Have they been vaccinated?
There are a million things that can kill a goat....enterotoxemia being one.
http://www.goatworld.com/articles/enterotoxemia/enterotoxemia2.shtml
"Enterotoxemia is one of the very important diseases and in some areas it is the most prevalent disease of goats. Despite the fact that it is also called ''Overeating Disease'' it is not caused by overeating. Actually, the cause (etiology) of the disease is the toxin (poison) produced by the bacterium Clostridium perfringens type C or type D.
The bacteria are normally present in the soil and the intestinal tract in relatively small numbers. Under certain conditions the organisms proliferate (reproduce billions of their own kind) in the intestine and produce toxin in lethal quantities. These conditions are those which (1) provide an ideal environment and food for bacterial proliferation and (2) slow down the normal movement of material through the intestinal tract; they are often satisfied by ingesting large amounts of starch when the intestinal tract is not accustomed to it. The disease is often associated with lush fast growing pasture or cereal crops, heavy grain feeding or access to a lot of milk. Illnesses which slow down the intestinal tract, may predispose to the accumulation of dangerous quantities of the toxin.
The Acute course of disease lasts 4-26 hours and usually ends in death. Initially the temperature may go to 105F with severe abdominal pain (the kid cries so loudly it is best described as screaming). Profuse slimy or water diarrhea will occur. Depression, wobbly gait, recumbancy (lying down on side often with head down) occur early. Convulsions often occur intermittently and may be accompanied by continuous or intermittent opisthotonos (head thrown straight over back). The animal may slip into a coma before death or die groaning or even crying. These signs occur in kids but can occur in adult milking goats from either Type C or D bacteria."
Even if they have been vaccinated, that doesn't 100% guarantee protection. Some producers vaccinate 2x a year to increase protection.
Keep in mind that in an already weak / compromised goat, such as one carrying a heavy worm or cocci load, that any opportunistic bug can kill.
A goat who is grinding it's teeth is in pain / distress and you need to act FAST to find out what the cause is.
Things like Milk of Mag., probios, nutri drench, etc. are like bandaids.
They will not "fix" a problem if there is one, and while they will help, they sometimes help to mask other symptoms.
I try to always find out (as well as I can) what the real issue is - disease, parasite, injury, etc. - before treating because bandaids can mask other symptoms and give a false sense of security.
If I have a goat that is "down", with a temp, the *first* thing I do is hit it w/ a shot of Pen G or Nuflor (depending on the symptoms). I may also give a B shot (always a good idea) and will drench fluids or offer pain / fever reducer meds but if I suspect it's got something to do w/ the stomach, the last thing I want to do is put a bunch of extra foreign stuff down it's throat to complicate the issue and further aggravate the gut. Probiotics would be about as far as I'd go, unless it's an issue where baking soda would help (bloat). I give the antibiotic time to work and when I see improvement, *then* I'll try more 'bandaids' if I think they will help give the goat comfort.
Masking the symptoms and further upsetting the gut generally make things worse, is my point.
In reference to your question about so many local goats dying lately....
It's been my experience that when a producer loses a lot of goats at the same time, it's typically:
A) dietary - they got into something poisonous or overate something they shouldn't have had access to.
B) disease - some producers don't vaccinate (and will say, "We never have and have never had a problem." but that's just it...nobody ever has a problem until they do, if you know what I mean...) and when the right conditions happen for enterotoxemia to 'bloom'...they find out that vaccinating ain't such a bad idea afterall. Nursing a goat through tetanus (or more commonly, losing one to it) is usually all it takes to convince producers that CDT vaccinations are worthwhile.
C) parasites - again, some producers, esp. new ones, don't "know" that worms can kill as quickly as they do. If you don't keep up on herd health checks (coat condition, eyelid color, fecals, etc.) you can 'suddenly' find several very sick / dying goats... A cocci bloom can wipe out an entire kid crop.
Then there are the other more rare but relevant factors like vitamin and / or mineral deficiency (Goat polio or white muscle disease), scary diseases like listeriosis, tetanus, lepto, and less common parasites (lung worm, liver fluke, meningeal worm).
With kids, you have to always keep coccidia in the back of your mind, along w/ worms and diseases.
This is in no way meant as a 'you should have' or 'you were wrong to' post where I'm blaming you. I learned all this stuff the hard way myself, and lost goats when I was learning. I have lost 3 this past year to various ailments, goats are an ongoing learning process where you can never know everything and have to keep a constant watch on them / their behavior to stay ahead of the game.
I'm sorry you're going through this, I really am.
