Buck gone, does sick post 12 - was keep him alive

[20kidsonhill]

Did he make it through the night? or did you put him down?

A couple things that I am thinking.

Because you are saying he seems like he has poor muscle tone and had been loosing weight, I would consider a parasite problem, but just a guess on my part.

Again this is just a guess on my part, but if I gave him grain and he wasn't able to get up, I would have added a teaspoon or two of baking soda to the grain, or drenched him with some baking soda and mollasses to help settle his stomach. His rumen may be having a hard time handling the grain, because number 1, he isn't used to grain and number 2 he isn't able to walk around.

If he is still alive this morning and you are still working with him. I would give him baking soda, in a drench, probably 2 or 3 teaspoons a couple times today.

If he didn't make it, I am sorry, you certainly don't have anything to feel bad about, You tried your best.

Sorry I haven't been checking back on a regular basis, I have a personal thing going on at my home and it has been distracting me. I sure hope you start feeling better soon.

 

[Bunny-kids]

No, he's gone during the night. I appreciate the help though.

I never gave him grain, but pelleted goat chow. I was concerned about the rumen. I never could get him on his feet, but tried to keep him on his chest. (he did fall a couple of times.)

He showed no signs of anemia - FAMACHA was good on him. Last year EVERYTHINGwas drylot (drought) and he and the wether pretty much keep their pen chewed/stomped down. He could have had tapes since one of my does did but the vet agreed that wouldn't cause collapse in the feed trough. It really should have been something serious and/or sudden? He'd lost condition but only over the past few days. And he almost never went out of rut - he's been acting "Bucky" again for a month or so.

Sigh... I dunno.

I may have to eat the wether now (he's usually my favorite goat) since I'll need a new buckling. I still have all three of this year's bucklings. Of course the one I chose for freezer camp has become a sweet little puppydog type. He may have bought himself a spot as my new wether. I can't really make those decisions just now. Gotta figure out how to deal with the buck and I'm not well enough for strenuous work. I feed my dog raw but I'm afraid to use the buck.

Guess I'm mostly worried because my two breeding does are in such poor shape too. I'm worming them now (and have been) but no improvement. I wonder if what happened to the buck has any clues for them.

Seems the one doe was calcium deficient from pregnancy. She's been getting calcium, vit B, probios, worming (valbazen & cydectin - cydectin does NOT look like anything I should be shoving down her throat and she agrees), and red cell. She will nibble a few pellets, browse a bit, but mostly wants cut leaves. She's scary-thin, whited-out eyelids, and moves slowly. She's had diarrhea a lot. She actually seems that her bowed legs MAY be a tiny bit better, and she's a bit more active than she was. She does fight me on the meds. I keep her buckling off her & don't milk - the doeling gets a little milk.

The other doe is also scary-thin and whited out. She's getting the same treatment (except only valbazen). She has an odd look in her eyes, seems like she's dreamy. She has been lying down a LOT since last Tuesday or so, though she can and does walk around. She eats pellets and hay. Her poop was almost liquid, then got some shape, and yesterday was berries again. Today I watched her stand and wait a long time before she could finally pee ... It was only a few drops but shestood a long time and finally did pee. She's still wanting to care for her bucklings but I put them in an adjacent yard during the day to give her a break.

I'm about ready to treat them ALL for EVERYTHING. The wether seems fine as does the other doe I've never gotten to settle. But my breeders are a mess. At least the doeling is a healthy beautiful little butterball. Her brother is limping slightly now I see. Hopefully just a thorn.

At least I am slightly improved, but I'm still not all here mentally and cam only work with the animals an hour or so. And at least I made a bit of money and can afford some meds for them. I was offered a chance at a job in town too, if I can show up tomorrow. Feel like I'm on a rollercoaster lol.

Thanks all.

 

[Bunny-kids]

Oh and 20Kids, I appreciate your help. No need to apologize for having stuff as well. Normally I can barely get online too. Hope you had a nice Mother's Day.

 

[ksalvagno]

I would start with a good fecal being done. And I mean send it in to your state lab or a lab that does a thorough fecal. The quick fecal float that is done at the vet doesn't show everything. Ohio's state lab does a great job with fecal tests and you get back numbers of every parasite that they find. And they find parasites that the local vet never finds.

 

[Bunny-kids]

Thanks, Ksalvagno. I didn't know about that.

Yes, I recently had a fecal done at the vets. It was pretty much a waste of money. I'm near TAMU, I wonder if they do it. I'll look into that.

This past week I was almost ready to give up keeping animals ... glad my muscovies at least are so self-sufficent, and the chickens and rabbits are (mostly) doing great.

Never did figure out why one litter of rabbit kits was dying one by one, but it seems to have stopped. Now I have some in a grow-out pen that are too old, and starting to pull fur from one another. Let me restate -- all but one has fur pulled. I suspect the untouched one is shredding the others. They are due for slaughter anyway, and I would have done it Saturday if not for having to deal with sick goats.

Thanks so much. I need to get a handle on what's going on. And I need a new buckling, but I really have to get this sorted out first.

And your avatar reminds me ... I have a llama out there too. She seems perfectly fine, but she's very skittish and won't let me handle her other than hand feeding. I worry what SHE may be picking up along with them that isn't apparent, and I don't want her going down to be my first sign, since I probably can't care for her if she does. She's a stinker, but I would NOT want to lose her.

 

[ksalvagno]

Yes, the llama will probably need to be wormed too. Llamas and alpacas tend not to show anything until they are about dead, unfortunately.