AVERAGE OF SERIOUS ILLNESS

[kinder]

As a new member I thought I would start something to put my own and that of others who may be totally new to any of this( minds at an even keel ). This sight is great , and I wouldn't rather a greater bunch of people to turn to in times of need. But I some times find myself a little overwhelmed with all the things that could go wrong , and what to look out for , that I some times second guess myself , and what I'm getting into. I thought that if I had a bigger picture of how often some of this stuff happens , and or regions , by your own encounters. One may see it's not such a big to do!! Or is..?? what ever the case may be ....
I thought if you could share your ..Ratio...X serious illness...BY....X years..
The illness types and or your experiences..Did death occur ??
I would love for you to share your story with myself and others..

 

[Southern by choice]

Great thread Kinder!
I also get what your saying. Because we have a caring community and so many with great experience and also this is the place people turn to in a crisis it could seem like goats are a nightmare.

I felt the same way. I am going to ponder this for a bit and hopefully share some perspective.

 

[OneFineAcre]

You know you make a very good point. I have said on here before that I think goats are easy to keep animals. Goats milk is the most widely consumed milk in the world, because of that fact, and the fact that so many people in the world are poor.

I'm going to think about it some more as well, but I will share one statistic for you. We've been keeping and breeding goats for 4 years. I counted, and we have bred over 30 kids in that time. We have had one die and that was this summer.

She showed no symptoms and seemed fine that morning, and was dead that afternoon. We had a necropsy and it was coccidiosis.
Now she was a triplet, and the day she died both her brother and sister developed diarrea that night. We treated them, and the boy never seemed sick. The little doe did seem sickly for a while. We did fecals and eventually had to treat her several time, but she turned out to be OK.

In 4 years, that has been the most serious issue we have encountered.

Beyond that, the occasional cold, runny nose.

 

[daisyjack]

I have goats for almost 2 years now, so far I have deal with coccidea, bloat, and a goat with a bad worm load. I had know one die but come close. in the past two years I have read a lot about careing for them and I am still learning everyday. this year will be my first kidding season and I hope everything goes ok. goats are differently not like cats or dogs they require a lot of care and I have learned there are a lot of opinions on how to care from them.

 

[elevan]

We had an awful year this year where it seemed like everything that could go wrong - did. But I'd say that goats on average are relatively easy to care for. The biggest things to know is that you know your region's issues (climate, hay nutrition, etc) and you know your individual animals. We've got a lot of goat people on this forum and at times it can make it seem like goats are troublesome to deal with but they really aren't.

In my lifetime of owning goats (we've had them on and off my entire life), these past 2 years have seen the most issues. Why? Because it's been wet weather with up and down temperatures and short freezes followed by quick thaws. It's perfect conditions for parasites to thrive. So with the exception of 1 bad kidding and 1 broken neck, our animals have been lost to either barberpole or coccidia these past 2 years. Our herd being 6-15 goats at any given time, these past 2 years we've lost 7 (I think)...2 kids the rest were older adults (both classes prime for weakened immune systems and heavy infestations). We've never had to treat for parasites in the way that we have during this time.

 

[kinder]

See ..By sharing your stories , one could get an idea of what type of things are most likely to happen and how often , compared to the things are not as common. And yes where some one lives , and care , feed exct.. plays a big roll in a lot of it. But giving the right direction , that you are doing the right things.Or perhaps you missed something. there's always something that , know matter what you do or don't do , will come up. It helps me to know and understand if it comes from some ones experience.
SHARING IS CAREING ............

 

[alsea1]

Well, its like raising children. They get stuff. You treat them. They usually get better.
I am thinking that its the day to day stuff that keeps the bad at bey.
Living conditions will stave off alot of things.
Balanced nutrition will assist in keeping them healthy
For the most part my goat keeping has been pretty good.
Have only lost one so far. It was a baby goat. Some kind of enteritis. Not sure what, why or how.

 

[kinder]

Thank You..One Fine...Daisy Jack...Elevan...and..Alsea 1 . I sure appreciate your sharing. And I do not make lite of your loss. Every day I am looking up stuff on the disease and injuries forum and do my research ..
But knowing an average of happenings really makes the difference.

 

[Azriel]

I don't have goats (yet), but on sites like this it tends to make it look like any type of animal is much harder to take care of than they are. Unfortunately most people only post when they are having problems and need help. We don't see a lot of "my goats are happy, eating, jumping, running around feeling great" posts. When I was a child we had goats, they ran with the cows on 120 acres and I just don't remember a lot of sickness.
I would like to get a few goats, and its great to know what they can get and what to watch for, but I keep thinking, Wow if they are this hard to take care of do I really want to get them. I'll keep reading and learning and scare myself silly with all the things that can go wrong.

 

[kinder]

Azriel..There is a lot of my goats are happy and fine stuff. Every time some one shares pictures , like proud mamas and papas. To see the happy and healthy animals in there bliss ,this is the reason why I don't let it scare me off. I know happy and proud times are more likely to out weigh the unfortunate times.
I am one of those do it your self...Self taught kind of person. And though I know , I couldn't know all or take the place of a vet . I would like to know what I'm talking about when and if some one should ask me about something.