Doe rolling over on purpose and other weird tricks...

[broke down ranch]

Oh yeah!! Horses gets colic like goats get bloat.
Rolling is one of the first signs...

People probably like to see horses rolling , but it's not good when they roll all the way over.... horses that are stalled can get down like that with colic and they can not get them up,.... the rolling turns into thrashing and then you have other problems,....most horse people are on colic like us goat people watch for bloat.....

I have to disagree. My husband owned horses for several years and says rolling is not a sign of colic. Not pooping and trying to lay down (not rolling over, just laying down) and unwilling to get up IS. Rolling completely over is just their way to try and scratch their back where they normally can't reach. Most horses that do NOT roll all the way over usually can't because they are too old or too fat.... I can't count how many horses I have seen on their back wiggling around trying to get a good scratch then they stand up, give a real good shake, and go back to grazing.

Which is probably all this goat was trying to do - get a good scratching. I can't count how many times I've had an itch in the middle of my back and had to use the wall to get it. Every living creature gets an itch sometimes in a spot it can't reach....

 

[lupinfarm]

Rolling is NOT sign of colic in horses. Rolling constantly, sitting on their bum, lying down for hours, not pooping or passing gas (and actually, there is a type of colic that has a symptom of passing gas a lot lol) are signs of colic. There are MANY different types of colic. Horses that roll daily, or every other day are NORMAL, rolling stretches out the back muscles in a horse. Wouldn't you want to roll if you were standing up all day carrying 900+lbs of weight? My pony will down for periods of time, in the winter especially she'll find a good spot and hunker down, or in the summer she will sun herself by lying flat on her side.

She has never colicked to the best of my knowledge, is on pasture 24/7 365 and gets 4 cups of Purina Horse Chow a day plus free choice hay when the pasture is low.

 

[cmjust0]

So, I found this .. Kinda makes it sound like rolling over on it's back isn't something a goat should ever want to do..

It makes sense, when you think about it.. A full rumen would be heavy...when the goat flips over, the contents invert and take the center of gravity down with them.. I can totally see how a flipped goat -- or any ruminant -- would have an extraordinarily difficult time righting themselves, given that they'd probably have to get those rumen contents sloshing enough to shift the center of gravity again..

I mean...seems like the rumen would turn them into something akin to a weeble-wobble once they got on their back...right?

 

[ksalvagno]

Do goats have problems with uterine torsion?

In late gestation alpacas, rolling a lot usually means they have a uterine torsion.

Alpacas love to roll in the dust. They usually don't roll completely over but every once in a while they will.

 

[freemotion]

Oh yeah!! Horses gets colic like goats get bloat.
Rolling is one of the first signs...

People probably like to see horses rolling , but it's not good when they roll all the way over.... horses that are stalled can get down like that with colic and they can not get them up,.... the rolling turns into thrashing and then you have other problems,....most horse people are on colic like us goat people watch for bloat.....

Well, I hope that is true, because colic is extremely rare in well-kept horses. I managed a show stable for 10 years and saw colic twice...once as a reaction to a med, and once, mildly, in a mare who couldn't eat enough to support nursing her four-month-old large colt, who I ended up weaning earlier than I liked to for the sake of the mare.

There is an old saying that when a horse gets down to roll, he is worth $500 for each time he goes completely over. That saying I heard about 30 years ago, so with inflation....

When a horse rolls completely over in a confined space, it can end up with it's legs folded against its body and then it is unable to straighten them to rise. This is called getting "cast." This is dangerous because a horse cannot stay down for long, even when sleeping. Since in nature they are prey animals, they panic if they cannot get up, and will struggle and fight, and with their strength and size, can cause themselves serious injury in the struggle.

I learned a few weeks ago about goats getting cast and the impact on the rumen. Not a good thing at all. To be avoided at all costs! My doeling was fine in the end, but she gave us a good scare.

 

[trestlecreek]

Yes, (on Oreo), if she were here, I would re-Ivomec 14 days from the last dose.
You can put fly spray on her to help keep the flys off.
A would bargain more for a fungal infection rather than a mineral deficiency..... your minerals are fine. You can get a shampoo with Chorohexadine to combat many skin conditions....

As far as the rolling in goats, yes, torsion can be a problem.

As far as rolling w/horses,...guess we'll all have to disagree on that. I know many whom had horses for years and all of them would never want to see a horse roll all the way around..... I've taken many LA classes as well and all material of which point rolling as being a sign in the wrong direction....

 

[username taken]

oh good grief!

let the animals be animals, let them roll, scratch their back and dust bath!

That doe is the picture of health, look at that shiny hair, albeit she is a bit thin.

Goats will roll over, twist and carry on, sunbake and generally enjoy themselves. Its normal, and shows they are enjoying themselves. Getting cast is not a common problem, and occurs most in heavy pregnant does as they just cannot move their sheer bulk. Similarly, LDA (left displaced abomasum) is VERY rare in goats.

As far as CAE is concerned, tc you have it backwards. CAE affected animals find it PAINFUL to be on their knees, so they spend more time standing. One of the first signs is that they lose the bald patch on their knees which healthy goats have from laying down, because they avoid bearing weight on their knees at all costs.

The kneeling while grazing can be indicative of a hoof problem, or it can simply be a quirk of that particular animal, especially if she is not doing it all the time. My girls get on their knees because they think they can reach further through the fence that way, and the silly buggers will sometimes do it even when they are not reaching through the fence.

 

[lupinfarm]

It's not ideal for a horse to roll in a small area, stall, close to a fence because they can become cast easily and seriously injure themselves, however, This article is informative, and infact says that " The way a horse rolls is an indicator of its health. A healthy horse with a good, strong back will vigorously roll from one side to the other without standing up first. "

Another article I came across stated that if your horse has a history of colic or if colic is a potential risk factor for you (and for quite a lot of horse owners, it is not), then a roll can be deadly in that they land too harshly on their side and this can cause the gas to ... well... explode in a sense.

My pony ain't dead yet, she's healthy, happy, rolls all the time, and isn't colicky or foundery.

 

[bheila]

Every time I change the shavings in the goat shed one of my does LOVES to get down and walk around on her front knees. My guess is she's spreading her scent around and loving the smell of the new shavings. Yesterday when I changed the shavings she actually got down and almost rolled over, she was all the way on her back but didn't complete the roll. She just loves the clean shavings that much.

 

[kimmyh]

Yep, horses should not roll all the way over either.....side to side occasionally, but if they are making full roll overs, something is wrong.

I don't know that much about horses, really, but I was always told that a horse was worth $100 for each time it could roll completely over.

Never have I heard someone say that a horse rolling over was a bad thing.

LOL That $100.00 thing is what I heard when I was little. The only part of it that seems to be true, is a well coordinated horse seems to be be able to go back and forth. Less coordinated horses have to get up and lay down again. I hate seeing a horse roll, they can twist a gut in short order.