# New "goat parent", worried about one of my does



## lindseymadora (Aug 15, 2011)

So...

About a week and a half ago, we adopted two Alpines - a 2 year old doe (Eclair, aka Clair) and a 5 month old doeling. (Fiona) They seem to be settling in well - but two, maybe three days ago Clair decided to go on a little hunger strike. When we first got them she seemed off feed, but a dose of probiotics seemed to help for about a week... now she's eating even less than she was the first time - she was eating about 4 lbs a day before coming to our farm (we bought her from a farmer the next county over with a herd of over 50 does), when she came she dropped down to 2-1/2 to 3 lbs a day for a few days, then back up to her normal 4 until slacking off to about 2 lbs a day for the past few days. We did switch feeds - the lady we got her from had her own mix made at a mill, and we got some Blue Seal Caprine Challenge - but the lady gave us some of her feed to mix with the Blue Seal to help with the transition, and Clair had been eating straight Blue Seal with no problems for a few days before the hunger strike.

We did have a small bout with tapeworms last week - the farm we got them from had some problems with worms, so I knew it was a possibility that we'd have a problem. So far, only Fiona had the worms, and we treated her with SafeGuard and she's fine now. I've been carefully watching Clair for any signs of worms, but so far everything is normal - no rice-y poops or anything.

She's acting perfectly healthy, normal, and happy otherwise eating hay, grazing/foraging, they have minerals and baking soda, fresh water, I've been keeping an eye on her midsection and it's not swelling, so no bloat, and she's producing the same amount of milk, at least a quart, sometimes up to a cup more, per milking.

I've given her two more doses of probiotics, one yesterday, and one on the 12th and today I tried to drench her with baking soda and water... yeah, that didn't go so well,  she just spit most of it back out. I don't have a drench gun, just an oral syringe. I know she's probably going to come in heat here pretty soon, but I've seen no signs of anything and she's not at all interested in the buck rag, though I let her smell it twice a day, she'd rather chew on the ziploc bag it's kept in. 

What else can/should I do?


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## currycomb (Aug 15, 2011)

if she is still eating roughage and drinking water, you might be feeding too much grain. some seem to fill them up faster than others.


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## elevan (Aug 15, 2011)

I agree - the new grain could fill her up better than what she had previously.

You may want to consider a vitamin B shot if you're really concerned.

Take her temperature, if it's normal I wouldn't worry.

Also, I don't know what outside temps are like where you are but in extremely hot conditions they'll eat less too.


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## Ariel301 (Aug 16, 2011)

As long as she is eating hay and drinking water well and does not seem sick and is not losing weight, I wouldn't worry a lot. Maybe she doesn't like the new grain as much, or she doesn't need as much of it.


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## SDGsoap&dairy (Aug 16, 2011)

Keep in mind that tapes are not the type of worms that typically cause major health concerns.  By all means, treat for them, but Safeguard isn't going to knock out the types of worms that do cause health concerns.  Part of our quarantine protocol is to worm aggressively for 2 reasons: 1) the stress of moving to a new home can suppress the doe's ability to handle a worm burden and 2) to prevent contamination of pens/pasture.  

It takes time for the rumen flora to adjust to new feeds and for does to settle in to a new routine.  Congrats on your new goats!


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## ksalvagno (Aug 16, 2011)

It never hurts to have a fecal done. Make sure they also check for coccidia.


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## lindseymadora (Aug 16, 2011)

Thanks all! 

Today went much better - she ate everything this morning, and hopefully the trend continues. 

@n.smithurmond: The lady we bought them from has her herd on a weekly herbal wormer (from Hoegger) and I've continued the regimen, so they are getting a regular preventative. She said they didn't rotate pastures this year and she's pretty sure that contributed to the tapeworms.


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## elevan (Aug 16, 2011)

lindseymadora said:
			
		

> Thanks all!
> 
> Today went much better - she ate everything this morning, and hopefully the trend continues.
> 
> @n.smithurmond: The lady we bought them from has her herd on a weekly herbal wormer (from Hoegger) and I've continued the regimen, so they are getting a regular preventative.


One thing you need to understand is that the worm on your farm are different than the worms on the previous owners farm in certain ways.  Check out the Parasite Management link in my signature for some good information.


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## manybirds (Aug 16, 2011)

lindseymadora said:
			
		

> So...
> 
> About a week and a half ago, we adopted two Alpines - a 2 year old doe (Eclair, aka Clair) and a 5 month old doeling. (Fiona) They seem to be settling in well - but two, maybe three days ago Clair decided to go on a little hunger strike. When we first got them she seemed off feed, but a dose of probiotics seemed to help for about a week... now she's eating even less than she was the first time - she was eating about 4 lbs a day before coming to our farm (we bought her from a farmer the next county over with a herd of over 50 does), when she came she dropped down to 2-1/2 to 3 lbs a day for a few days, then back up to her normal 4 until slacking off to about 2 lbs a day for the past few days. We did switch feeds - the lady we got her from had her own mix made at a mill, and we got some Blue Seal Caprine Challenge - but the lady gave us some of her feed to mix with the Blue Seal to help with the transition, and Clair had been eating straight Blue Seal with no problems for a few days before the hunger strike.
> 
> ...


where did u buy her? if it was an animal auction then she probably picked something up there.


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## lindseymadora (Aug 16, 2011)

Elevan, thanks for the further info and link and all - very informative.

How often should fecal tests be done? That's one thing I didn't know to ask when we bought them and wasn't informed about. 

manybirds, we bought them from a farm in the area who've been raising goats for a number of years, not an auction.


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## SDGsoap&dairy (Aug 16, 2011)

lindseymadora said:
			
		

> Thanks all!
> 
> Today went much better - she ate everything this morning, and hopefully the trend continues.
> 
> @n.smithurmond: The lady we bought them from has her herd on a weekly herbal wormer (from Hoegger) and I've continued the regimen, so they are getting a regular preventative. She said they didn't rotate pastures this year and she's pretty sure that contributed to the tapeworms.


I very much disagree that herbal wormer is going to prevent your goats from getting worms.  While you *may* be able to maintain them on herbal wormer most of the year (with regular fecals to see if it's working) in the future once they're settled in, moving to a new home (new environment, new feed, new routine) causes a lot of stress and leaves them susceptible to parasite blooms.  Even if the herbal stuff was working on her farm it may not cut it at this point.  Also keep in mind that by not following a worming protocol when you introduce new animals to your farm that those animals are contaminating your farm with whatever they're carrying.  Why not keep your soil clean when you have the chance?  

Particularly with these does coming off contaminated pasture, you have no idea what their burdens are if you don't fecal.  Regular fecals are a necessity for monitoring your parasite burden regardless of whether you're using herbal or chemical wormers- typically I don't run one until roughly 45 days after a new animal arrives because they are wormed every 10 days for 30 days during quarantine.  The fecal at 45 days is to make sure it was effective, then they're on our regular fecal rotation.  However, I HIGHLY recommend you have your vet run a fecal before you decide to forgo the chemical wormers during quarantine.


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