# bloat?



## hillbillycitygirl (Jun 20, 2011)

last night I found my 4 mo old nubian in my chicken house, I had been out all day so I have no idea how long she was in there. Then today she was acting weird and her belly was swollen and on one side there was what felt like a moveable air bubble. The rest of her tummy was kind of hard and looked bloated out. I rubbed her belly for about 5 min and she passed gas and burped a bunch of times, but she hardly touched her grain and she didnt even come out of the goat house to greet me and was pretty much quiet. Usually she is a maniac, jumping all over me and crying like a baby. 

I figure she ate some chicken feed, how much....I have no idea. What should I do. I tried getting her to drink more but she wasnt  interested. Should I give her something????


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## elevan (Jun 20, 2011)

Baking soda.

Take a couple of tablespoons and administer one of 2 ways:
Option 1: Add just enough water to form a dough and roll into balls.  Shove into the back of the goats mouth.
Option 2: Add some water and maple syrup or honey to liquify and draw up into a syringe (no needle) and squirt into the back of the goats mouth (called drenching)

Continue with the belly rubbing.


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## hillbillycitygirl (Jun 20, 2011)

thank you elevan, I just read something about giving her oil, which  should be my first plan of attack? Oil or baking soda? 
I rubbed her pretty good (just on instinct) and she tooted and burped several times. ): Im so sad that she isnt feeling well. Shes such a stinker, always breaking into the hen house. Tomorrow morning I am going to try yet another method of keeping her out of there. this will be my fourth attempt. ugh. Shes such a stinker.


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## elevan (Jun 20, 2011)

If you're able to get her to pass gas and burp with rubbing then I would go with the baking soda.

You want the oil when they can't pass the gas / burp to break up the gas bubbles.


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## hillbillycitygirl (Jun 20, 2011)

gotcha, thanks


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## Ariel301 (Jun 20, 2011)

Before force feeding it to her, you might try just offering her some in a bowl. Sometimes they like the taste and will just eat it.


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## positronic (Jun 21, 2011)

I read here about mixing about a tablespoon of baking soda, yogart, and molasses in a bowl and then I held it ouf for our pygmy goat (who seems to have bloat as he is extremely distended and has a hard time standing) and he licked it off the spoon.  I kept getting more and he kept eating it off the spoon.  Hopefully that'll do the trick.  Not sure what he ate that caused him to get bloated other than leaves / weeds / grass and goat feed.  You might try that if your goat doesn't like the baking soda by itself.


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## 20kidsonhill (Jun 21, 2011)

positronic said:
			
		

> I read here about mixing about a tablespoon of baking soda, yogart, and molasses in a bowl and then I held it ouf for our pygmy goat (who seems to have bloat as he is extremely distended and has a hard time standing) and he licked it off the spoon.  I kept getting more and he kept eating it off the spoon.  Hopefully that'll do the trick.  Not sure what he ate that caused him to get bloated other than leaves / weeds / grass and goat feed.  You might try that if your goat doesn't like the baking soda by itself.


If bloats is from an unknown cause, it can be a parasite load upsetting their stomach, It can also be bacterial from not being vaccinated for Overeating disease.


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## 20kidsonhill (Jun 21, 2011)

You can do the oil and the baking soda or alternate every couple of hours, It needs to be mineral oil, not corn oil. Mineral oil is a lubricant and not digestable.


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## terrilhb (Jun 21, 2011)

My goat had bloat around a month and a half ago. We massaged her belly for 2 1/2 hours. Lots of burping and tooting. We also gave her baking soda. Good luck.


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## hillbillycitygirl (Jun 21, 2011)

****UPDATE*****

my little Rosie is still having some bloating, but she ate some tonight, I gave her some baking soda (mixed with a touch of water and some molassas) she wasnt to thrilled about it and I ended up forcing about a tablespoon of it down her throat (aplogizing the whole time) 
tonight she seemed a bit better, there was still a visible difference in the size of her left side as compared to her right, she got another massage and ate some feed with a little vitamin B mixed in.  

