# Goat hairloss thinning/very thick fuzzy undercoat



## heidi smith (Sep 8, 2016)

I have a 6 month old fainting mix doe.  She is healthy in every way except I have noticed over the last few weeks that her hair seems thin and she has a very thick coat of white fuzzy soft undercoat.  She has several spots that show thru and there seems to be no outer coat.  I am attaching pictures.  She is energetic and healthy other than this.  I have 6 ot


 

 

 

 

 

 

 her goats who are normal and show no signs of issues with their coat.  I have checked her for lice and she is clear.  The first image you can see the thinning on her neck.  The other pictures are close ups.  There is no dandruff or scaly skin.  Thanks Heidi

(Edited: Moved to more appropriate section by staff)


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## Latestarter (Sep 9, 2016)

Greetings and welcome to BYH!  Sorry that you're having a (potential) issue with one of your goats. Could it be that she's just doing a seasonal shed? Most of the time when there are coat issues and it's not mites or lice, the "go-to" culprit is a mineral deficiency. Some on the forums recently have experienced a new cause; that being Cocci! It's great that you shared some pics, that generally helps a lot!. We have some really good goat folks (and just great all around folks too!) here, and I'll tag a few that may be able to give you some input. Hope it's nothing serious and that she clears up quickly!

@Goat Whisperer @babsbag @OneFineAcre @frustratedearthmother @Southern by choice and there are so many others...

There's a wealth of info and experience shared in the various threads also. Please browse around   and make yourself at home! Glad you decided to join us!


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## babsbag (Sep 9, 2016)

Do you see her rubbing on things? She could have mites that you can't see. Or it could be a mineral deficiency, zinc is usually the "coat" mineral, as is copper. Do you have a loose mineral out for them?

Welcome to BYH from California.


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## heidi smith (Sep 9, 2016)

I do have a mineral block but I don't think they are eating it.  I'm picking up loose mineral tonight and I'm going to worm tonight also.  Do I need to dust for mites?  She is the only one showing symptoms but I sure don't want it to spread to my other goats.


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## heidi smith (Sep 9, 2016)

Latestarter said:


> Greetings and welcome to BYH!  Sorry that you're having a (potential) issue with one of your goats. Could it be that she's just doing a seasonal shed? Most of the time when there are coat issues and it's not mites or lice, the "go-to" culprit is a mineral deficiency. Some on the forums recently have experienced a new cause; that being Cocci! It's great that you shared some pics, that generally helps a lot!. We have some really good goat folks (and just great all around folks too!) here, and I'll tag a few that may be able to give you some input. Hope it's nothing serious and that she clears up quickly!
> 
> @Goat Whisperer @babsbag @OneFineAcre @frustratedearthmother @Southern by choice and there are so many others...
> 
> There's a wealth of info and experience shared in the various threads also. Please browse around   and make yourself at home! Glad you decided to join us!


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## heidi smith (Sep 9, 2016)

Thanks so much.  I am thinking minerals.  I tried a block this last time and i don't think they are using it.  I am getting some loose mineral tonight and worming (its time) I hope that's all it is she is my bottle baby. lol


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## Southern by choice (Sep 9, 2016)

Looks like she is just shedding out. Kind of off season but that "fuzz" is common in fainters. Kind of feels super soft like cashmere?

Several of our Kiko does develop a thick lush coat and then change of season causes a shed out. That white soft fluff underneath sheds out leaving the course outer coat yet the outer coat does shed too. They get real slick shiny coats AFTER this fluff shed. Now that we are going into fall their coats will start to develop that thick undercoat.

How old is the doe? Seems wrong time of year but looks just like that cashmere like fluff. On our Kiko bucks it comes off in "sheets".


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## MaggieSims (Sep 9, 2016)

From my experience, switching from block minerals to loose minerals isn't an overnight miracle. Don't be worried if you don't notice improvement right away. But as many will tell you, the loose minerals are a better choice.

And call around to vets, you may find one who does fecal testing cheap enough to treat before worming. In my case, fecals were required, as my does coat was gone, but it showed she was overwhelmed with coccidia. Which i wouldn't have thought to treat for prior to the fecal test.


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## babsbag (Sep 9, 2016)

I thought about shedding but I thought it is the wrong time of year plus she is only a baby so that didn't fit what I see in my Alpines either; the kids don't usually loose their baby coat until next summer.

