# COCCIDIOSIS! New baby boy is not doing so well



## taylorm17 (Apr 5, 2014)

I just got two new boys. They are both buckling, even though one is supposed to be a wether. We have only had them for one week and one of them is sick already. I believe he may have *coccidiosis*. They gave him Corid to prevent it, but I have heard Corid is not very effective. He is due for another treatment on the 14th, but 2 days ago started acting weird. He is a very active boy. They had videos of him and he was the one who was always playing and jumping. He started getting diarrhea and we got worried, but said we'll wait a day and see how he is._ We just changed his their milk from their mom's milk to a replacer._ I have also heard that rain causes a lot of stress on goats. It has rained pretty much all week. Yesterday and the day before were the worst and they weren't really able to go outside and play much it was so bad. Then this morning he only drank about 3/4 of his milk. When we first got him, he was the first to drink all of his milk and stood waiting for more. My mom went to two stores looking for coccidiosis and could ONLY find the Corid and it was for cattle in both stores. Then since we didn't have any medicine I gave him the correct dosage of Probiotics for the stress with a little bit of water for the move into a new home, change of milk, all the rain and weather changes....Then tonight he didn't drink any of his milk at all. I waited a while and offered again. Then I waited a little longer and didn't want any, but I put some into his mouth any way so he would have a little something in him. He has been laying down most of today. I also took his temperature earlier and it was 101.3. Should I do anything else? He has also had a little bit of hay today that he nibbled on. Thanks for any advice!


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## elevan (Apr 5, 2014)

How old is he?

Milk replacer often causes diarrhea.  I would recommend using regular whole cow's milk from the grocery store instead of the replacer.

Sometimes you can find DiMethox powder at feed stores to treat coccidia.  Otherwise I would order what you need from an online supply house like Jeffers Livestock Supply or some other resource right away.

If the diarrhea continues, I would hold off on the milk for the next 24-48 hours and give electrolytes (pedialyte or gatorade if not other form of electrolyte is available) instead.  You need to get the electrolytes into him 2 to 3 times per day.

If he didn't drink today (except this morning), then tomorrow is CRITICAL - he MUST receive fluid intake.  If he will not do it himself then you have two options available to you (besides the vet), you can either tube him or you can give subcutaneous fluids using an IV set and Lactated Ringers solution.  There are certain supplies you need to have in order to do either of these tasks.  If you don't have them, you would have to get them from your vet's office or just take your kid to the vet.

He must receive fluid intake tomorrow - it is critical that he receive intake 2 to 3 times per day tomorrow (a close to normal serving).


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## alsea1 (Apr 5, 2014)

If you are new to goats and caring for them I urge you to call your vet asap.
You do not have time to wait and see.
They can fade fast.


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## Pearce Pastures (Apr 6, 2014)

x2 on the advise from Elevan and Alsea1.

Milk replacer is probably not helping and we use whole cow milk when we don't have goat milk available for that very reason.

Dimethox is a much better treatment that CoRid but TSC does not carry it so if you have any other farm stores near you, make some calls.  If nobody has it, call a vet.  Actually calling a vet at this point might be warranted anyway.  Going off a bottle is not a good sign.


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## taylorm17 (Apr 6, 2014)

He passed away really quick last night. I was reading all this and went to check on him. He was laying on his side and couldn't stand. I brought him in the house and he died around 1:30 this morning. His brother is fine and has no diarrhea. We have looked at a couple stores for the dimethox and can still only find it for cows or chickens. I even looked at online stores and can't find it. We are calling our vet today to see if they sell it. Is this contagious or could any of the symptoms he showed be something contagious. He is 7 1/2 weeks old. My mom is getting some whole cows milk today from the store and we will slowly switch him over. Should I put some probiotics in his milk tonight? They both were from the same litter. The one still alive is acting like he should, jumping, running, getting into stuff, eating all his food, begs for the bottle... Could it be any thing else? Right now we have a pen inside of our does pasture so they can get used to each other. My one doe is not nice at all to newcomers, should I keep him separated in the other pen? Also should I clean out everything the one who passed away has used or whatnot, hay water buckets, bottle... Thank you so much for the information. We have done everything we possibly could. Our older does have lived for a year with no health problems at all and we lost him in a week. Also if you didn't know he was treated once for CDT and twice for Coccidiosis with corid, so?...?


