# escaped goat, now has green diarrhea and bloated belly.



## meme (Aug 13, 2012)

My sister must have forgotten to lock the gate this morning, because all the goats were in the backyard for who knows how long; enjoying all of our backyard plants. They all seemed fine when we put them back, but now Heidi is breathing really hard, her stomach is really big for her, and she has bad bright green diarrhea. She is, however, still active and eating hay fine.  *I am assuming this is due to her escaping, since she was fine before.*

She is a six month alpine doeling. She has free choice baking soda and minerals plus alfalfa and a tiny bit of oat hay. We have also been having a big acorn crop, which they love, and is supposed to be poisonous. I feel like I should give her probios, but the only thing I have is yogurt. When we were bottle feeding, I would mix yogurt every day into her morning bottle. Should I try to give her yogurt?? Also, it was 116 degrees here today, so they are all really hot. They have plenty of shade and fresh water though, and I wet heidi down when I noticed she was actually starting to pant. Please help! What should I do to help her, I hate it when my babies are sick!!


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## redtailgal (Aug 14, 2012)

I'd start by drenching her with baking soda (2 tblsp in enough water to make it liquidy)

take her off all grain, allowing only water and hay.  add electrolytes to the water to prevent dehydration.  (I would take away the alfalfa too, and offer only grass hay if I could)

Are there any toxic plants in your yard?  I'd force some activated charcoal, just in case. (ah, I see you have acorns......try the charcoal)

Rub her belly and encourage her to walk.

Its pretty common for critters that eat acorns to scour then end up constipated, if this happens......... glove up and then put about 10 or 15 cc of room temperature mineral or vegetable oil in her "poop chute".  Stick your pinky finger in the hole (gross huh?) and plug it shut for 2-3 minutes, then step to the side and release.  Do this every 30 minutes until she poops.

Vit B complex for energy.

large dose of probios tonight and each day until she is acting normal.  If you dont have probios, use yogurt, but it must be an active culture to have any real effect.

Is she fully vaccinated?  She may need a booster against over eating disease.

I hope she does well for you.  Scours in that sort of heat is pretty scary stuff!


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## ksalvagno (Aug 14, 2012)

If she is still not right, I would get some activated charcoal and get it into her too.

Also, I would suggest not keeping the baking soda out free choice. If they eat too much baking soda, it can leach out the minerals and vitamins and then you have mineral deficient goats.


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## meme (Aug 14, 2012)

Thank you so much! This morning the goats were out AGAIN! It turns out the goats have figured out how to open up the other gate now. I put extra locks on them though, and tied them, so hopefully it is secure this time!

Also, Heidi's tummy was pretty much normal size this morning. Thank goodness! I did give her a baking soda ball around 9 last night, then I tried to get her to eat plain yogurt/baking soda paste. She was NOT happy, and I hardly could get any into her mouth. She still has green diarrhea, but it seems like it's not constantly running out anymore.  

I also noticed when I was feeding yesterday that the chicken food was uncovered in the shed (thanks sis), so it's possible she could have gotten into that. Also, I cannot believe that my dad left a bag of tomato and lawn fertilizer on the lawn, right where all the chickens and ducks are all day!!! I guess this is what happens when I leave for a day. :/ I REALLY hope they didn't get any of that. There is also one plant in our yard that our 4-h leader said was poisonous for goats, I don't remember what it is though.

I am going to wait till it starts getting hot and then I am going to give them all a bath, it seems like everyone got a dose of diarrhea somewhere on them. Plus it should help them cool down. I wanted to put them in our barn, it is way cooler in there, but I don't know how I would keep them from getting into everything. Unfortunately it isn't an animal barn.  I am trying to think of ways to help everyone cool off. I am worried about Heidi becoming dehydrated. Maybe I could try to hook up some misters for them. I will check on them very often!

Thank you for all the advice. Is the vegetable oil supposed to stop the diarrhea? She is UTD on her CDT vaccine, and I gave them almost all oat hay today; they don't get any grain. I have been giving her plenty of belly massages too. She is acting like herself this morning. I don't have any activated charcoal unfortunately. Maybe I should go get some. 

Also, I have been hearing that you shouldn't leave out baking soda. I always thought it was a good thing in case they felt sick. I know Heidi has been eating it quite a bit since her problem started. Hmmm, another thing to research I guess!


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## meme (Aug 14, 2012)

I just went out there to clean Heidi up. I saw a green "dog poop" type poo on the floor, and though maybe it was from Heidi. Then, I noticed Rachel had a little bit of what looked like blood coming out, and she pooed a "dog poop" poop with a really small amount of something brownish in it. She does have dark skin though, so maybe it just looked like a dark color?? Now I am freaking out a little!! Should we call the vet?


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## redtailgal (Aug 14, 2012)

With visible blood, I would call the vet ASAP


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## meme (Aug 14, 2012)

Okay, so I went back out there to check on them a few minutes ago. Shasta had a half green marbles half "dog poop". Rachel went 5 marbles, with something kind of a brown color in 1 marble. Maybe it's just something she ate and not blood at all?! Heidi still has the runs. However, they are all active and happy to see me. None of them appear to be in any kind of discomfort, and I have been spraying them all down with squirt bottles. Maybe I was just overreacting a bit, I have been paranoid after I found our Rachel could *possibly* be pregnant, and knowing they could have *potentially* consumed something poisonous. I am going back out there now, I will keep you posted! Thanks so much!!


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## ksalvagno (Aug 14, 2012)

I would give them probios every day for at least 5 days.


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## meme (Aug 14, 2012)

Good news! Heidi's are becoming more solid, and Rachel and Shasta both have normal pellets!! 

I will have to buy some probios, do you know if they sell them at TSC?


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## Roll farms (Aug 15, 2012)

Yes, they sell probios at TSC.  I would buy the powdered probiotic (horse section above the feed racks) and top dress their feed daily.


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## babsbag (Aug 15, 2012)

Don't be too worried about the acorns. Living in No. CA we have acorns most every year and the goats think they are candy. As a matter of fact, I collect them and keep them all winter and I do use them as goats treats. THEY LOVE THEM. I know I have seen oak trees and acorns on the list of poisonous plants but I can assure you that any goat that lives within 100 miles of me eats them ALL the time. We cut down oak trees for fire wood and the goats strip the leaves for us. They would have to gourge on acorms for a very long time to get sick from them and there aren't that many on the ground yet, they are just strating to fall.

The poisonous plants could have been azalea, rhododendron, or paris. Those are pretty common in yards in our region.

Glad they are doing better.


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