me that I read that Corrid was no longer recommended?

So, I come to you and see what you think... 

Help?

Do I call another vet in the morning?  

I gave him very little grain, a bottle of the electrolyte solution, a nice rub down and some good hay... 

Then I noticed Wesson heading down the same road... Browning's still good, for now, but plan on treating the whole herd...

How emergent is this?  How dire?  

I am heartsick that my babies are sick... 

Thanks for any help.

I am absolutely in tears.  

Paula


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## Roll farms (Jul 9, 2010)

It may not be coccidia, it may be a change of place / diet....but I would get the meds to treat them asap...won't hurt, and may save them.

I order all my supplies from Jeffer's Livestock, I don't use the 'next day air' but they do have it if you can't find a closer source for a sulfa-based coccidia treatment.

First off, I think the vet meant "Strongid" dewormer and it won't treat coccidia....secondly, (and I know a lot of posters here use horse paste, so no offense meant...) but I won't / don't / and won't recommend it.

When they fill those tubes at the factory, they don't mix the medicine w/ the filler, one goes in, then it goes down the line to the other...so there is NO WAY to get an accurate dosage.  Most 'good' horse vets I know will tell you to give a full-sized horse the entire tube for that reason...
regardless of their weight.

Second, TSC carries several different goat dewormers, but....w/ out a fecal there is no way to know which one you need, or even if...and again, dewormer won't treat / kill coccidia.

Tapeworms are best handled by safeguard given 3 days straight...they carry a liquid labeled for goats, I use 2x the dose listed.
Lungworm, I use ivermectin....barberpole I use Valbazen but only if they're not bred...it can cause abortions.
I use the pelleted goat dewormers for kids only...to hard to get an accurate dosage when feeding several adults at once.

Also, 90% of the stuff I keep on hand has no 'goat dosage' listed, so you have to know what you're getting and why, AND how to use it. 
Ivermectin (Ivomec) injectable dewormer for cattle / pigs is probably going to be your best weapon, and you won't find a goat dosage on it...and you DO NOT inject it into goats, they get it orally....1 cc per 25#.

This is what I use for coccidia treatment:

http://www.jefferslivestock.com/ssc...32QLT0UFVE9XB&keywords=DiMethox&cmkw=DiMethox

I buy the powder and mix it w/ 1.5 c of water, shake well, and dose them at 1cc per 10# the first day, then 1cc per 20# days 2-5 (or 7 if I feel they need it longer).  I repeat every 21 days until a good hard frost.

TSC carries probiotic pastes and powders...that's what she meant by the lactobacillus source.
They also carry the B vitamin..if it is Coccidiosis, they'll need that.

(I work at TSC and apparently most of them suck, but ours does have an employee who 'knows' animal health...at least a little...)

I don't / won't use Corid b/c it inhibits B absorption (that's how it kills cocci, they feed on B), and kids NEED B vitamins.

I have to run into town, I'll check back in a bit.

eta:  I would use corid in an emergency / can't get anything else-type situation...I just _prefer_ sulfa treatments since I do them all summer.


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## PJisaMom (Jul 9, 2010)

Roll farms said:
			
		

> It may not be coccidia, it may be a change of place / diet....but I would get the meds to treat them asap...won't hurt, and may save them.
> 
> I order all my supplies from Jeffer's Livestock, I don't use the 'next day air' but they do have it if you can't find a closer source for a sulfa-based coccidia treatment.
> 
> ...


You rock!  I didn't have a good feeling from any of the information the phone vet gave me, so I checked here... and I appreciate the detailed response... 

I hope that this is something I can hit hard and save my babies... yes, it might be the change, etc... but the timing just seems to all fit with coccidia.

Would this be a good occasion to break out the BoviSera that I bought with no idea what I was going to do with it?  

Should I still do the vaccinations (follow-up CD&T) this weekend or see where we are early next week?

I really don't think I'll be able to get the stuff I need at a farm store around here (though I will try like heck! and check with the other vets in the area) and Jeffers won't ship until Monday at the earliest; even with overnight, it won't get here until Tuesday.  I am worried that is too long?  

