A Geep?..yes a Goat-Sheep Hybrid

[goatgurl]

what ever he is, he's a cutie. i would wait and find out what he is before you decide what minerals, etc to give him. he looks like my hair sheep lambs so it will be interesting to see what he turns out to be. my dairy goat buck bred one of my ewes last fall before i got them separated. fortunately no geeps at my house. waiting to see what the dna tests show.

 

[L J]

So cute... it's going to be a hard one to manage... I would be really curious what his mineral requirements will be.
I would pick sheep cause I think they are more docile with eachother than goats are.


Have you tried Michigan State University? They are a heavy farming institution.

I will give them a call thanks. I started w/ Washington State university, as its close to me and they have a vet school. They told me to call UC Davis vet research, and they were supposed to send me docs to get started on the testing.

 

[Sweetened]

You could also find out if university of saskatchewan can help or accept stuff from the US

 

[L J]

ok so Sammy is 15.5 lbs as of today. 42 days old. We had a bit of a medical scare last night. Has to do w bloat, pneumonia, constipation and weaning .

Been feeding 12-16 Oz twice a day for the last week. (over feeding him?) before that it was 9 oz 3 times a day. Also, Have battled constipation for the last week. Did a couple teaspoons of oil in his food, but also had to do 2 water enemas within a week, he was going 36-48 hours w/o pooping last 8 days.

so last night, about an hour after he ate 16 oz, he stood up and collapsed, like bambi on ice and looked like he was going to pass out. Took him to emergency vet- Bloat. Told its caused by the milk bc his rumen is developed. Thankfully already had a appt w my regular vet this morning. Both the emergency and my regular vet suggested cutting the milk to 3-4 oz a couple times a day w a teaspoon of yogurt. Did that today, but so worried he will bloat again. He seems to have no interest in the hay. He wants to chew the **** out of his pen though!

My regular vet said he thinks Sammy needs 2-3 weeks more of milk, as we transition to the hay.

Then to top it off, looks like he aspirated some of the milk last night, got into his lungs (they did x ray, saw small amount of build up, but no weezing last night, weezing some today, a little labored breathing.) So my vet said, Pneumonia due to foreign body in the lung. he thankfully got a shot of antibiotic last night, another shot today of Excenel, and the vet gave me 2 doses to give in the next 2 days,. He goes back to vet on Friday for a check up.

Tonight he seems in decent spirit. Not labored breathing much, and seemed pretty active for a bit. Keeps messing around w his pen (kind of chewing and just being curious).

So...do I just stop the milk all together and let him get hungry enough to eat? any suggestions would be awesome. thanks!

 

[L J]

Update- at 9pm he chilled out and slept for awhile. 10pm temp was 101.5, he was bucking in his pen a little. Seems playful and headbutting me a couple Times. Up like that for about 45 min now laying down and falling asleep like normal. 10:30pm woke up and ever since is labored breathing, laying down but alert . Temp Is still normal
I never thought raising this lil guy could get so stressful!

 

[Sweetened]

Are you feeding replacer? If so, switch to whole milk, raw if you can. If where you live is like here and you cant get whole or raw, pick up 3% homo, and a carton of liquid whipping cream and mix them. I add one egg yolk and a tablespoon of probiotic yogurt per 2 liter bottle.

There seems to be a point for most people that are feeding replacer where their animals bloat and die.

 

[L J]

Are you feeding replacer? If so, switch to whole milk, raw if you can. If where you live is like here and you cant get whole or raw, pick up 3% homo, and a carton of liquid whipping cream and mix them. I add one egg yolk and a tablespoon of probiotic yogurt per 2 liter bottle.

There seems to be a point for most people that are feeding replacer where their animals bloat and die.

Interesting. I thought sheep aren't supposed to have cows milk? And yes- he is still on replacer. Using land O Lakes lamb formula

 

[purplequeenvt]

Our way too many bottle lambs last spring got a mixture of raw Jersey milk and raw goat milk. That milk was stretched as needed by the little sheep milk that we got from the bad mothers and milk replacer.

At one point we were feeding 6 lambs and 3 goat kids. Everyone thrived on it.

We've never had bigger bottle lambs. Most of them were in our show flock and you couldn't tell they had been bottle fed. Normally bottle babies don't grow as well.

 

[Sweetened]

Sure theyre not supposed to, many people argue humans arent either, but replacer is dried milk product, pulp, vitamin and mineral powder, soy, beet pulp and so on, when i think about it, ill choose regular storebought cows milk! We have just had such poor luck with replacers and supplements, i cant trust it, and its usually the first thing id pull a sick kid/lamb off of.

 

[Sweetened]

Also i should state i raised 3 bottle lambs on that formula above without issue.