Coughing... Lung worms OR Virus?

[babsbag]

KISS
I decided a few years ago to just KISS. Alfalfa hay for everyone, grain on the milk stand, loose minerals all of the time. BO-Se, pneumonia vaccine, and CDT in Dec. I added Multi-min this last year and will probably do that again in Dec. as well and not do the Bo-Se. Worms are not an issue for me. Feet get done in Dec. and May or June.

Kids get BO-Se if they need it, CDT at 3-4 weeks, and cocci prevention at 3 weeks. They don't get grain, only alfalfa.

I try to make it simple. My goats look better this year than they ever have and I think it is the hay and multi-min. I found dairy quality alfalfa and the goats look amazing.

 

[Southern by choice]

I don't think goats are hard really.
They can be especially to a newbie that find themselves with a sick goat.

The very first basic step is a fecal. Yet how many times do people say this and it goes ignored.
Baby goats are prone to cocci which opens the door for pneumonia and failure to thrive etc.
Adult goats- generally a parasite issue.
The majority of goat issues are parasitic in nature.
Yet instead of paying for a fecal many will pump all kinds of everything in the goat- spend way more money than necessary instead of the first step.

Sometimes people leave important info out and that makes it very difficult as well. I don't even mean here on the forum, I mean with their vet.

 

[babsbag]

Since parasites aren't an issue at my house a sick goat is usually respiratory but since I started the pneumonia vaccine I don't see that anymore. Kids do get cocci if I don't do a prevention, almost guaranteed.

But I have had goats die from a twisted intestine, UC, selenium deficiency, and the unknown, ever after a necropsy. Goats can be alive and fine this morning and dead tonight. When they go down they can go down fast, especially the kids. I think that their propensity to die quickly leads to the belief that they are picky and hard to raise. Add to that the many diseases that they can get that shorten their lifespan and have no cure it can make for a complicated animal.

 

[Sara1226]

I wasn't going to post on here anymore, but I'd like to address the goats aren't for starter herds comment. I would hope it's not being implied that I shouldn't have gotten goats.

Always remember in life there is a reason for everything. Why did I get goats.. Well because I love animals and have wanted goats since I was a kid. I am 5'1, 124 pounds, and my husband is gone working a lot so I did NOT want animals like cows, alpacas, pigs, etc that could easily over power me. That's ALL I wanted and all I will ever want. To give a loving home to a few wethers that needed a home, and have some chickens which some of those are rescues.

Why do I have a sick goat? Well because the breeder didn't worm him prior to transport, and transport conditions were poor. Am I blaming that person 100%... NO, but those things certainly didn't help him.

We all start somewhere... Right? I guess I can't say enough.. "I'm doing the best I can". I had actually been checking back in to give an update, but I think I'll just send an update to anyone privately if they would like. I DO have a plan and I AM trying to get him healthier. Found out some interesting things today too. Oh.. and for those who thought I wasn't sending in fecal samples to the vet.. I was and I did. Got some results Monday, and talked with the other lady who got a goat from this breeder again also. The only good news I have that I am willing to share on here is that I got him to gain a pound now and he's eating a lot! It's still clearly going to be a long road though sadly.

 

[babsbag]

I don't think that anyone was implying that you shouldn't own goats. I agree that goats can seem complicated at times but a lot of that is because the research has not been done on goats to figure out "how they work". So much of what we have to use for treatments is "off label" for goats and even the best vet may not have the resources or information available to know how to treat them unless they have experience and everyone still does it differently. There truly is more than one way to "skin a cat" and treat a goat. Even my vet, that has her own herd of goats, has been stumped more than once by a goat.

Please update this thread, it gives everyone the opportunity to learn from the experiences you are having and it may help others down the road. I am happy that he is gaining a little weight and has a good appetite. If it winter rolls around and he is still small and you think he is cold you might get him a goat coat.

Do you really have a pet lobster? A real one, like the ones that people eat for dinner?

 

[NH homesteader]

OK since that was my comment I'm going to respond. Please stop thinking we are criticizing. I started with goats (well after chickens) and sometimes I go wow they're more complicated than other animals I've gotten since then. That's all.

