Brittle hair and bald tail tip :(

[CapraCurry]

Will upload pictures in a little, when I have a better internet connection. I recently purchased a goat kid and she's cute as can be! From very little I noticed she had little hair on her tail tip, it was just a bald dot. I have read about copper deficiency in goats and this being a symptom of it. However, she is still drinking from the bottle. Even when she was still on pure goats milk, her tail was like this. My close friend is raising a goat kid only 3 days older than her from a different breeder. They're both drinking the same "brand" cows milk and a supplemental powder is being added. His hair is much glossier and stronger than hers. If you sweep your fingers through her hair however,it's brittle, dry, and sheds like crazy. Is she too young to be copper deficient? Any recommendations? Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated. I'm thinking that she was just born from a deficient mother and hasn't recovered yet? Her mother seemed perfectly healthy but I can't recall the texture of her hair and the condition of her tail, etc.

 

[Hens and Roos]

sorry to hear about your kid. Pictures would help to see what you are dealing with.

@Goat Whisperer @Southern by choice @OneFineAcre @babsbag might be able to provide some information.

 

[CapraCurry]

Some pictures here, sorry if they upload wonky, doing it from my phone. As you can see there is no hair on the very tip

 

[Southern by choice]

Deficiency can be present in a kid.
If the dam is borderline or somewhat deficient they don't all show immediate signs... now they produce a kid/s then those kids have the potential for deficiency.

In one way it does not really look like a copper deficiency.
At this point I would not copper the kid.

Well, first how old is the kid?

Next- are you providing minerals? What kind of feed if any?
Remember that fall winter coats sometimes do lack lustre. When goats have access to great forage the oils in that forage make their coats beautiful.
Genetics may also play a role. Some goats may have a coarser coat, some a super soft coat...

 

[CapraCurry]

Both of them have access to a timothy alfalfa blend at the moment and are being fed nutrena goat 16% goat pellet and manna pro goat mineral blend. The buckling eats the pellets, munches on the hay and takes an occasional lick of the mineral. She shows zero interest in the pellets, "plays" with the hay more than she reall eats it, but also likes to lick at the minerals. They both are drinking 10-11 ounces of wholes cows milk 3 times a day. They're both 7 weeks old.

 

[CapraCurry]

She's more interested in chewing literally anything else but proper goat food, ie paper, plastic, etc

 

[Pearce Pastures]

Some goats do have a rougher coat than others but with the bald tip of the tail she could have a deficiency. I would be looking at the dam, since she might show other symptoms to pinpoint it. Selenium?

 

[Southern by choice]

fed nutrena goat 16% goat pellet and manna pro goat mineral blend.

She shows zero interest in the pellets, "plays" with the hay more than she reall eats it, but also likes to lick at the minerals. They both are drinking 10-11 ounces of wholes cows milk 3 times a day. They're both 7 weeks old.

They need to be reducing that milk intake. Nigies are generally weaned by 8 weeks. Most are nibbling hay by 3 weeks and at 5 weeks will eat pellets & hay.

Cow's milk is not goats milk and the kid isn't getting the nutrients that mom's milk would have. They should no longer be at 3x day but 1x day and getting ready to have 0 perday.

Reduce her bottle's because she really needs to eat now. As she eats 1/4 cup pellets, hay, forage etc you may see and improvement.

Too young to copper IMO. Agree w/ @Pearce Pastures there may be a deficiency but she is so young it would best to only give a supplement under a vets supervision.

One thing you may be able to do which really makes a difference is Sea Kelp.

Take 1-2 cups oatmeal, cook it, while warm add 1-2T molasses and 1/2tsp Kelp (powder) stir well- roll it into balls- serve warm.
Very high in mineral absorption, far better than goat minerals.
Keep in mind she may not eat it though- she is still hooked on the bottle.

 

[CapraCurry]

Thank you very much for the suggestion, perhaps when I can get her eating I'll try that! She does seem keen on molasses, she tries to get into the sheep feed and will lick and munch at it. Tomorrow I'll bring it down to 2 feedings and see if her appetite for solid foods improves. Perhaps she was getting just enough to keep her satisfied for a bit lol

 

[animalmom]

I agree with @Southern by choice regarding adding kelp to her diet. Some of my does had very rough coats and since I started with the kelp all of their coats have improved, some more than others. It is interesting, to me, that the does either like the kelp a lot or don't like it at all. The ones that like it would eat the whole bag if they had a chance... which they don't. I call kelp their "pretty powder".

Good luck with your wee goaties. They are on the transition from little babies to rowdy toddlers. Fun times a coming!