# NEED HELP WITH NEW GOAT.



## honey_silvas (Jul 21, 2012)

One of our neighbors found a female goat in bad shape at his front door yesterday.  After trying to find her owner he brought it to us and asked if we could take it because we have 'goats'.  We actually have 2 pet lambs that we bottle fed, but took the goat because she really needed help.  I put her in the dog kennel by herself and gave her food and water.  She is very thin and was weak and dehydrated.  This morning she was stronger and I let her out with our boys (the lambs) and she followed them around trying out the trees, grass and grape vines.  I need to know what I need to do to get her healthy.  Right now she is eating the sheep formula with the lambs along with some alfalfa, a little corn and whatever they eat in the yard.  Is it OK for me to keep feeding her sheep feed? or does she have to have TSC for sheep and goats.  The other question I have is whether she has milk in her udder and if so, what I need to do about it?

Here are a couple of pictures I took this morning.  Anybody know what kind of goat she is?







I tried to get a picture of her udder from behind, but she would not allow me to.






Thank you for any help you can give me.


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## swiss.susan (Jul 21, 2012)

she looks like a saanen or a saanen cross.  anytime any feed says for sheep or goats, there isn't enough copper in it for goats.  goats need an amount( to maintain healthy feet ) on a level that is toxic to sheep.  I would feed her slowly, lots of roughage first.  deworm her and if there is milk just let her dry up.  Good luck!


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## CochinBrahmaLover=) (Jul 21, 2012)

Milk her. Right. Now. Her teats are swollen from having too much milk and it is PAINFUL. If you dont know how get a friend but milk her ASAP.

She NEEDS goat food and goat food will kill sheep- Goats need copper, a lotta it, sheep, a lotta copper will kill them. She should also have free LOOSE choice minerals for Goats. Other then that I would let her browse and do what she does, andlet her gain weight. She actually looks VERY healthy, cause you can see a LOT of the people on here have does in that shape- Its simply because they are hard keepers. I would grain her, there is a dif from grain and feed, so get grain.


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## CochinBrahmaLover=) (Jul 21, 2012)

swiss.susan said:
			
		

> she looks like a saanen or a saanen cross.  anytime any feed says for sheep or goats, there isn't enough copper in it for goats.  goats need an amount( to maintain healthy feet ) on a level that is toxic to sheep.  I would feed her slowly, lots of roughage first.  deworm her and if there is milk just let her dry up.  Good luck!


Oh ya de-worm her. xD.


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## SheepGirl (Jul 21, 2012)

Don't have goats, but here's my advice:

I personally would quarantine her for about 30 days (14 days at least) so you don't infect your property with her 'germs.' Also deworm her and get her started on roughage (hay or browse). Introduce grain slowly. I would let her dry up so she doesn't have the additional stress of being milked when she needs to get back into good health. Also provide her with a good loose goat mineral, but do NOT let your lambs have access to it! If you need to, offer it to her daily and then pick up any she doesn't eat so the lambs don't get it.


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## Calypso (Jul 21, 2012)

swiss.susan said:
			
		

> she looks like a saanen or a saanen cross.  anytime any feed says for sheep or goats, there isn't enough copper in it for goats.  goats need an amount( to maintain healthy feet ) on a level that is toxic to sheep.  I would feed her slowly, lots of roughage first.  deworm her and if there is milk just let her dry up.  Good luck!


I wouldn't try to milk her either. Worm her if she's strong enough and quarantine her too


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## Straw Hat Kikos (Jul 21, 2012)

Calypso said:
			
		

> swiss.susan said:
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You can not feed sheep feed because, as the above has already said, it is not high enough in copper. If you do feed her feed do it in small increments because her rumen needs to adjust to it. Defiantly worm her and I would not milk her. Let her dry up by herself. It will be easier for you and her. It would also be better for her so she doesn't have to deal with the stress of it and you would need to feed her more if she was still lactating.


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## manybirds (Jul 21, 2012)

she's deffinantly looking a bit thin. I would give her plenty of hay and water. a little of the sheep grain. Go to the feed mill and ask if they have goats mineral (not goat/sheep but goat) and while the sheep are away doing somehting else i would offer her a little every day. Get some wormer in her, most horse wormers (given in the proper quantity) will work. I would also get a colar on her so that if she turns a little spooky as she gets her streanth back you can easily catch her. I'm guessing anybody who keeps there goats in that condition hasn't vaccinated so if you have any available a dose of CD&T would be good (thats a sheep vaccine to so it would cover any diseases she might pass to them) its cheep and easily acquirable. i would just let her dry up. are you certain she's not about to kid? i mean as unlikely as it is and all due to her condition and the time of year its better safe than sorry (not to scare you she probably isn't). It sounds like alot but it really isn't, just a little mineral, wormer and possibly the CD&T.


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## manybirds (Jul 21, 2012)

Straw Hat Kikos said:
			
		

> Calypso said:
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she could be fed sheep feed as long as while the sheep are away she gets some goat wormer in her. i mix goats and sheep and everyone gets sheep food but the goats have a section (its to small an opening for the sheep to get through but the goats can get in) where there fed goat mineral.


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## drdoolittle (Jul 21, 2012)

She looks like a couple of my NDs.  I agree with a lot of what others are saying as far as feed goat feed (I recommend Noble Goat), lots of quality hay and water and goat mineral (loose)  as well as loose salt and baking soda.
Yours doesn't look pregnant to me.  Perhaps she had a kid and the owners sold it, and then she escaped looking for her baby.

Here's a couple pics. of my girls for comparison:
Ida, right after I got her (pregnant)






Not long before kidding:






Adia (also pregnant)






Not long before kidding


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## honey_silvas (Jul 21, 2012)

I would like to thank everyone for the information.  I know not to feed goat food to my sheep.  I had planned on getting minerals for her and giving those to her separately from the sheep.  I will make sure she gets goat food and hay.  It looks like I got more "don't" milk than "do" milk.  I did milk her a little and she seemed to feel better, but I probably won't do it again if that will dry her out.  After getting feed and foraging today, she seems to be doing much better.  She follows my two wethers around the yard to see what they are eating.  They seem to be getting along fine now.  She's not sure about us though.  She stands back and watches the boys when they come to us for petting and food.   Hopefully she'll decide we're not so bad.  It looked like she had been tied out by her horns because she had a rope all wrapped and tied around her horns.  I put a collar on her today.  I use them on the lambs because it makes it easier to grab them when I need to do something to them.

These are my 2 little lambs (I don't know when they go from lambs to sheep, but they will always be my babies).





I hope the goat will be as happy as they seem to be.  Our grandson named her Barbie. :/


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## honey_silvas (Jul 21, 2012)

drdolittle,  Your little ND's are so cute.


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## drdoolittle (Jul 22, 2012)

Thank you.  Your babies are cute too!  I'm glad the new girl seems to be settling in.  I can't believe someone would tie a goat up by it's horns.  Glad she found a safe place to go!


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## Calypso (Jul 22, 2012)

Love your sheep babies. I'm sure the goat will come around when see she sees she is loved. Good luck. Wish my neighbors would bring me a goat!!


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## honey_silvas (Jul 22, 2012)

drdoolittle said:
			
		

> Thank you.  Your babies are cute too!  I'm glad the new girl seems to be settling in.  I can't believe someone would tie a goat up by it's horns.  Glad she found a safe place to go!


Around here I have seen people tie ropes to their horns quite often in order to control them.  It doesn't seem quite right to me.


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