# Nubian doe not gaining weight and limping



## goats.times.four (Dec 28, 2020)

I have a Nubian doe who is about 5-6 years old. She has never had any kids and stays in a large fenced area with 2 part-Boer twin sisters who are about her age. She has always been thinner than them, which I believe is normal. Recently, she has lost quite a bit of weight and is pretty much skin and bones. She doesn’t have much muscle or fat on the sides of her spine or her neck. She is not neglected, and we have been feeding her grains every day. We wormed all of them at the beginning of the week, but she seems to be doing the same if not worse. She has also been limping on her right side, front and back. We have trimmed all of her hooves since they don’t have climbing rocks to naturally trim them. They are not overgrown or too short, and I also checked for scald and rot, which she does not appear to have either. If there is anything that we can do to help her please let us know!! Thank you!


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## rachels.haven (Dec 28, 2020)

I recommend getting a fecal done to see what you're dealing with (coccidia? worms? which kind?) and testing for the big three goat diseases-Johnes, CL, and CAE. The testing is not terribly expensive. While you've got her in the stand or tied for her blood draw and fecal collection I'd check her teeth and mouth. If nothing's wrong with her teeth, her fecal comes back clean, and her test results are negative I'd get a vet out because at that point I'd be stumped if I were you.


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## rachels.haven (Dec 28, 2020)

Adding: and if she is deathly thin/horribly emaciated I'd skip right ot the vet part if you can and hurry. Goats go downhill fast.

It's not as good as a fecal but what did her famacha look like before she was wormed and what is it like now?


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## goats.times.four (Dec 28, 2020)

Thank you, I will look in to those. She is not deathly thin, but more than normal. She ate much better today and is gaining weight slowly we think. I have not checked her famacha...I am a bit inexperienced with goats. I’m not sure if their poops tell much, but before we wormed her it almost looked like thicker dog poop and she was struggling. Now it looks like normal pellets and she does not struggle at all.


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## rachels.haven (Dec 28, 2020)

Pellets are good, btw. I hope she is getting better for you.

 I recommend learning famacha scoring. It's a good skill to learn.


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