Crunchy Goat Hairs

[DellaMyDarling]

When I brought the girls home they were all orangey, or had fly away curly hairs, or stiff coats.

Before leaving their prior home they were Ivermectined and had been receiving weekly Replamin supplements (plus weekly herbal wormer, clearly not helpful because they NEEDED that Ivermectin.)

I waited a few weeks to see how things went.
Not so amazing, they were also still a bit anemic judging by behaviors and FAMACHES.
So I went ahead and copper bolused and gave some Red Cell. I believe prior owner said she never had, or had been a long time for boluses.

Few weeks go by and 2 of 3 goats now have beautiful, soft, lovely coats. Third goat...got worse?
Been trying for two months now to get this third goat's coat to improve.
She's a dark reddish goat (I only know because of older pics.) Alas, goat looks like ghost.
And she's "crunchy" hair, not soft like my other goats.

Everyone's health otherwise seems on target.
What's going on with crunchy goat?
Can I attempt another bolus? First bolus was chewed (all 3 chewed theirs, spit it out, then licked up most particles with some treats... I learned some things...)

 

[Baymule]

Can you run a fecal exam or take a fecal sample to the vet for analysis? Then you will know for sure what you are dealing with.

Before leaving their prior home they were Ivermectined and had been receiving weekly Replamin supplements (plus weekly herbal wormer, clearly not helpful because they NEEDED that Ivermectin.)

I try to be as organic as possible, but worms are worms are worms are WORMS. I am for whatever it takes to knock them out, for the better health of the animal.

Can I attempt another bolus? First bolus was chewed (all 3 chewed theirs, spit it out, then licked up most particles with some treats... I learned some things...)

 

[DellaMyDarling]

I have not yet run one, mostly out of laziness. We are a good drive from any vet and don't yet subscribe to a particular one anyway. I know any vet will do for a fecal, typically.


So, say she comes back good for worm load, what would be considered next?

And what is the real likelihood that 1 goat in a herd has a high load when everyone shares everything and was wormed on the same schedule?

Just pondering here.


As a side note, would you consider that crunchy ghost Nigerian to be overweight?

 

[frustratedearthmother]

And what is the real likelihood that 1 goat in a herd has a high load when everyone shares everything and was wormed on the same schedule?

It's a definite possibility.
"Some breeds of sheep and goats show increased resistance to parasites, but there is resistance with all breeds, thus no matter what breed you are working with, you can continue to genetically select for such strengths. Research shows that 20-30 percent of your animals carry 70-80 percent of the worms." https://www.ecofarmingdaily.com/raise-healthy-livestock/cattle/managing-parasites-livestock/

I think your goat looks to be in good flesh. Also, let me just throw this out there. I have raised pygmy goats for years. They don't come in very many colors but one color in particular (brown agouti) has coarser hair than the others. Can still be slick and shiny - but the hair is coarse. Not sure if that might be an issue with your gal...

 

[Baymule]

I am not a goatie, so can't offer you solid advice. Goats and sheep share a lot of the same things, but there are nuances that separate them and their treatments. @B&B Happy goats since you are not fighting off a hurricane ATM, can you help out on this one? LOL

As far as one being wormy out of an otherwise healthy flock, it comes down to individual worm resistance. Some animals are "poor doers" and those are the ones that you cull. Since you just got these, keep her, work with her to get her healthy and see what happens. If she continually is wormy while the others are not, then sell her and test her offspring. If they are continually wormy like their mom, cull them too.

@B&B Happy goats will tell you that climate conditions have been horrible for her this year and she has been fighting parasites. It has been a battle to keep her goats parasite loads down.

I learned to do my own fecals this spring and it was a real eye opener to me. I had 3 generations from one original ewe that had high worm loads, while my other sheep did not. So guess which ones will either go to sale or slaughter after lambing and weaning them? I purchased a ram from a worm resistance breeding program by Virginia Tech and I am so excited to see his first (for me) lambs.

 

[animalmom]

I have Nigerians and most of my goats have soft, straight hair, but I have a couple that just have coarse, not straight but not frizzy hair. I have been using kelp with their feed for quite a while... couple years now and even the coarse haired ones are better but they are never going to be like the others.

