Goat's rear end trembling?

[elevan]

I feed bermuda grass hay, a little alfalfa chaffhaye, and some chicken scratch grains (the last bag of goat grain had cottonseed meal in it, which will make a buck infertile, so I cannot feed it to him).

Use caution with the scratch grains that you don't develop a problem with urinary calculi. There are plenty of threads here on the subject to research for more information.

He has a mineral block that he has free access to, but I have not seen him lick it recently - he likes to use it as a climbing structure instead.

Can you get loose minerals? It's really hard for them to get the amount of minerals that they need from the block alone.

Yes, we are dry lotted. There isn't any browse to be found on the property anyway, we didn't get our monsoons this year.

Makes it even more important imo that he get good minerals (loose minerals).

 

[Chickie2378]

Did you scare him coming up on him?

nothing shakes without a reason. Cold and more can easily induce shakes. 40 might be mild or 'very' chilly considering where you live?

Watch and see if it continues. If it does then there is obviously something happening. But your seeing one time shake doesn't mean there is a problem at all.


what is his status as of today?

 

[Fainting goats]

Yesterday, he was at 102.2*F, so that's good. What kind of loose minerals do I get, how do I give it to them (in a bucket/feeder?), and if fed free-choice, will they consume too much? Can I give it to my possibly pregnant does, too?
Tonight will be colder (low is 20 with snow) so we'll see if he shakes again and more if it's colder.

 

[Chickie2378]

they comsume what they need. (not like people who over-consume on a daily basis )

when you took his temp today was he shaking at all? maybe it was 'one of those things' and it is passed.


I give everything free choice. I have a PVC pipe in a J shape. Open one end for licking, other end is capped where I pour in loose minerals. I put it head high so usually they can't poop in it and it self feeds itself.

I also have one for baking soda etc.

 

[elevan]

Yesterday, he was at 102.2*F, so that's good. What kind of loose minerals do I get, how do I give it to them (in a bucket/feeder?), and if fed free-choice, will they consume too much? Can I give it to my possibly pregnant does, too?
Tonight will be colder (low is 20 with snow) so we'll see if he shakes again and more if it's colder.

I feed free choice and they take what they need as they need it. I use open top mineral feeders...like this one . And put one cup of mineral in it and refill as needed. If it gets hard then I'll break it up and add a little bit of fresh to fake them out that it's all fresh.

Where to get it and what: Feed store. Tractor Supply sells Manna Pro which is good but is only a small bag. I used to use it. Now I get Sweetlix 16:8 from the feed store.

 

[Chickie2378]

I used those 'more open types' of feeders. The bigger to opening no matter how high, poop finds a way. Which always amazed me.



I realized I must make tongue section smaller and put higher, like let them stand on a concrete block to access and times are better for me on use, contamination and waste.

of course depending on goat herd size.

When I had 120 boer goats in rotation it was imperative to keep it simple and contamination free.

 

[Fainting goats]

Okay, we have a mineral feeder. We'll have to get one more. I have not seen him shake since the first time, and he acts fine now too. I will still get after his hooves as soon as most of the snow melts (Wednesday - Friday?) and see what happens. Right now we have an inch or two of snow, but he and his wether friend seem fine. They just lie down next to each other, happy as clams. My doe was eating snow - her waterer had a thin, weak layer of ice on it, but it wasn't too much. Will the snow hurt her? Thank you!

 

[elevan]

The snow won't hurt her. But you should remove the ice layer on her water for her...they won't do it themselves.

 

[Fainting goats]

Okay...Here's an update:
I have not seen anymore shaking, but his tail has been down the past few days. He is still acting healthy, but he also does not stand up straight. (See pic). Normally, his tail is more down than in the picture, but he is always looking like he's hunched up or crouching. What could this be about? Would letting him out to run around help the situation? We separated him from his wether friend (Anakin) because he kept butting him over for his food (Anakin has a myotonic degree of 6 and faints at everything, and the buck (Nick) has one of about 0 and never stiffens, so Anakin didn't have a chance against Nick). Nick also has not grown in any cashmere. All the other goats have thick cashmere coats. His mother didn't have much cashmere in the winter either, so it might just be hereditary. The snow is all gone, and we aren't really freezing here, even at night.
We're off to the feed store, and will look at loose minerals there.

This is Nick last week.

 

[ksalvagno]

What are you feeding? What kind of hay do you use? What mineral are you buying? Are vaccinations up to date? Has he had a BoSe shot? When was the last time a fecal was done?