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## Pearce Pastures (Apr 6, 2014)

I am so sorry. 

Cocci are everywhere and all goats have a few floating around in them.  it is just when they are little (or when they are being stressed) that their immune system can't fight them off.

Clean up the environment might help at least reduce the number.  But go get the Dimethox and treat the others (cow or chicken matter not---it is the same chemical.  If it is in a powder form, let me know and I will do the math to help you mix it to the right concentration).


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## Pearce Pastures (Apr 6, 2014)

also I am betting on coccidiosis at that age and given the symptoms.  You can order DiMethox online from Jeffers.com in powder form or liquid.  Probios are always good and making the switch to whole milk over the next three or four feedings is a smart move.

Do you meant that now he is by himself but he can still see the other goats and interact with them?


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## taylorm17 (Apr 6, 2014)

yes he is in a smaller fenced in area inside of the girls pasture so they can touch and see each other.


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## Goat Whisperer (Apr 6, 2014)

I'm so sorry for your loss.


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## Pearce Pastures (Apr 6, 2014)

taylorm17 said:


> yes he is in a smaller fenced in area inside of the girls pasture so they can touch and see each other.


He should be just fine.  Do a five day course of Dimethox, and  maybe make him a creep door into a pen so he can start to venture out but still get away from the big goats if he needs to.  

We made a little opening at the bottom of our kidding pens (a little less then a one foot opening), and then installed a removable doors on them.  When kids are starting to get big enough to scoot out of the way fast enough when a cranky goat goes at them, we open the doors so the can come and go as they please.


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## OneFineAcre (Apr 6, 2014)

I'm so sorry.  The information Pearce Pastures is giving you is good, so I won't add anything else.
But, to let you know that we lost a kid last year to coccidiosis (confirmed by necropsy at state lab) and she went down very fast, before we could really do anything.  And, we had given preventative to ours.  Sometimes these things happen no matter what we do.  Hang in there


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## elevan (Apr 6, 2014)

I'm really sorry that you lost him    Once they stop drinking it becomes an urgent matter and bad things can happen quickly, you did the best that you could do with the resources that you had available to you.

I would definitely give preventative treatment to the other kid and clean up the pen.

http://www.backyardherds.com/resources/dealing-with-coccidia-in-goats.4/


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## alsea1 (Apr 6, 2014)

This is the down side of trying to raise animals.
Sometimes they just don't make it.
Def. do preventative measures for the other even if it seems okay.
May be good to get another goat so he is not lonely.


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## bonbean01 (Apr 6, 2014)

So sorry you lost him


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## taylorm17 (Apr 6, 2014)

Thank you very much. I was with him for most of the day. My biggest fear was that he would get it too from stressing so much over his brother. He was much better this afternoon and wasn't looking for his brother as much. He drank all of his milk with the probiotics in it too. He has also been eating hay all day. I will make a creep door for him tomorrow if I have time after school. Thank you so much for our help!


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## taylorm17 (Apr 6, 2014)

Also I have already started looking for a new wether of any breed/ or mixed with or without papers for him. I really hate having him alone even thought he can see the does! I did set out a couple things for him to play with today a ball, a ramp, and a tree stump.


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## taylorm17 (Apr 9, 2014)

Okay today he took his dosage of dimethox and probiotics. He got 2 fl oz of the whole cows milk and the rest was the formula. Tonight he only drank 3/4 of his milk tonight and all of it this morning. He has started laying down a lot. He has still peed and pooped though with normal balls and is passing okay. He is sitting in my lap now and fighting hard. My mom is almost home with some invermectin wormer for him. The only type they had was for pigs and cows, but at this point that would be better than nothing. He is my little boy and since he has been alone, i have played with him a LOT! He has been eating hay and such all day.  His gums are white and so we are trying to get the invermectin in his asap!!! No vets are open and we have called the closest 10 to us and no one answered. I can   BYH though. Are there any suggestions right now? I am really worried about him. He is not as bad as his brother was yet, but Im hoping it wont get there at all. Thank you for anya dvice