I stopped copper bolus-ing them several years ago because my vet was convinced my once a year application was going to over copper them and the only way to find out was a liver biopsy which they can only get from a dead goat. I have the copper bolus, and watch my goaties to see if they need a boost, but really I've not seen a need. Maybe the vet was truthful when he said the area I'm in has enough copper.

 

[Ridgetop]

About Copper:

I might suspect copper deficiency if she has very faded looking coat but there are other symptoms of copper deficiency too. What breed is she? What are you feeding? We had dairy goats, and the Alpine breeds tended to have longer hair which felt coarser . Nubians and LaManchas had smooth coats. What information did the breeder give - were the kids pasteurized or dam raised? Dam raised kids can contract CAE and it sometimes shows in weight loss. Did the breeder blood test for CAE and Johnnes?

As far as copper, It depends on your area if you are feeding forage and pasture. If not, then it depends on where the hay you are feeding is grown. You need to determine if your area (if feeding on pasture) is copper deficient. If feeding purchased hay you need to determine where the hay comes from and if that area is deficient in copper. The copper deficiencies people talk about are because their feed whether hay or pasture is copper deficient. Sheep are sensitive to excess copper but goats need copper. Some areas of the country are seriously copper deficient. Not as big a concern for sheep whose copper needs are lower, but extra copper supplements will be needed for cattle and goats.

Most supplemental rations specifically made for cattle and goats contain extra copper. You don't need to bolus if you are feeding a dairy cow grain supplement to your goats which contains copper. Most cow dairy ration has copper in it which would be harmful to sheep, but works for goats. I was able to get cow dairy grain ration in bulk from the mill so I fed it instead of the pricier bagged goat grain.

When copper deficiencies were first big news in dairy goats, breeders went crazy about "copper deficiency". Everything from weak kids, not settling when bred, lower milk yields, and even losses in the show ring were blamed copper! Everyone was bolusing their goats. At shows other breeders would condescendingly ask if you had bloused. Others would whisper that it "looked like so-and-so's goats had copper deficiency". Any dead goat was immediately sent in for a necropsy (with rarely a copper deficiency finding). Then it was discovered that the southwest coast states had plenty of copper in the soil and thus in the hay. Furor died down amid much embarrassment.

Before supplementing with anything, you need to know the mineral makeup of your feed.

 

[DellaMyDarling]

I'll try to address all points.

I know nothing about the breeder.

Previous owner, who bought Mama pregnant with Crunchy Goat from breeder, had all testing confirmed negative (CAE, etc.)
Previous owner then only allowed other confirmed clean herd goats onto property (one was to try and breed Mama and Crunchy.)
Other 2 goats on my property, one who came as a deal package with these 2, came from another local breeder, also negative testing.
I presume before I sell any future kids, I will want another round of current tests done for the proof to buyers, but I'm confident in herd being clean.

Parasites are still possible, I'm looking into vets. I do not see any other concerning symptoms however.

I live in copper and selenium deficient region.
Previous owner swore by Replamin, which I cannot find in store anywhere, but I can obviously prove it didn't fix Crunch Goat.
I have once, just recently, given a dose of the Durvet vitamin E and selenium. Less than 2 weeks ago. Says do once a month.

Goats refuse pasture of any kind.
I buy local hay usually, bagged Standlee is a nice back up. Depending how much they'll eat it is how much I supplement with other foods.
Everyone acts starved this past week so I added an alfalfa pellet. Tried alfalfa timothy hay cubes and it made a big expensive waste.
We are experimenting with small scale fodder. A few times a week they've gotten oats sprouted to have several inch green growth.
Only the doe in milk gets grains. I buy grains formulated for lactating goats, so Crunchy doesn't consume a portion.

Crunchy is a yearling.

Her coat is thick, crunchy, coarse, and clearly "faded" (not supposed to be the color it is.)

 

[Baymule]

Crunchy Goat. I really like her name. It has a unique character to it.

 

[DellaMyDarling]

Her real name is June...

Perhaps I should change it. It fits her personality I'm afraid.