The blocks are hard for them to eat sometimes and not really good for their teeth. Mine love the Sweetlix Magnum Milk minerals but not overly fond of the Purina ones. 

Usually when treating for mites you use inject Ivermectin.  But you usually see evidence of mites in places that don't have thick hair covering, like legs, hooves, nose, ears, etc. Their skin is often crusty and irritated looking. If her skin looks good, as you said it did, it probably isn't mites but check her over as they will cause them to scratch. 

I would try to find a vet to get a fecal done.


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## Southern by choice (Sep 9, 2016)

babsbag said:


> I thought about shedding but I thought it is the wrong time of year plus she is only a baby so that didn't fit what I see in my Alpines either; the kids don't usually loose their baby coat until next summer.
> 
> The blocks are hard for them to eat sometimes and not really good for their teeth. Mine love the Sweetlix Magnum Milk minerals but not overly fond of the Purina ones.
> 
> ...



Fainters and myotonic goats have different coats. That soft silky spun fluff underneath feels like cashmere. I will see if I can get a pic of one of ours.

Depending on the goat and age she could just be shedding off baby fur. Yes, wrong time of year in one way but also depends on when she was born.
Right now all my dogs are losing their summer coats and shedding up a storm to bring in winter coats. 

@babs look at the sheen on the rest of her... I'm not thinking mineral issues... or like you said no evidence of mite issues.


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## heidi smith (Sep 9, 2016)

Southern by choice said:


> Looks like she is just shedding out. Kind of off season but that "fuzz" is common in fainters. Kind of feels super soft like cashmere?
> 
> Several of our Kiko does develop a thick lush coat and then change of season causes a shed out. That white soft fluff underneath sheds out leaving the course outer coat yet the outer coat does shed too. They get real slick shiny coats AFTER this fluff shed. Now that we are going into fall their coats will start to develop that thick undercoat.
> 
> How old is the doe? Seems wrong time of year but looks just like that cashmere like fluff. On our Kiko bucks it comes off in "sheets".


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## heidi smith (Sep 9, 2016)

she is 6 months old.  at first that's what i thought was happening but she does have patches that all of the outer hair is gone.  so its just weird.  I am going to switch to loose mineral and we are going to give all of them a booster of multivitamin 90.  I'm ordering it from my vet.  It has selenium, zinc magnesium and copper.  I'm hoping that that's the issue. We are worming this weekend and then also going to dust them just to cover our bases.  i am pretty new to this so I'm learning


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## heidi smith (Sep 9, 2016)

babsbag said:


> Do you see her rubbing on things? She could have mites that you can't see. Or it could be a mineral deficiency, zinc is usually the "coat" mineral, as is copper. Do you have a loose mineral out for them?
> 
> Welcome to BYH from California.




thanks so much for the advice


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## heidi smith (Sep 9, 2016)

she is 6 months old.  I haven't noticed any extra rubbing.  we are going to worm and dust this weekend just to be safe and ive ordered a shot from my vet that has magnesium, zinc, copper and selenium.  Hoping this helps shes my baby


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## heidi smith (Sep 9, 2016)

I'm also not completely sure what else she is mixed with.  For sure fainter but the place i got her from bucks were out with does and there was no record keeping   i know there were pygmy bucks and cashmere bucks.


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## heidi smith (Sep 9, 2016)

I only have them for pets and am not planning on breeding so it didn't matter to me.


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## heidi smith (Sep 9, 2016)

MaggieSims said:


> From my experience, switching from block minerals to loose minerals isn't an overnight miracle. Don't be worried if you don't notice improvement right away. But as many will tell you, the loose minerals are a better choice.
> 
> And call around to vets, you may find one who does fecal testing cheap enough to treat before worming. In my case, fecals were required, as my does coat was gone, but it showed she was overwhelmed with coccidia. Which i wouldn't have thought to treat for prior to the fecal test.


ok thanks so much for the advice.  when they lost their coat were their bald spots or just the outer coat


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## heidi smith (Sep 9, 2016)

babsbag said:


> I thought about shedding but I thought it is the wrong time of year plus she is only a baby so that didn't fit what I see in my Alpines either; the kids don't usually loose their baby coat until next summer.
> 
> The blocks are hard for them to eat sometimes and not really good for their teeth. Mine love the Sweetlix Magnum Milk minerals but not overly fond of the Purina ones.
> 
> ...


i am going to call the vet today to do a fecal before we worm. i don't want to create more problems.