One weird thing I noticed, on her right side, there was a lump, it was soft but formed....about the size of a egg maybe, it was movable and squishable...do you think this may just be from the bloat pushing something to the side?  Her tummy wasnt as hard today, it felt much more normal, yesterday it was rock hard. She still has to be coaxed out of the goat house and basically dragged out of the yard. I ended up carrying her until she saw the kids then she wanted down and walked on her own. I had one of my kids take her for a walk, and she did eat a little grass. she is pooping normal. 

Do you think we are out of the woods?  Should I be concerned about the mass?


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## positronic (Jun 24, 2011)

> If bloats is from an unknown cause, it can be a parasite load upsetting their stomach, It can also be bacterial from not being vaccinated for Overeating disease.


I hadn't heard of Overeating disease or a vaccination for it.  What is it and how long is the vaccine good for?  If it's a parasite, how do you treat for that?


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## 20kidsonhill (Jun 24, 2011)

positronic said:
			
		

> > If bloats is from an unknown cause, it can be a parasite load upsetting their stomach, It can also be bacterial from not being vaccinated for Overeating disease.
> 
> 
> I hadn't heard of Overeating disease or a vaccination for it.  What is it and how long is the vaccine good for?  If it's a parasite, how do you treat for that?


CD&T vaccination is T for tetnus and the CD is for a bacteria that causes stomach problems often referred to as over eating disease, because animals that are stressed, like at a show, will bloat easily, get very sick and then die.   

It is not rare, infact it is quit common.  And in my opinion one of the main reasons a goat should be vaccinated. The vaccination is given twice 30 days apart and then one time a year.

All kinds of parasites and coccidiosis can cause upset stomach and bloat as a side-effect to having the parasite.  Imagine how happy your stomach would be?  Treatment would consist of testing the poop, known as a fecal sample, for parasites and treating with the appropriate wormers.


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## Our7Wonders (Jun 24, 2011)

20kids - I once read that you shouldn't give mineral oil - only a vegetable oil.  If I remember right it was due to the mineral oil being tasteless and the goats not swollowing it properly, a higher risk of asperating.  I don't know if that theory holds water at all - just curious since your recommendation was opposite of that.


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## hillbillycitygirl (Jun 24, 2011)

my three girls have never been vaccinated for anything, and are doing just great. Little Rosie has completely recovered from her little bought with bloat, and is just as active as ever.


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## elevan (Jun 24, 2011)

Our7Wonders said:
			
		

> 20kids - I once read that you shouldn't give mineral oil - only a vegetable oil.  If I remember right it was due to the mineral oil being tasteless and the goats not swollowing it properly, a higher risk of asperating.  I don't know if that theory holds water at all - just curious since your recommendation was opposite of that.


2 things about mineral oil
Make sure it's food grade
and I just add it to the baking soda, molasses, water mix for bloat


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## babsbag (Jun 24, 2011)

hillbillycitygirl said:
			
		

> my three girls have never been vaccinated for anything, and are doing just great. Little Rosie has completely recovered from her little bought with bloat, and is just as active as ever.


I am glad that your Little Rosie is doing well. Not everyone vaccinates their goats, just like not everyone vaccinates their human kids. It is a choice and I don't think anyone on here will judge you one way or the other. 

However, just in case you are not against vaccinating, and just didn't know about it, I would suggest you do it. The CDT vaccine is available at most feed stores and you can administer it yourself. The initials are for clostridium perfringens types C&D and tetanus toxoid. 

In my mind, we might escape the CD part but barnyards are notorius for pieces of wire (at least mine is), screws, or nails that get dropped, and feeders that might have metal bars that get broken. The tetanus part of the CDT is just not worth the risk, at least not to me.

I like to know that when my goats get sick or injured there are somethings that I can feel pretty comfortable about removing from the list of "what could be wrong".

But as I said before, everyone raises their animals differently.


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