I am contacting a goat farm a few towns away to see if they have any on hand... 

Sorry about the TSC comment...I just get so frustrated with them... we do have a Farm and Home store and they seem to have a LOT more stuff.  

One last thing.... when reading online at tenneseemilkgoats, they mentioned also antibiotics... or am I missing the point that the DiMethox IS the antibiotics...?

So for all the wormers you mentioned... I should do an Ivomec this weekend, get tested from there and figure it out based on fecals.  (Because I wouldn't necessarily do all of those at once, right?  Especially in the middle of a possible coccidia episode?)

I really do appreciate your time and help... I hope to return the favor to another newbie someday!

Paula


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## lupinfarm (Jul 10, 2010)

:/ I wish I could get Safeguard for goats. For now I am forced to use the tubed stuff for horses and I just roughly gauge how much they get. 

My vet told me to inject the Ivermec, but I think next time I'm going to try the oral route. When I go in next I think I'll take a fecal in.

I'm sure Roll isn't hurt, our TSC's are worse than useless here as well. Ours are so useless, they don't really even carry anything for animals. Heck, our Co-ops are pretty useless too.


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## freemotion (Jul 10, 2010)

Roll farms said:
			
		

> Ivermectin (Ivomec) injectable dewormer for cattle / pigs is probably going to be your best weapon, and you won't find a goat dosage on it...and you DO NOT inject it into goats, they get it orally....1 cc per 25#.


Why?  I thought it was safer to inject it because of fast die-off?  I don't use it much, but when I do, I want to do it the best possible way!


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## Roll farms (Jul 10, 2010)

Because *most* vets don't really read up on goats, I think they just try to treat them like mini cattle, hence injecting the ivomec...but everything by any goat producer I've ever read says to give it orally, it has to hit the stomach to work.

DiMethox is an antibiotic, but I didn't read what you read so I am not sure what was meant at TMG...I do not give them an additional antibiotic during treatment (uneeded) but...if they got a fever / sniffles, I'd give the DiMeth a chance to work before I added yet another drug to the mix.

I wouldn't give them a dewormer if you plan on having a fecal ran in the next week to 10 days, it'll bugger the results...and I don't like to hit young rumens w/ TOO much medicine and create worse problems.

I'd get the DiMethox (or corid if you can get it faster than the DM) into them as soon as you can, along w a B shot (IM), some probiotic, and treat them for 5 days.  (If you start w/ Corid, I'd treat 5 days w/ it, then switch to DM next time / if needed.)

Have you taken a look at their eyelids?  Are they pale?  (There's famacha info in one of the other links I posted earlier).  If they're not gray / white / palest pink ever, I'd put the worm concern on the back burner and focus on getting the cocci cleared up.
They won't be as dark as our eyelids are, but they should be a good solid pink in color.

See if you can get ANY vet to do a fecal in the next week....cocci will still be present, (they shed the dead ones slower than they do worm eggs, if I understand correctly...) so treatment for cocci won't mess up the fecal egg count for / of worms.

And, if a vet told me they wouldn't give me meds w/out a working relationship, especially in an emergency situation, I'd probably be all about telling them, "Well, I need to save these animals NOW so that I CAN create a working relationship, because if they die then I won't need you, will I?  And the vet who helps me will get my business...guess it won't be you, eh?  So much for helping animals...pffft." 

Or something along those lines...

I don't suppose you're anywhere near Hillsdale, MI are you?

(I have a friend near there w/ some DiMethox, I could probably talk her into giving you enough to last until Tues....)


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## Roll farms (Jul 10, 2010)

*Whoops, Free, I didn't see your question when I answered the last time....

Here's one answer by a vet:*

Ray Kaplan, DVM, PhD, 
Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 
On the efficacy of Eprinex cattle pour-on used on goats 
The systemic availability of the avermectins and moxidectin when administered topically is significantly lower in goats than in cattle. This leads to lower efficacy and longer subtherapeutic residual levels - a perfect situation for selecting for resistant worms. This will be especially important if there is a history of ivermectin use since resistance genes are already accumulating in the worm population. 