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## heidi smith (Sep 9, 2016)

Southern by choice said:


> Fainters and myotonic goats have different coats. That soft silky spun fluff underneath feels like cashmere. I will see if I can get a pic of one of ours.
> 
> Depending on the goat and age she could just be shedding off baby fur. Yes, wrong time of year in one way but also depends on when she was born.
> Right now all my dogs are losing their summer coats and shedding up a storm to bring in winter coats.
> ...


she was born at the end of march.  yes the undercoat is very soft cashmere.  she is only losing the outer hair. from when i first noticed it it has definitely continued so something is weird for sure.  going to have the vet come up and do a fecal just to be sure before i worm her.


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## babsbag (Sep 9, 2016)

The cashmere is sure soft isn't it? I have one that has a thick undercoat like that. I guess that under coat is worth some money if you had a way to "harvest" it. 

I use the multi-min 90 on my goats but I know that I have a selenium and copper problem even with loose minerals. I see a vast improvement in the coat when I do the shots but it doesn't last long, maybe 4 months. Just be sure when you give the shot that you tent the skin well and get it under all of the layers of skin. I suck at giving shots and when my friend did my herd no problems, when I did it I got a lot of injection site abscesses as I evidently got between the skin layers and not under. The stuff stings like crazy too so hold on tight. 

You may think about having your vet draw blood and get a mineral analysis done. Copper is best tested for in the liver which you can't do in a live animal, but the blood levels will give you some idea of overall copper levels and they can test for the other ok.  I would hate to be giving shots if she is just shedding. 

It is good that you are getting a fecal done as it is nice to know what to treat for specifically.


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## heidi smith (Sep 9, 2016)

Talked to the vet today and he wants me t


babsbag said:


> The cashmere is sure soft isn't it? I have one that has a thick undercoat like that. I guess that under coat is worth some money if you had a way to "harvest" it.
> 
> I use the multi-min 90 on my goats but I know that I have a selenium and copper problem even with loose minerals. I see a vast improvement in the coat when I do the shots but it doesn't last long, maybe 4 months. Just be sure when you give the shot that you tent the skin well and get it under all of the layers of skin. I suck at giving shots and when my friend did my herd no problems, when I did it I got a lot of injection site abscesses as I evidently got between the skin layers and not under. The stuff stings like crazy too so hold on tight.
> 
> ...




I talked to a vet this morning.  He wants me to use the multi-min 90 and put out the loose mineral.  He said he doesn't think she has a problem with cocci because she otherwise looks really healthy. I am going to put out the loose mineral tonight and make sure i see her eating it lol.  He said check eyelids to make sure she isn't pale and i did and they are fine  i am also going to dust all of them and the chickens lol


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## heidi smith (Sep 9, 2016)

babsbag said:


> The cashmere is sure soft isn't it? I have one that has a thick undercoat like that. I guess that under coat is worth some money if you had a way to "harvest" it.
> 
> I use the multi-min 90 on my goats but I know that I have a selenium and copper problem even with loose minerals. I see a vast improvement in the coat when I do the shots but it doesn't last long, maybe 4 months. Just be sure when you give the shot that you tent the skin well and get it under all of the layers of skin. I suck at giving shots and when my friend did my herd no problems, when I did it I got a lot of injection site abscesses as I evidently got between the skin layers and not under. The stuff stings like crazy too so hold on tight.
> 
> ...


We are actually in an area that is very deficient in copper so i was planning giving them their shots anyway was just waiting for a friend to help.  Its pretty standard around here to make sure they have it.  I suck at shots so i tend to put it off.  If i don't see an improvement the vet said he would come out and take a look at her  thanks for all the advice.


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## babsbag (Sep 9, 2016)

Do a lot of people in your area use the Multi-min for goats? I know many goat keepers around me and as far as I know I am the only one that uses multi-min. The copper boluses are impossible to get down and I have 40+ goats...shots are much quicker.


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## heidi smith (Sep 9, 2016)

babsbag said:


> Do a lot of people in your area use the Multi-min for goats? I know many goat keepers around me and as far as I know I am the only one that uses multi-min. The copper boluses are impossible to get down and I have 40+ goats...shots are much quicker.


yes ive been asking around and almost all of the goat people here use it.  Some do straight copper bolus but I'm chicken to do that lol


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## heidi smith (Sep 9, 2016)

Southern by choice said:


> Looks like she is just shedding out. Kind of off season but that "fuzz" is common in fainters. Kind of feels super soft like cashmere?
> 
> Several of our Kiko does develop a thick lush coat and then change of season causes a shed out. That white soft fluff underneath sheds out leaving the course outer coat yet the outer coat does shed too. They get real slick shiny coats AFTER this fluff shed. Now that we are going into fall their coats will start to develop that thick undercoat.
> 
> How old is the doe? Seems wrong time of year but looks just like that cashmere like fluff. On our Kiko bucks it comes off in "sheets".


