# Doeling with "Chewbacca" syndrome. Anybody ever seen this?



## LJ Rusacabra (Sep 23, 2012)

Hello everybody! 

This is my first post. I found the site months ago and the goat section especially has been a great resource, but I just join it now. 
I'd love to have some opinions on a caprine situation over here! 

Isis is a 4 month-old toggenburg doeling. We got her at 1.5 months old and she was already reserving a cheekful of food at all times. 

I wish I could post a picture right now but I can't! I will try to get one up soon.  

My farm is in a fairly remote area in Guatemala. The goats get high-protein fine-ground grain 2x daily, and forage on leaves and grasses for 1-2 hours daily. The stuff in her cheek appears to be cud, judging from the times I've wrestled the stinky green mass from her cheek. 

Has anybody else had a goat do this and if so, how did the condition evolve and what did you do about it? 

She is also delightfully furry so she doubly earns the nickname "Chewbacca."


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## elevan (Sep 23, 2012)

I'm a little confused by your question...goats are supposed to chew cud.  Is there a problem that you are noticing?  Cud can become impacted if their is a dental issue causing the goat to not be able to properly eat...


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## Bedste (Sep 23, 2012)

my nubian 7 year old always has a mouthful ..... i think that is normal.


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## DonnaBelle (Sep 24, 2012)

Chewing cud is a normal thing goats do.

Cows also do this.  It is a function of an animal with rumen.

Don't worry about this, believe me, you will find other things to concern yourself with.  

See if you can find the book "Storey's Dairy Goat" it has tons of info on goats.  The biggest killer of goats is parasites (worms) and coccidia.

DonnaBelle


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## LJ Rusacabra (Sep 26, 2012)

Thanks for the replies y'all 

Oh yes, cud is great! I'm so happy that ruminants exist, it's exciting to watch leaves and grasses get turned into milk and fertilizer. With Isis, it's just that she ALWAYS hoards a cheekful. 

I want to be a good goat-mama, and it seems like this is a bad habit and could lead to self-sucking (although we'll cross that bridge when we get there!) Sometimes she coughs in a way that none of the other goats cough, and that could be from the cud or leaves or grain in her cheek. This is the only negative aspect of her habit I can see at the moment - that she coughs and could choke on it sometime.


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## Queen Mum (Sep 26, 2012)

There are a lot a reasons for goats to get a wad of cud stuck. Could she have been headbutted and have a damaged jaw so the cud gets stuck there?  


I am wondering if she has a problem with her teeth.  You might check to see if her teeth are straight in her mouth.  Or perhaps a couple missing teeth.  And look closely when her mouth is empty.  Does her jawline look like all the other does?  

Also check her tongue. Is is chewed up or normal.   She could have a damaged nerve on one side of her mouth so her tongue doesn't pull it out of that side.

Just some thoughts.


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