9 week old buckling with diarrhea - PICS!

[woodsie]

I moved this thread from the young kids section.

I am calling on the goat experts for help with my new little buckling. Here's the background

I bought a beautiful little Nubian buckling a week ago and he has come down with diarrhea for the past 5 days. He was bouncing around and eating and pooping fine for the first 3 days and then came down with the runs. He is fluctuating...starts to firm up a bit then gets worse overnight/morning. He was a bottle baby (fed goats milk) and I was giving him cow's milk bottles as he was really looking for a bottle ( 1 a day, 5 oz), but have cut them out since the diarrhea has begun. I also have cut out all grain, so he is now on straight alfafa/grass hay 1st cut and he is still eating and gets up but have not seem him chew cud.

I have been giving doses of human acidophilus 3 times per day (2 capsules emptied into in a tsp and given orally) not all of it gets in his mouth but a descent amount does. I have given a tsp of pepto in the mornings when/if he looks very run down and has runny poop on the back of his legs/bum. He does seem to get a little better after the acidophilus but I didn't give a does before bed as he seemed to be getting better and this morning we had poop everywhere again and he seemed hunched up.

Poop is brown and ranges from pasty and/or liquid to starting to clump into berries but still wet.

I have talked to the breeder and this is the info she gave me. He has not been vaccinated or wormed HOWEVER they were pulled from mom instantly and were raised indoors and then moved to a property were NO goats have been on previously (she moved)...so she figured no worm exposure (his sisters have no symptoms). Unlikely coccidiosis as there was no exposure except potentially at my house but he has not been here long enough to start showing symptoms, according to her...correct me if I am wrong.

Any suggestions would be sure appreciated!

Cobie

 

[babsbag]

I would treat for cocci regardless of his supposed non-exposure. It comes from somewhere to start with and the treatment won't hurt him, but not treating him will. You should see an improvement in just a few days if that is the problem.

 

[woodsie]

I do appreciate the couple responses I got today and am taking will be doing some of the stronger measures tomorrow before the vet closes for the weekend. He gets somewhat better in the afternoon, perks up and stool firms up but still no nanny berries. The troube in my neck of the woods is that we only have one large animal vet and they know little to nothing about goats with a min $150 bill. I would pay it if I knew it would help but I don't need something that will make it worse.

He did pick up later this afternoon and stool firms up a bit but still no nanny berries.

I just did dewormed him and gave a bottle of watered down yoghurt. I guess we will see where we are at in the morning....I'll keep you posted.

 

[Egg_Newton]

I would def treat for cocci. I had the same issues with my 8 week old buckling and the di-methox is what finally firmed him up. I also gave kaiolin and electrolites until I was absolutely sure he wasn't scouring anymore.

 

[SkyWarrior]

I did post my response in the kids section. You got it, right?

 

[Roll farms]

I'd about guarantee it's coccidiosis. 15 yrs of baby goat raisin' behind that guess...

Coccidia is in almost all animals naturally- we fight it off / keep it in check. Young and stressed animals haven't built up the immune response needed to do that, so they develop coccidiosis.

DiMethox. 40% injectable, but give it orally - 1 cc per 5# day 1, 1cc per 10# after that....Treat for full 14 days and then repeat in 21 days, treating for 5 days. I'd probably keep him on a full, every 21 days treat for 5 days schedule- until he's about 6 mos. Cocci damages the intestines and can cause them to not absorb their nutritients / grow well.

You should be able to take a fresh fecal sample in to about any vet, ask for a cocci float, and have it done for 25$ or less....fyi.

 

[elevan]

I'd about guarantee it's coccidiosis. 15 yrs of baby goat raisin' behind that guess...

Coccidia is in almost all animals naturally- we fight it off / keep it in check. Young and stressed animals haven't built up the immune response needed to do that, so they develop coccidiosis.

DiMethox. 40% injectable, but give it orally - 1 cc per 5# day 1, 1cc per 10# after that....Treat for full 14 days and then repeat in 21 days, treating for 5 days. I'd probably keep him on a full, every 21 days treat for 5 days schedule- until he's about 6 mos. Cocci damages the intestines and can cause them to not absorb their nutritients / grow well.

You should be able to take a fresh fecal sample in to about any vet, ask for a cocci float, and have it done for 25$ or less....fyi.

x2


Some additional info for you: http://www.backyardherds.com/web/viewblog.php?id=2607-coccidia-goat

 

[babsbag]

I just did dewormed him and gave a bottle of watered down yoghurt. I guess we will see where we are at in the morning....I'll keep you posted.

Personally I won't worm a sick animal unless I KNOW that they need to be wormed, especially a kid. He is far more likely to have cocci than he is to have barberpole or some other common worm, and the cocci is much more likely to make him scour. JMO

I use the DiMethox 40% but I have also used Corid in a pinch. The treatment won't hurt him so I would start ASAP. Not trying to scare you, but they can die from cocci.

 

[alsea1]

I would def. treat for cocci.
It is my understanding that there is cocci in the intestine of all animals. When the animal gets stressed it can bloom out of control. So when your little goat was moved, his system got stressed and the number of cocci increased to the point he is now showing symptoms. With an animal that young you don't have alot of time to get in there and medicate. The longer the animal is sick the more damage to his intestinal walls is being done. The scar tissue builds up in the intestine and makes it harder for the animal to absorb the nutrients it needs from the food it eats. So the goat pulls thru and you are forever pouring feed to it but it just does not look as good as its herd mates. Thats what I understand from the reading I have done anyway.
I have begun a system of preventative treatment myself. As the kids and lambs get older the resistence they got from the colostrum is wearing thin. So I feed a medicated feed to get them thru to the point they have developed their own immunity to it. It seems to be working so far. I do this because I do not have the amount of land to rotate grazing to keep em on clean ground and our climate is wet and plenty warm enough for crude to thrive.

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

I'd about guarantee it's coccidiosis. 15 yrs of baby goat raisin' behind that guess...

Coccidia is in almost all animals naturally- we fight it off / keep it in check. Young and stressed animals haven't built up the immune response needed to do that, so they develop coccidiosis.

DiMethox. 40% injectable, but give it orally - 1 cc per 5# day 1, 1cc per 10# after that....Treat for full 14 days and then repeat in 21 days, treating for 5 days. I'd probably keep him on a full, every 21 days treat for 5 days schedule- until he's about 6 mos. Cocci damages the intestines and can cause them to not absorb their nutritients / grow well.

You should be able to take a fresh fecal sample in to about any vet, ask for a cocci float, and have it done for 25$ or less....fyi.

X 100.