# How to properly and safely administer a drench to a goat...?



## freemotion (Jul 10, 2010)

Thought I'd post this before I need it....Would all you experienced goat people please give your methods in detail, opinions, cautions, indications and contraindications on drenching....anything you can think of that applies to drenching a goat.

The whole thing about the head position of the goat when swallowing and which stomach things will end up in has me somewhat confused.    A discussion on bucket feeding after a kid has been on the dam or on the bottle got me thinking about how to administer a therapeutic drench to either a baby or a grown goat....safely and effectively.

I know y'all have opinions!


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## ksalvagno (Jul 10, 2010)

Definitely buy a dosing syringe. Makes things soooo much easier. Here is a link to one: http://www.pbsanimalhealth.com/details/Drenching-Syringe/124-499.html

I'm not even positive on the head position. I think they are supposed to be looking forward. By the time I do it and get all the meds down them, sometimes their head is up a bit.

My Nigerians i just straddle and do it. My Alpine mix I stand next to her and put my arm around her neck to hold her head in place and have the syringe in my other hand.


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## mully (Jul 10, 2010)

If you use a molasses base drench they will suck it down with no problem


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## freemotion (Jul 10, 2010)

But how do you restrain them, and how far do your put the "gun" into their mouth?

I learned through trial and error (learned more from the errors!) how to shove a ball of herbal dewormer down an unwilling goat's throat and get them to swallow pretty consistantly.....I've administered literally hundreds of tubes of paste wormer to horses of all ages and dispositions....I've given pills to cats and dogs and nearly lost fingers in the process....but how to drench a goat?  Without getting drenched myself or drowning the poor goat???


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## Roll farms (Jul 10, 2010)

With a drenching syringe, I just sort of grab their faces (while facing them) and push it into their mouths (I sometimes have to push on either side of their mouths to get them to open...).  I push it back until it's in their throats, and depress the plunger...quickly if it's a small amount, more slowly if there is a lot of fluid.

Practice w/ an empty syringe until you get the hang of it, or try it w/ water, maybe?

The trick is to make sure it's past the tongue, otherwise it'll splash / ricochet back....into your face.  I've been dewormed several times now.


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## SDGsoap&dairy (Jul 11, 2010)




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## aggieterpkatie (Jul 11, 2010)

Yeah, definitely get the syringe back as far as possible.  The head should be straight and level (well, as level as possible with a struggling goat ).


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## ksalvagno (Jul 11, 2010)

I'm just restraining them with my legs or with my arm. My arm is around the Alpine's neck and I'm holding her jaw. Then I push the syringe into her mouth by the back corner and like everyone else said, make sure you get it past the tongue. Sometimes I have to put my fingers in the corners of their mouth to force it open.


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## freemotion (Jul 11, 2010)

Sounds like it is similar to paste worming horses.  It is always fun to see $12 land on the ground or all over me.

I thought with goats that there is a certain head position that makes the stuff swallowed go into the rumen, and another head position that bypasses the rumen?  Is this an issue? Can they bring it back up like a cud and spit it out?


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## Roll farms (Jul 11, 2010)

I have read if their head is back it'll hit the wrong 'hole'...so I try to hold their heads in the natural position.  
However, goats being goats, they do like to try and tilt their heads back to get away...honestly, I've not seen any difference in how the meds / dewormer worked either way.  (Head down or up).
I worry more about it w/ kids than I do adults, though....


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## ksalvagno (Jul 11, 2010)

So far my goats have not brought anything back up and spit it out, the alpacas on the otherhand.....

I don't think it was a matter of going in the rumen or not, I think it was a matter of going down the esophagus or going down the windpipe to the lungs.


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## patandchickens (Jul 12, 2010)

I don't know about goats but what I am learning the hard way about drenching sheep is that

a) it is amazing how much they can squinch their lips shut so you can't easily get the tip of the drench gun *into* the corner of their mouth, and 

b) do not stand with your head *above* the sheep's head (e.g. b/c you are straddling it) as this is a good way to get clonked real hard in the jaw when little miss sheepie goes rapidly upwards 

Pat


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## cmjust0 (Jul 12, 2010)

Head level..  I've seen people tip goats' heads back to drench, but since the goal is to make them SWALLOW...it defeats the purpose.

To illustrate, tip your own head back as far as you can get it...now swallow.  

Hurts, doesn't it?!!??  

Ok, so with the head level, stick the nozzle of the drench syringe in the corner of their mouth up to the bend (with the end of the nozzle pointing toward their throat, obviously)..  That basically puts the end of the nozzle right on the back of their tonge.  Push somewhat slowly..  When you start pushing and they feel/taste/sense the liquid, they really have no choice but to swallow.  It's more or less an involuntary reaction at that point.

Here's a little tip:  OIL.

Make sure you OIL THE O-RING on the drench syringe before you drench.  Rubber doesn't slide well on dry plastic, and some of the meds we give are a bit....astringent, shall we say?...by which I mean that they don't exactly provide any lubrication to the o-ring.

What you want, of course, is a smooth push of the plunger; what you end up with is a herky-jerky drench where you have to push kinda hard on the plunger until it squirts a few MLs out -- sometimes at a fairly high velocity -- and the process is repeated over and over again until the med's all gone.  

Lubricating the o-ring with a little oil goes a long way toward a smooth drench.  I just grab the corn oil or veggie oil out of the cupboard...nothing special.  Just takes a drop or two on the tip of your finger to go around the o-ring, and then you push it down the barrel and pull it back up a few times to give the walls of the barrel a light coat.  

That one teeny extra step makes all the difference in the world.


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