# Can cold weather stress cause diarrhea?



## KellyHM (Dec 7, 2010)

Last night we had our first below freezing night of the year.  Today THREE of my goats (2 of the adult does and 1 older buckling) have diarrhea.  Is this possibly just from the change in weather or should I be more worried?


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## glenolam (Dec 7, 2010)

Was there something in their pen they could have all ingested?  If they were all cuddled up together for the day/night bored because it's too cold to play outside they could have gotten into something inside.

It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt...ya know?


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## KellyHM (Dec 7, 2010)

Their "inside" is an enclosed horse trailer that they can get into to get out of the weather.  They all sleep in there at night and go in when it's raining.  There's absolutely nothing in it except straw for bedding.  They haven't changed pastures, or feed (except more hay than grass now that it's cold), or anything else.  The only thing I can think of is that I gave them a mineral block about a week and a half ago.  Is it possible they're eating too much mineral and giving themselves diarrhea?


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## glenolam (Dec 7, 2010)

I would think too much minerals would present itself sooner than a week and a half...have you noticed it's gone down more quickly the past few days?  What kind of a block is it?

Are you graining them at all?  What kind of diarreah is it - green, brown, mushy, acorn-type, full blown watery/gooey? Do any of them have a fever?  Are they still eating/drinking/acting fine other than the poo?


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## cmjust0 (Dec 7, 2010)

Is it possible that they were lingering in the trailer, not wanting to get out in the cold, and maybe nibbled at their bedding?

If so...could be a bacterial thing.  "Food poisoning," in other words.

In any case, the question now is this:  What, if anything, needs to be *done* about their diarrhea?


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## glenolam (Dec 7, 2010)

cmjust0 said:
			
		

> In any case, the question now is this:  What, if anything, needs to be *done* about their diarrhea?


And the answers to the questions above would help point you in the right direction so you don't get bombarded with ALL the possible things you could do.


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## Emmetts Dairy (Dec 7, 2010)

I would think not.  Diarrhea in goats can mean sooo many diiferant things. From as little to food change, to major illness'. So its really hard to say.  

I look at the output of my herd on a daily basis.  It holds alot of info!! 

I would make sure they have clean water and watch for dehydration.  Goats can dehydrate fast..and you dont want that.  

But I agree with the eating suggestion.  If they all got it suddenly after being enclosed..they were probally eating the stuff on the ground.  YUK.

I would keep a close eye on them..and clean water..and more clean water and make sure everyone is drinking it.  If its a poisoning..you dont want to stop it..you want it to get out..but water..water..water...

Good luck


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## cmjust0 (Dec 7, 2010)

Emmetts Dairy said:
			
		

> If its a poisoning..you dont want to stop it..you want it to get out..but water..water..water...


Depends on what you mean by poisoning and how you intend to go about stopping it..  If it's "food poisoning," which is really just a bacterial gut infection, you'd want to step in with oral antibiotics ASAP so that the infection and resulting toxins don't go on and on damaging the lining of the gut, possibly going systemic, etc..  

If it's some other type of plant or inorganic poisoning, you may not want to try and stop the scour -- but employing something like pepto (to protect the gut lining) and/or charcoal or biosponge, etc., would probably be helpful.

If it's dietary...heck, pepto doesn't hurt then, either.

It all just depends..


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## Emmetts Dairy (Dec 7, 2010)

cmjust0 said:
			
		

> Emmetts Dairy said:
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Totally agree!!  The hardest part is "It all just depends"


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## KellyHM (Dec 7, 2010)

Thanks for the suggestions.  They have fresh hay in the trailer, so I kind of doubt it's from eating old stuff.  They're very picky about which hay they eat.    I dewormed them just in case.  Other than that I guess I'll just give them a couple days and if they don't straighten up I'll start them on some oral antibiotics and/or probiotics.

ETA: None of them seem to have any other problems and they're all eating normally.


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## cmjust0 (Dec 7, 2010)

If they're otherwise normal, it's most likely dietary.  Could be they ate something on pasture that doesn't respond well to frost or...who knows.

I'd say they'll be all good in a day or two.


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