*And another by SG of TMG, who I don't always agree w/...but in this case I do.*

Oral drenching works best when deworming goats. Goats have faster metabolisms than most other livestock. De-wormers formulated to have a "long-lasting effect" get metabolized more quickly -- in about three days -- by goats. However, enough drug residual is left in the goats to allow worms to begin building up resistance to the dewormer. Given orally, such products produce a quicker and more effective worm kill and exit the goats' systems , leaving less de-wormer residual for the worms to develop resistance against. See the paragraph below for the only exception to this statement -- encysted worms. Hides are too thin on goats to use pour-on back drenches. Some producers believe that neurological problems have occurred in their herds after using topline deworming drenches.

The exception to the statement "oral drenching works best" is encysted worms. Worms can be both freefloating and embedded (encysted) in the stomach walls of heavily-wormy (carrying a heavy wormload) goats. Encysted (embedded) worms do not show up in fecal examinations because they are still inside the goat. Oral deworming kills the freefloaters but does not affect those worms encysted in the stomach lining. Once the freefloating worms are gone, the embedded worms become freefloating to feast on stomach contents. As worms multiply, crowding causes some of them to embed in the walls. At this point, the goat is getting weak, bottlejaw (subcutaneous fluid retention in a pocket of skin underneath the chin -- an indication that a very bad wormload has led to anemia) appears, and the goat's survival is at risk. The immediate solution is to inject 1% Ivermectin at a dosage rate of one cc (1 cc) per 50 pounds bodyweight, permitting greater body-wide absorption of the dewormer. The producer may have to repeat this procedure every 10 days for a total of three applications.

*So basically, for quick kill of low-populations, you want to give it orally.  If the goat is really, REALLY anemic, you want to inject it.

I prefer to NOT let mine get to that point, AND I want it out of their systems (milk) as soon as possible.*


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## PJisaMom (Jul 10, 2010)

Went to the grain elevator... got my hands on some corid (9.6% oral liquid) and  electrolytes

Trying the Corid, and giving it to all of them this morning.

I have a call into a local goat farmer to see if she has any dimethox... no answer yet.  Not sure where else to look....

a call to the 2nd vet in the area said they use corid... so it may work around here. 

THank you so much for all of your help and support!  I will keep you posted!

Paula


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## freemotion (Jul 10, 2010)

Roll farms said:
			
		

> *Whoops, Free, I didn't see your question when I answered the last time....
> 
> Here's one answer by a vet:*
> 
> ...


Thank you!  Makes sense!  No, I don't let mine get anywhere near that point.  Now I need to learn how to drench.   Look for my thread and please post your opinion (runs off to start a thread on how to drench....)


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## Roll farms (Jul 10, 2010)

Just to be clear, I'm not saying Corid won't work....it does...but I don't like *how* it works, by inhibiting the kid's ability to absorb B vitamin, which cocci feeds on.

Like I've said many times, there are a million ways to treat / raise goats, and whatever works for you, is the right way.

I just wanted to point out that I never said it won't work for you...I just prefer to use DiMethox.

I would still get the B vitamin and probiotics into them ASAP...


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## PJisaMom (Jul 10, 2010)

Roll farms said:
			
		

> Just to be clear, I'm not saying Corid won't work....it does...but I don't like *how* it works, by inhibiting the kid's ability to absorb B vitamin, which cocci feeds on.
> 
> Like I've said many times, there are a million ways to treat / raise goats, and whatever works for you, is the right way.
> 
> ...


No problems here, Roll!  You've been a rockstar as far as I am concerned!

I have read on more than one site that Corid isn't necessarily recommended anymore.... and for the Thiamine issue alone, it's totally worth finding something else.  But in the short-term and for pure availability alone, Corid is the weapon of the hour.  (And unfortunately, I live a few hours from Hillsdale (3?), but I REALLY APPRECIATE the offer of DiMethox from your friend.  That's awesome!

