# Bloating Goat



## mdavenport121 (Apr 25, 2012)

I have a boer goat that is almost two years old. I got her and her kids about three weeks ago. Her kids are about seven weeks ago. She had never had any worming or vaccinations before. When I got her three weeks ago I gave her
De-worming : 1% Ivermectin Injection  orally - 2ccs
CD/T vaccine, Essential 3+T - 2ccs
Mannheimia Haemolytica-Pasteurella Multocedia Bacterin - 2ccs

I have her and two other does that are about a year old on about 0.15 acres. I feed them abouy six pounds of feed in the morning and at night. I let them out in the evenings on some vacant land to eat the grown up grass and tree leaves. The last week or so, the goat I brought home three weeks ago is now bloated when I get home from work every afternoon. I'm not sure if it is bloat, but she is huge. Her bloat seems to go down after they range the open land and eat feed. Anyone have any ideas what might be going on?

I have a picture, but since I am new it won't let me put it with this thread.


----------



## mdavenport121 (Apr 25, 2012)

I forgot to mention that her two 7 week old kids are still nursing. She is eating fine and does not seem to be bothered. In fact she seems like she is more hungry than the other two as she always bauls when she sees me and that is what she has been doing the last three weeks when she has been hungry.


----------



## aggieterpkatie (Apr 25, 2012)

Are you feeding 3 does 12 lbs of feed per day?  If so, that sounds like a lot of feed.  If your doe is acting normal and eating normally, then it's not bloat.  Her rumen may just be large, and her sides just may stick out.  Bloated animals feel badly, and they act like they feel badly.  I'm not sure of your Ivermectin dose either, sounds like it may be low but I don't use ivermectin so someone else may have more info.  It may be parasites, and you can send a fecal sample in to the vet to really find out if she has parasites and the best thing to treat with, since Ivermectin doesn't handle all worms and some worms may be resistant.


----------



## mdavenport121 (Apr 25, 2012)

The one that looks huge probably eats less feed than the other two. The other two gang up on her and push her out of the feed. I notice that a lot of water is gone from the water trough each day. Could she be taking in too much water? I read that a goat will eat 4% of body weight. Each weights aprox 100 pounds, so four pounds each. They don't get much forage for the two hours I let them out on the vacant land.


----------



## 20kidsonhill (Apr 25, 2012)

your ivermectin dosage is way too low. 

She may just have a big rumen. 

she may need more roughage, what kind of grain are you feeding? a sweet feed? a pelleted goat feed?  what percent roughage does it have in it?   Since they aren't getting a lot of browse, you feed should be an all-in-one feed with at least 16% roughage.


----------



## 20kidsonhill (Apr 25, 2012)

If she is nursing 2 kids that are 7 weeks old, and only getting at the most 4 lbs of grain a day, and a little browse in the evening, it is possible she isn't getting enough to eat, especially roughage. 
I would either buy her hay, 
or add alfalfa pellets to her diet. 
Or beet pulp, or some of each.


----------



## mdavenport121 (Apr 25, 2012)

Ivermectin Injection Orally - I had read that you give 1 cc per 50 lbs. I figure she weights 100 lbs since I can pick her up to put her in the back of the truck. What would you recommend as the amount used?

I feed them Purina Noble Goat Grower. It's a pellet feed with 16% Crude Protein and 16% Crude Fiber.

I feed them about 6 lbs at 6:30 AM. The before picture is at 6:00 PM when I got home today. During the day, she doesn't have much to eat, as the yard is eaten down. I turned them out on tall grass and trees at 6 PM. The after picture is at 7:30 when I brought her back into the yard.


----------



## 20kidsonhill (Apr 25, 2012)

EDITED: IGNORE THIS POST!!!!  Go to next one. 


From that photo, she looks okay to me. As goats age, they will carry a little bigger rumen.  

That is a pretty good feed you are using, and the roughage sounds about right. 

I would have given her at least 4cc's of ivermectin orally, if not a little more. 

don't forget to look into coccidiosis medicine for the kids, 

Ivermectin, is okay for some worms, but it wont do anything for tapeworms, and is not the strongest wormer out there.  You may wish to do a fecal on a couple of the does, to make sure your ivermectin is working.


----------



## aggieterpkatie (Apr 26, 2012)

That's a big difference (the photos).  What does she have to eat in the yard, hay or anything?  Usually it would be the opposite, that the goat is smaller, then goes out to eat and returns with a huge full rumen.  Last year I had a buck kid that looked bloated after he ate...turns out he was eating so fast he was sucking in a lot of air.


----------



## 20kidsonhill (Apr 26, 2012)

Wait, I need to read the information better, I assumed that was a before pregnant and after pregnant pictures. 

Let me try again. 

Okay, something isn't right with her.  Perhaps, she is bored and drinking too much water, or she is having problems with overeating disease(a bacteria). But that isn't normal. 

I would say she needs more to eat during the day, more pasture or hay available. 

checked for parasites

Possibly treated for overeating disease.


----------



## aggieterpkatie (Apr 26, 2012)

I'm wondering if she's not passing gas or burping while in the yard, and then when she goes out to eat she's walking around and that helps get her farting and burping?   I think if she's not getting hay in the yard, I'd start feeding that ASAP.  She needs more than just a couple hours of browse to go with all that grain.


----------



## ksalvagno (Apr 26, 2012)

Are these goats full blood Boer goats? If so, they weigh more than 100 lbs. You would be surprised how much goats weigh. If you looked at my Nigerian Dwarf adult males, you would never guess they are about 100 lbs and my does are around 80 lbs.

The bulk of your goats diet should be hay/browse. Their rumen really really needs the roughage. Goats may or may not need a grain but nursing moms usually do. Whether you choose to feed alfalfa pellets or a goat ration is your choice. If you have small acreage, then you will have to supply them with hay.

If you have a goat that is being pushed out of the feed, then you need to feed that one separately. Especially if it is the one that is nursing kids.

I think the first thing you need to do is get hay. They should have hay out all the time.


----------



## mdavenport121 (Apr 26, 2012)

I switched my goats with my dogs this morning before work. The pen with my dogs have a lot of trees on the tree line. When I got home today she looked like she did NOT look swollen up. I guess she just needs more forage and browse.

aggieterpkatie , you may be right. Last night when I was taking the second picture she passed some terrible smelling gas.


----------

