Goat hairloss thinning/very thick fuzzy undercoat

[heidi smith]

Talked to the vet today and he wants me t

The cashmere is sure soft isn't it? I have one that has a thick undercoat like that. I guess that under coat is worth some money if you had a way to "harvest" it.

I use the multi-min 90 on my goats but I know that I have a selenium and copper problem even with loose minerals. I see a vast improvement in the coat when I do the shots but it doesn't last long, maybe 4 months. Just be sure when you give the shot that you tent the skin well and get it under all of the layers of skin. I suck at giving shots and when my friend did my herd no problems, when I did it I got a lot of injection site abscesses as I evidently got between the skin layers and not under. The stuff stings like crazy too so hold on tight.

You may think about having your vet draw blood and get a mineral analysis done. Copper is best tested for in the liver which you can't do in a live animal, but the blood levels will give you some idea of overall copper levels and they can test for the other ok. I would hate to be giving shots if she is just shedding.

It is good that you are getting a fecal done as it is nice to know what to treat for specifically.

I talked to a vet this morning. He wants me to use the multi-min 90 and put out the loose mineral. He said he doesn't think she has a problem with cocci because she otherwise looks really healthy. I am going to put out the loose mineral tonight and make sure i see her eating it lol. He said check eyelids to make sure she isn't pale and i did and they are fine i am also going to dust all of them and the chickens lol

 

[heidi smith]

The cashmere is sure soft isn't it? I have one that has a thick undercoat like that. I guess that under coat is worth some money if you had a way to "harvest" it.

I use the multi-min 90 on my goats but I know that I have a selenium and copper problem even with loose minerals. I see a vast improvement in the coat when I do the shots but it doesn't last long, maybe 4 months. Just be sure when you give the shot that you tent the skin well and get it under all of the layers of skin. I suck at giving shots and when my friend did my herd no problems, when I did it I got a lot of injection site abscesses as I evidently got between the skin layers and not under. The stuff stings like crazy too so hold on tight.

You may think about having your vet draw blood and get a mineral analysis done. Copper is best tested for in the liver which you can't do in a live animal, but the blood levels will give you some idea of overall copper levels and they can test for the other ok. I would hate to be giving shots if she is just shedding.

It is good that you are getting a fecal done as it is nice to know what to treat for specifically.

We are actually in an area that is very deficient in copper so i was planning giving them their shots anyway was just waiting for a friend to help. Its pretty standard around here to make sure they have it. I suck at shots so i tend to put it off. If i don't see an improvement the vet said he would come out and take a look at her thanks for all the advice.

 

[babsbag]

Do a lot of people in your area use the Multi-min for goats? I know many goat keepers around me and as far as I know I am the only one that uses multi-min. The copper boluses are impossible to get down and I have 40+ goats...shots are much quicker.

 

[heidi smith]

Do a lot of people in your area use the Multi-min for goats? I know many goat keepers around me and as far as I know I am the only one that uses multi-min. The copper boluses are impossible to get down and I have 40+ goats...shots are much quicker.

yes ive been asking around and almost all of the goat people here use it. Some do straight copper bolus but I'm chicken to do that lol

 

[heidi smith]

Looks like she is just shedding out. Kind of off season but that "fuzz" is common in fainters. Kind of feels super soft like cashmere?

Several of our Kiko does develop a thick lush coat and then change of season causes a shed out. That white soft fluff underneath sheds out leaving the course outer coat yet the outer coat does shed too. They get real slick shiny coats AFTER this fluff shed. Now that we are going into fall their coats will start to develop that thick undercoat.

How old is the doe? Seems wrong time of year but looks just like that cashmere like fluff. On our Kiko bucks it comes off in "sheets".

She is 6 months old. i bet she has a good inch or 2 of fluff and its super thick... can goats at this age change their hairtype? the only thing she is loosing is the outer longer hair not the inner coat.

 

[heidi smith]

Fainters and myotonic goats have different coats. That soft silky spun fluff underneath feels like cashmere. I will see if I can get a pic of one of ours.

Depending on the goat and age she could just be shedding off baby fur. Yes, wrong time of year in one way but also depends on when she was born.
Right now all my dogs are losing their summer coats and shedding up a storm to bring in winter coats.

@babs look at the sheen on the rest of her... I'm not thinking mineral issues... or like you said no evidence of mite issues.

I'm wondering if that's whats happening the fluff is super thick and soft.. i bet there is a good 1 to 2 inches of it. she is only losing the long outer hair.

 

[heidi smith]

Here is what I decided to do.. I switched back to loose mineral which they like better. I also dusted everyone since i hadn't done it yet. I checked Tilly's eyes to make sure she isn't pale and they look great. It is the time of year to worm so i will do that next week. I did check with a vet in our area and sent pictures. He wanted me to to give a shot of multi-min 90 because our area tends to be very deficient in copper. I have since found out that most of the goat people in our area do this 2 times a yr. so we will do everyone next week when we worm.. The vet also stated that she could be shedding her baby coat but he wanted to ensure that we have the mineral issue taken care of first just so we didn't miss anything.. I am going to keep a close eye on her and see how she looks in the next few weeks. If things dont change he is gong to come to the house. thanks for all the advise

 

[Southern by choice]

I must have misread I thought it was the fluff coming out.
If the long hairs are shedding then she is probably just getting ready for the fall/winter.

But I think it is great you are covering all the bases!

I use PADDL to do mineral analysis sampling. It is great!

I need to do that this year but I just did CAE, CL, Johnes and I have ALOT of goats so the analysis is just not in the budget. I do a sampling of goats but my sampling would be about 7 goats this year and ... well... just not happening right now.

 

[Southern by choice]

Oh... I was trying to find some pics... I looked through about 300 and thought wellllllllllllllll I have thousands of pics and they are not organized. If I come across one I'll post it.

 

[heidi smith]

I must have misread I thought it was the fluff coming out.
If the long hairs are shedding then she is probably just getting ready for the fall/winter.

But I think it is great you are covering all the bases!

I use PADDL to do mineral analysis sampling. It is great!

I need to do that this year but I just did CAE, CL, Johnes and I have ALOT of goats so the analysis is just not in the budget. I do a sampling of goats but my sampling would be about 7 goats this year and ... well... just not happening right now.

Yes its her long outer coat that's very thin and and you can see thru to the thick thick undercoat. she is my baby i bottle fed her from 3 days lol so she is incredibly spoiled haha