We would all love to hear how your goats are doing. Glad to hear he's gaining! I have a little buckling I've had trouble getting to gain weight and I know how frustrating that can be.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

I wasn't going to post on here anymore, but I'd like to address the goats aren't for starter herds comment. I would hope it's not being implied that I shouldn't have gotten goats.

Always remember in life there is a reason for everything. Why did I get goats.. Well because I love animals and have wanted goats since I was a kid. I am 5'1, 124 pounds, and my husband is gone working a lot so I did NOT want animals like cows, alpacas, pigs, etc that could easily over power me. That's ALL I wanted and all I will ever want. To give a loving home to a few wethers that needed a home, and have some chickens which some of those are rescues.

Why do I have a sick goat? Well because the breeder didn't worm him prior to transport, and transport conditions were poor. Am I blaming that person 100%... NO, but those things certainly didn't help him.

We all start somewhere... Right? I guess I can't say enough.. "I'm doing the best I can". I had actually been checking back in to give an update, but I think I'll just send an update to anyone privately if they would like. I DO have a plan and I AM trying to get him healthier. Found out some interesting things today too. Oh.. and for those who thought I wasn't sending in fecal samples to the vet.. I was and I did. Got some results Monday, and talked with the other lady who got a goat from this breeder again also. The only good news I have that I am willing to share on here is that I got him to gain a pound now and he's eating a lot! It's still clearly going to be a long road though sadly.

I think you need to "take a step back" and look over this thread again.

No one is accusing you, no one is saying you shouldn't have gotten the goats, no one is saying this is your fault.

Do you think this thread would be this big if people wanted to attack you, if people didn't care? It is the opposite- everyone of these members are trying to HELP you.

Now why would they do this? Because they care. They care about YOU and your goats.
That is why @greybeard suggested what he did. To help you, because frankly, this whole goat thing can get rather confusing!

You have gotten very offended/defensive over nothing. Perhaps some of the posts came across wrong, as I said before the tone often gets lost on the forum. One really needs to have an open mind participating on online forums.

Look at all the members replying to this thread (to HELP you), they have all been here for some time. Everyone of these members have put in so much to help goat owners like you. Everyone here does care. We feel the ups and downs that livestock owners go through on here. We feel the excitement when a new kid is born, and we feel the devastation and sadness when that does doesn't survive that emergency C-section.

I think it saddens most of us on here that you have interpreted it that way

 

[Southern by choice]

Sara there has been no derogatory comments. This is a great thread. Many are rooting for you and want to help. Any new kind of animal can be hard. The learning curve is steep sometimes.
We work with many first time goat owners and love it!
Some breeders sell a goat and that is the end of that. We aren't like that and love being able to give as much education as possible so that when they start breeding ( most people are buying them for dairy goats - to be milked) it helps them be a support to their future owners.

One of the hardest things is the waiting... it takes goats awhile to recuperate. Now that he is being treated and getting better it still will take a bit of time. The weight will come. Sometimes it just seems like it is taking so long.

 

[Green Acres Farm]

I am sorry if you thought I directed my agreement to goats being bad starter animals toward s you. I wasn't meaning that at ALL.
What I meant was, goats were a lot harder for me to care for than I first thought. I had no idea they were so complicated.
I can see how you thought that was directed towards you. I didn't mean to imply that at all. You are doing good job and learning a lot.

 

[Sara1226]

Just wanted to post an update. I've had this little guy for about a month now. He hasn't grown at all, I know I posted that he did gain a little, but every time he gains it comes right back off again, and the coughing is persisting. At this point he has been dewormed 3 times, treated for cocci twice, and 5 days of the antibiotic Pen G. The breeder is saying his size is genetic. In my opinion maybe height could be, but shouldn't be put SOME weight on? Rember my vets original analysis... he said his hair was thin and condition on a scale of 1-10 was a 2. I have done everything! I'm now having some problems in my personal life as well so times are tough right now. I have a good friend that is a veterinary technician, she has other goats, and has offered to possibly take him to see what she can do. My other option was to return him to the breeder, but my husband said the 6+ hour transportation would be too hard on him, and if he came to us sick why send him back there. I agree. I have another vet appointment today to have him reevaluated. Will let you all know what happens. My other two goats remain well. Happy, healthy, and getting chubby for winter.