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## elevan (Apr 9, 2014)

Ivermectin is off label for goats so you'll only find it for pigs and cows.  (Very few products are actually labeled for goats, most are used off label)  Definitely get that into him.  Though it will only work if this is a barberpole issue...it's the only worm that causes anemia (white gums).  Did you ever get something for coccidia?  It will cause anemia as well and needs to be treated quickly.  I would suggest getting also getting either some Red Cell or some injectible Iron (for pigs) to actively treat the anemia.


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## taylorm17 (Apr 9, 2014)

We got some Ivermectin into him. He has had dimethox once before for 5 days and Corid once before for 5 days as well. We started him on Dimethox yesterday and he got another dose this morning. If he is still bad tomorrow, I will get some Iron or Red Cell, but we already went to TSC tonight and its pretty far away for us. Thank you for the help!


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## taylorm17 (Apr 10, 2014)

He passed away at some point last night. I plan on cleaning everything he touched and remove all the bedding far from the does. Should I treat the does with the Ivermectin as well? They starts on a medicated feed specifically for Coccidiosis last week. Thank you for all of your help, I really appreciate it! Also We contacted the breeder about the first one and said they had one kid just go with no signs at all besides laying down right before she died. Then they have another getting a blood transfusion right now, so they have had bad luck. They are refunding us for the wether, and I'm sure they will with the buck too. We are going to take the money instead of a new kid to be safe if something is going around in her herd. Thanks again!


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## OneFineAcre (Apr 10, 2014)

I'm sorry.
Would it be possible to get a necropsy?
It would be best to know for sure what the problem was.


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## jodief100 (Apr 10, 2014)

I am so very sorry.  Little ones stress easy and when they do they are susceptible to everything.


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## woodsie (Apr 10, 2014)

So sorry that you lost him too...sounds like they probably had high cocci counts when you got them and there was probably little you could do. 

I had some luck gaining time on the clock when battling cocci with a mixture of slippery elm, and spices (cinnamon, cloves, ginger, cayenne, and a bunch more stuff). You syringe feed them with this goopy mixture (slippery elm get, you guessed it, very slippery/slimy) every few hours. I had an 8 week old kid that was severely infected make it through a long weekend and actually go the scours to stop completely with this mixture until the vet's office opened to get meds. Also worked with a couple bottle lambs that got sick. I always keep a jar around kidding/lambing time in case.

The recipe is on a thread here somewhere...I'll see if I can find it.


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## woodsie (Apr 10, 2014)

Here's the link to the recipe, on page 3 of the thread. It worked for me!

http://www.backyardherds.com/threads/4-weeks-old-w-scours-update-2-18.23765/#post-318213


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## elevan (Apr 10, 2014)

I'm sorry you lost him    It's very good of the breeders to offer a refund of the kid(s).  I agree with OneFineAcre, if you can get a necropsy done you should do so to confirm what was the cause of death.


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## taylorm17 (Apr 10, 2014)

He has already been buried. We are still getting a stool sample tested when the vet can answer the phone. I have called many different people and vets and have only come back with a large possibility of Cocci. The breeder is refunding both kids. They are having big problems too. I really hate to see them with such a problem, they have lots of time and tons of money in their herd!!! I will clean and sanitize everything Saturday. Should I give the does some ivermectin or the slippery elm or safe guard for protection against them? And thank you for that recipe, I saved it on a document in case I ever need it! Is it just a treatment or could it be used right after a kid if born or for prevention? I have been so busy these past few weeks with school work, track starting, the new boys and then them getting sick... It all has led to a stressful week with no spare time. Thanks so much for all the great information everyone. I always feel better when I know I can rely on BYH to give me quick and accurate answers! Thanks so much! Also should I get my does stool testes too? Thanks!


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## elevan (Apr 10, 2014)

Definitely get your does fecal tests done to see if you need to address any concerns with them.  Best wishes to you.  Again, I'm sorry that you've had to go through this.


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