6 month Neubian doe with stiff legs when scared..THEN all the time now!! Please help!

[Aries]

I am a new goat mom. Sassy is now 6 months old. She gets stiff legs when to excited and now all the time. She eats alfalfa. I think I may now I may be giving her the wrong diet. Her stiff leg condition has been getting worse. As of last week she would have stiff legs sometimes, but now its ALL the time!! Any information would be a blessing!!
Thank you!!
I am desperate for answers!!

 

[elevan]

Welcome to the Backyard Herds forum @Aries alfalfa is a perfectly acceptable feed for goats, so no worries there unless the hay is moldy or contaminated in some way.

My first thought when you said you have a 6 month old Nubian who has stiff legs when she gets excited is that you have a goat with myotonia congenita or to be specific one that has been cross with a Myotonic breed of goat. This type of goat is often called "Fainting Goats", though many crossbreeds do not faint they will exhibit stiffness of limbs or gait especially while young.

When you state "Her stiff leg condition has been getting worse." could you elaborate on that a bit? When you say "ALL" the time, do you literally mean 100% of the time that she is stiff legged?

Do you have a knowledgeable goat vet in your area that you can consult? Is the person you got Sassy from someone whom you can go back to with questions?

Has Sassy received her CD&T initial vaccination and booster? Does she have free choice minerals available to her?

 

[jodief100]

Can you elaborate on "stiff legs"? What exactly is she doing? Is she dragging her legs, not bendign the knees? Can you give us more information?

 

[Aries]

Thankx for the replies. Sassy sometimes walks with all of her legs stiff where they don't bend at the knees. Then someone her back legs don't bend and her front are fine. Can you recommend a proper daily diet. I may not be giving her enough minerals or vitamins. Good call

 

[elevan]

How long is "sometimes"? Are we talking minutes, hours....days? If it's minutes, then I'd still say she's a Myotonic cross. If it's hours or days then I'd consult a vet.

Proper diet for goats consist of long stemmed food stuff (hay or browse), fresh clean water and minerals. That is really all that they need. A producing goat (lactating, gestating, breeding) may need extra nutrition and that is where grain / pellet supplementation can come into the picture. If providing feed supplementation care should be taken to make sure it is formulated for goats and that the Ca to Ph ratio is 2:1. Alfalfa is a wonderful food for goats in both hay and pellet form for boosting calcium.

Beyond that there is no one particular diet plan for goats that is "The perfect one", as can be seen simply by checking out our Feeding Discussion for Goats Thread.

 

[Aries]

Thank you so much for the information!