# 4-month Old Nigerian Dwarf Not Growing - Ideas?



## HoneyDreameMomma (Aug 15, 2014)

Has anyone ever had their 3-4 month old baby goat simply stop growing?  Sorry for the novel below, but I figured an accurate description would be the best way for people to give ideas/opinions on what might be happening.

Dobbi, one of our NG doelings that was born at the end of April started off great, but has literally stopped growing.  She was born two weeks later than all the other kids, because mom didn't get pregnant on her first heat cycle.  At first she kept up with the other kids and was healthy and spunky.  After about 8-9 weeks, we noticed she just didn't seem to be growing as fast as the other kids.  We had our vet do a fecal for our herd about this time, which came up clear, so we wrote it off, thinking she just might be smaller because her mom is the smallest doe we own.  Shortly after that, we noticed her getting butted around by the kids and other does more than what seemed like typical 'herd order' butting.  We watched her and supplemented her feed, because we worried that she might not be getting as much food as the other kids.

Then, we noticed she started to fatigue more easily when the herd would go out in the fields to graze.  She never ran a fever, had diarrhea or any other symptoms; she would just come back to the shade of the loafing shed long before any of the other goats.  A couple of weeks ago, it became obvious she definitely wasn't growing as she should, because she was almost the same exact size she was the month before, and she was only half as big as any of the other kids.  We put her in a separate pen with her momma, so we could watch her and make sure she was getting a healthy diet.  At first, she did well.  She didn't really grow, but she was much more happy and energetic.

About a week or so ago, her back legs started to splay - see photo below -  and she began to have difficulty walking (wobbly, frequent falls).  The past few days, she has also started to exhibit signs of blindness (running into things; moving her head frantically toward sounds as if she can't see where they are coming from).  The only vet that sees goats in our area specializes in cattle and horses and doesn't have as much goat experience.  We dropped her off at the vet today anyway, but honestly, they seemed stumped.  I'll see what more they have to say in an hour or two when I go back to pick her up, but I was hoping someone here might have some ideas. 

I was reading up, and it sounds a whole lot like G-6-S, but my understanding is that G-6-S only exhibits in Nubians and Nubian crosses. (http://www.backyardherds.com/threads/anyone-test-for-g6s.22020/#post-295297).  Is there something else that could cause this?


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## OneFineAcre (Aug 15, 2014)

I have no clue.  But, I definitely see the splayed legs in the picture.
I'm so sorry


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## goats&moregoats (Aug 15, 2014)

I don't have the splayed legs going on or the blindness issue, but am concerned about one of my doelings not seeming to grow. She is 6 months and my 3 month old is as tall if not  a wee bit taller than she. Her mother to was my smallest doe.   Haven't a clue and hopefully someone can tell you something. Good luck, please keep us posted.


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## animalmom (Aug 16, 2014)

What did the vet have to say?


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## HoneyDreameMomma (Aug 19, 2014)

He said tests indicated she had severe brain damage, and there was nothing he knew of to help with the lack of growth, the problems walking, etc. and he recommended we euthanize her.   My two kids that were at the vet with me took it like troopers, reminding me that Dad and I told them not to get too attached to the goat kids, because we were selling most of them.  I was not a very stoic farmer, and did not take my own advice very well - I got teary.  She was a sweet little thing; one of my favorites for cute personalities.

Wish I knew if she was born with some kind of disorder or if it was caused/worsened by the other goats butting her around, because she was small.  The behavior of the other goats didn't seem much worse than normal herd placement sparring, but I don't know.  She's the first goat we've lost (other than one stillborn) since we started raising goats, so it just got me a little down.  I know sometimes things just happen as a natural course, but I want to be sure to do whatever I can to avoid issues like this in the future.


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## SillyChicken (Aug 19, 2014)

sorry about your little one.... as far as hereditary.. you can try the same breeding again or with another buck to find out.    If you have more issues, I would cull the doe or don't breed her anymore.


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## OneFineAcre (Aug 19, 2014)

HoneyDreameMomma said:


> He said tests indicated she had severe brain damage, and there was nothing he knew of to help with the lack of growth, the problems walking, etc. and he recommended we euthanize her.   My two kids that were at the vet with me took it like troopers, reminding me that Dad and I told them not to get too attached to the goat kids, because we were selling most of them.  I was not a very stoic farmer, and did not take my own advice very well - I got teary.  She was a sweet little thing; one of my favorites for cute personalities.
> 
> Wish I knew if she was born with some kind of disorder or if it was caused/worsened by the other goats butting her around, because she was small.  The behavior of the other goats didn't seem much worse than normal herd placement sparring, but I don't know.  She's the first goat we've lost (other than one stillborn) since we started raising goats, so it just got me a little down.  I know sometimes things just happen as a natural course, but I want to be sure to do whatever I can to avoid issues like this in the future.



I'm not very stoic either.  We've been breeding goats for five years now.  Lost our first kid last year, and lost two this year. I'm 50 years old and I'll never get used to losing one.


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## MsDeb (Aug 19, 2014)

I'm so sorry!  We recently went through the loss of our first little goat. Still not over it and I'm wiping tears as I read this.  Glad your kids were troopers for you because their tears would have made it so much harder.  We've got one that's not growing as she should either (having a fecal done today) and I'm nowhere near the point that I could give anyone answers.  But you do have my deepest sympathy.  ((((HUGS))))


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## HoneyDreameMomma (Aug 19, 2014)

Thanks for all the kind responses.  We had determined we weren't going to breed the momma goat again before we had to put the kid down.  She's pretty small, even for a ND.  She'll just be a cute lawn mower from now on.


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## goats&moregoats (Aug 19, 2014)

sorry


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