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

[Mini-M Ranch]

So, we just got our does on Saturday and so I am generally unfamiliar with goat behavior. We have a doe who is 2 years old. The breeder we got her from says that she might possibly be bred because the buck kept jumping the fence about 3 or 4 weeks ago.

She is a very sweet girl, eats well, drinks well, poops, pees, all that stuff. Her coat is shiny, eyes clear. I noticed her today rolling in the straw on purpose. I mean, rolling all the way over just like when you train a dog to do a trick. I saw her do that at least three times at different times during the day. Then today, my father in law came over to see the goats. Oreo came over and rolled over again. Then she did this weird thing where she got down on her front knees and walked with her back feet to that she looked like a little wheel-barrow. It was funny. We all laughed and then she hopped up looking satisfied, and then went about munching some hay.

The breeder says she had never seen Oreo do tricks or act crazy, but at her place, Oreo was in the middle of the herd. Here, she is already Queen.

Hopefully she is just being a clown, but I don't know if there might be something wrong with her. I thought goats were not supposed to roll over.

 

[freemotion]

You simply must film that and put it on youtube for us!!! Please?

 

[lupinfarm]

That sounds entirely normal to me She's rolling like a horse, stretching out the back muscles, like when you give a good stretch in the morning. I know my girls roll, because they are always covered in HAY! ... My pony will go down for a roll about twice a day, more in the winter because of the blanket, and she'll get a few good full rolls in (managing to roll all the way over front one side to the other) and she is always perkier and happier after. My gelding could never get all the way over, he was just too fat!

 

[trestlecreek]

No, not normal behavior.
Rolling over generally means either they itch so bad(bugs) that they can not stand it or they have a tummy ache. If a goat rolls too much and gets stuck upside down, she will die. I would find out why she is rolling. Have they all been vaccinated? What about their diet?
As far as the walking on the front knee behavior, that can be a sign of CAE(a form of incurable arthritis). It hurts to stand normally, so they surcome to getting down on their knees to relieve the pain. Goats will kneel down on their knees to grab that leaf out from under a fence or to stick their nose way down into something they can not reach, but to do that out in the open for no reason is not normal.

 

[lupinfarm]

*shrug* I thought pretty much all animals rolled to stretch their backs. Ah well, maybe my girls are just messy..

 

[Mini-M Ranch]

No, not normal behavior.
Rolling over generally means either they itch so bad(bugs) that they can not stand it or they have a tummy ache. If a goat rolls too much and gets stuck upside down, she will die. I would find out why she is rolling. Have they all been vaccinated? What about their diet?
As far as the walking on the front knee behavior, that can be a sign of CAE(a form of incurable arthritis). It hurts to stand normally, so they surcome to getting down on their knees to relieve the pain. Goats will kneel down on their knees to grab that leaf out from under a fence or to stick their nose way down into something they can not reach, but to do that out in the open for no reason is not normal.

Well, I do appreciate this response. She is up to date on her vaccinations. She was given Ivermec by the breeder the day we brought her home (9/5). I did notice her scratching her back thigh several times yesterday. It has been SO rainy here and we have a lot of flies, gnats mostly. I did put out fly paper yesterday and sprayed the girls with some homemade fly repellant last night.

A tummy ache is possible. I mean, I tried to get the same grain and hay that she was eating at her former home, but the browse that she has access to is probably different. She is eating 16% pelleted grain from Southern States. She gets 1/3 C in the am and 1/3 C in the pm. Free choice alfalfa hay. Browse is mostly blackberry vines, wild roses and locust tree leaves. Should I give her some baking soda and see if that helps?

As for CAE, the herd she came from has tested negative the last three years (before that, they had not been tested). I don't think it is arthritis because she runs and jumps and climbs and otherwise makes a nuisance of herself, and she stands on her back legs to reach really high leaves.

 

[cmjust0]

I've never seen a goat roll over, and given that it can be very dangerous for them, I wouldn't think they'd really have an instinct to do it. Horses, ya, but horses aren't ruminants...big difference there.

As for the knee walking, the only time I've seen a goat do that for any length of time was earlier this Spring (wet!) when we had one get a little scald between the claws on one of her front feet. Her foot hurt, so she'd walk on her knees and eat.

The external parasite thing makes some sense to me, though...and maybe she was knee-walking to scratch her brisket or something?

Keep an eye on this.. I'm really not sure what to make of it.

 

[broke down ranch]

Knee walking can also be a sign of founder....

 

[ksalvagno]

Do you give them free choice baking soda? They do need that free choice.

Do they have free choice minerals out too? I had read somewhere that goats can be itchy if they are deficient in their minerals. I was a little slow in getting my goats their minerals and I had noticed that they started scratching a lot. I got them their minerals and they stopped. I realize we are talking about rolling here but I thought I would bring it up.

If the goats have lice or mites, it will take more than one Ivomec shot to get rid of them.

 

[Mini-M Ranch]

I have only seen her knee walk once, and that was only about three steps. I don't know if it is cause for alarm...

As for the rolling over, yesterday, she rolled over one time on two (I said three in the OP, but that was a mistype on my part) occassions. The first time, she was sort of going down hill. She laid down and was scratching and I think it was probably an accident. She seemed surprised and hopped up. The other time was when we had visitors. It has just stopped raining and the flies and mosquitos had just come out. I am thinking (hoping) it is all related to unscratchable itches.

I will keep a close eye on her today and see what she does. She is such a funny, sweet girl. I hope everything is okay with her. Here are a few pictures.