She is 6 months old.  i bet she has a good inch or 2 of fluff and its super thick... can goats at this age change their hairtype?  the only thing she is loosing is the outer longer hair not the inner coat.


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## heidi smith (Sep 9, 2016)

Southern by choice said:


> Fainters and myotonic goats have different coats. That soft silky spun fluff underneath feels like cashmere. I will see if I can get a pic of one of ours.
> 
> Depending on the goat and age she could just be shedding off baby fur. Yes, wrong time of year in one way but also depends on when she was born.
> Right now all my dogs are losing their summer coats and shedding up a storm to bring in winter coats.
> ...


I'm wondering if that's whats happening the fluff is super thick and soft.. i bet there is a good 1 to 2 inches of it.  she is only losing the long outer hair.


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## heidi smith (Sep 9, 2016)

Here is what I decided to do..  I switched back to loose mineral which they like better.  I also dusted everyone since i hadn't done it yet.  I checked Tilly's eyes to make sure she isn't pale and they look great.  It is the time of year to worm so i will do that next week.  I did check with a vet in our area and sent pictures.  He wanted me to to give a shot of multi-min 90 because our area tends to be very deficient in copper.  I have since found out that most of the goat people in our area do this 2 times a yr.  so we will do everyone next week when we worm.. The vet also stated that she could be shedding her baby coat but he wanted to ensure that we have the mineral issue taken care of first just so we didn't miss anything.. I am going to keep a close eye on her and see how she looks in the next few weeks. If things dont change he is gong to come to the house.  thanks for all the advise


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## Southern by choice (Sep 9, 2016)

I must have misread I thought it was the fluff coming out.
If the long hairs are shedding then she is probably just getting ready for the fall/winter.

But I think it is great you are covering all the bases! 

I use PADDL to do mineral analysis sampling. It is great!

I need to do that this year but I just did CAE, CL, Johnes and I have ALOT of goats so the analysis is just not in the budget. I do a sampling of goats but my sampling would be about 7 goats this year and ... well... just not happening right now.


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## Southern by choice (Sep 9, 2016)

Oh... I was trying to find some pics... I looked through about 300 and thought wellllllllllllllll I have thousands of pics and they are not organized. If I come across one I'll post it.


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## heidi smith (Sep 9, 2016)

Southern by choice said:


> I must have misread I thought it was the fluff coming out.
> If the long hairs are shedding then she is probably just getting ready for the fall/winter.
> 
> But I think it is great you are covering all the bases!
> ...


Yes its her long outer coat that's very thin and and you can see thru to the thick thick undercoat. she is my baby i bottle fed her from 3 days lol so she is incredibly spoiled haha


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## heidi smith (Sep 9, 2016)

Southern by choice said:


> Oh... I was trying to find some pics... I looked through about 300 and thought wellllllllllllllll I have thousands of pics and they are not organized. If I come across one I'll post it.


Thanks so much  I'm new to goats just going on 2 yrs since i got my first one so still learning a lot.  Who knew they were a gateway animal... since my first i now have 7 goats 15 chickens and 2 Sebastopol geese.


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## babsbag (Sep 9, 2016)

We have a thread on here for goat addicts...you might need to join us; sounds like you are will on your way.


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## heidi smith (Sep 11, 2016)

babsbag said:


> We have a thread on here for goat addicts...you might need to join us; sounds like you are will on your way.


what is the name of the thread


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## Latestarter (Sep 11, 2016)

http://www.backyardherds.com/threads/goat-addicts-anonymous.32408/


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## heidi smith (Sep 13, 2016)

So after adding the minerals and supplemented food to their diet and dusting them the hairloss seems to have stopped.  I am thinking maybe she was itching and rubbing her hair off.. I am going to worm them all this weekend.  I have checked everyones eyelids and they are all really pink and healthy looking.  I am now thinking it was a mineral deficiency and possibly lice..... I haven't noticed the other goats rubbing either since I dusted them.... such a learning curve


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## Southern by choice (Sep 13, 2016)




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