I have learned more about goats this week alone than I thought possible and I truly appreciate the insight and support of those who are "experts" in the field, rather than those who read a book and profess to know all there is to know about goats.  

[There are many reasons I feel this way, though mostly because I have a severely chronically ill daughter who has suffered many injustices at the hands of people who read the medical book but missed the chapter on the real world application of that "knowledge".]

I would far prefer to gather a variety of information from people actually living this life and take from it what I can use in my own backyard herd.  

Probiotics on board (oddly Smith LOVES the Probios, but the other two are less, uh, inclined to accept it), and will pick up the vitamin B tonight.  Would you just give them one booster of the B, or multiple?  Any chance you got a dose off the top of your head?  Should I give them Probios everyday for the next five while getting the Corid?  Oh, and mixed Corid according to bottle directions and made my husband do the math about the actual dose (and learned that when you need so little, you really shouldn't make the whole batch... Live and learn!).

And, begrudgingly, I stepped on the scale to figure out their weights... Browning is about 14 pounds (small!) and the boys are in the 25 pound range.  (The scale and I have issues... I have avoided it for several months, breaking the streak only because the goaties needed me to!  See... I'm a sucker!)

As for Smith, he's holding his own.  More quiet and alone than usual, but then interacts just fine.  Restricted his grain this morning to a few bites, and gave him some electrolytes to be on the safe side.  He's been good with the hay, and had a few green leaves, so  I am feeling ok about him for now.  Trying to watch his output, but because a watched pot never boils, I can't catch him going, while seemingly his siblings will perform on demand.  They are doing well overall.  

I cleaned out the barn and did my best to clean up any messes... 

Hopefully we've stopped something horrible by jumping on it right away!  

THANK YOU!

Paula


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## Roll farms (Jul 10, 2010)

You can't overdose on B vitamin, the just pee out the 'extra' (and don't panic if you see very yellow pee...).
I'd give the ill one 5cc and the others 3-5 cc ea.
I'd give the probios for 2 days...maybe once again on the last day of treatment.
The B shots, I'd do 2 days at least.  I generally give them in the butt cheek and switch cheeks the next shot so as to not make them too sore.
Good luck, and let us know what the fecal(s) show.

You should probably refrigerate any leftover meds you have, corid, B vitamin, etc...even if they don't say to do so, I store all my meds in the fridge.
But...fill the syringes and then let them get to room / body temp (I've been known to stick syringes down my pants to warm them in a hurry...  )because cold meds injected into a hot body hurts like the dickens.


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## PJisaMom (Jul 16, 2010)

Roll farms said:
			
		

> I buy the powder and mix it w/ 1.5 c of water, shake well, and dose them at 1cc per 10# the first day, then 1cc per 20# days 2-5 (or 7 if I feel they need it longer).  I repeat every 21 days until a good hard frost.


Curious... do you do five days, and then count 21 days, or really start every 26 days?  

Thanks, Roll!!!!  You Rock!

Paula


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## Roll farms (Jul 17, 2010)

On for 5, off for 21, back on for 5.

ALSO...I forgot to mention to KEEP IT IN THE FRIDGE....left at room temp it won't last as long.

Seeing an improvement?


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## PJisaMom (Jul 17, 2010)

Roll farms said:
			
		

> On for 5, off for 21, back on for 5.
> 
> ALSO...I forgot to mention to KEEP IT IN THE FRIDGE....left at room temp it won't last as long.
> 
> Seeing an improvement?


Thank you!   Yes, EVERYONE is doing great (and currently crying for me to get my rear end down to the barn!!!)... a HUGE thank you for all of your help!  I just went back and read through all of the posts and laughed a little at myself (drama!) and gleaned more info when I remembered this little nugget of information and wanted to get it straight.  I ordered a bunch of stuff from PBS (which was free shipping AND arrived the next day ~ bonus!), so I got my powdered DiMethox on hand!!!!  

I thought to myself that I really need to write a Getting Real... Confessions of a One-Week Goat Owner



You rock!


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