babsbag
Herd Master
What a week.
Let me say first that this is my first and favorite goat, that I knew the dangers and the treatment, and that I preach "never let the goats into the grain/chicken feed/supplements/etc." Now I can preach it more loudly.
On July 4th I was getting ready to milk and Moonpie is always first. I let her into the barn area and then decided I need to muck some hay out of the gate area as it wouldn't close and the other goats were being pushy. I spent 10 min. max doing this chore while Moonpie patiently waited to be milked AND helped herself to quite a bit of Calf Manna, a high protein supplement...28% protein. She then jumped on the stand and had her normal ration of grain. That evening she did not come to the feeder for dinner.
July 5. She wouldn't eat breakfast. OH OH. I brought her out of the field and did a temp, normal which was good. She would not be tempted by alfalfa, beet pulp, or BOSS; I wouldn't give her much of those last two but wanted to check her appetite level. She would eat oak leaves and blackberry vines. That evening no change; temp was still normal and she was pooping dog logs. I drenched her with some beer to jump start the rumen and gave her some probiotics.
July 6. No change except now she not interested in ANY food at all. She licked at some kelp and some salt blocks. I gave her some more beer, some pepto bismol, a shot of vitamin B, some probiotics, and some baking soda. She would not look at any food... nectarines, squash, alfalfa, tree branches, tomatoes, nothing. I could here her rumen slosh when I pushed on her side, but no rumen sounds.
July 7. Really expected her to be dead. She would hang out with the herd and was alert, but wouldn't eat. I walked her around the property and she would sniff at weeds and trees and nipple here and there but not really eat. She now had toothpaste consistency poop and her urine was red, I assumed blood. She would however drink water and quite a bit of it. I gave her a dose of SMZ TMP as I happen to have some pills for me, just in case she had a bladder or kidney infection.
July 8. No change except urine was not as red. I called the vet and got ready to take her in but the vet was swamped and just told me what to do next to treat her. I did take in a urine and stool sample and there was no blood in the urine, just super concentrated. The stool just smelled sour from the acid overload in her rumen. I was told that a goat's rumen is about 5 gallons and that in order to "fix" her I needed to buffer the acidity caused by the grain overload and that a little dose of baking soda or pepto wasn't going to do it. I needed to drench her with 1/2 cup of baking soda in 1 GALLON of water !!!! Are you kidding me. Another suggestion was a calf bolus called Laxaid and she would need those dissolved in water and given two a day. Also I needed to stop the B complex and do just thiamine and continue the probiotics. She hates that stuff. Oh let the fun times begin.
I dissolved a bolus in a bottle of water and I drenched her using a 60 cc syringe; It took about 7-8 syringes full. Moonpie is a BIG goat, probably about 170lbs and even after 7 days of not eating she could fight. Good thing the girl has a beard as that is how I held her while I drenched her. Fortunately she seemed to like the taste just not the process.
July 9. She acted interested in some dried leaves and she sniffed the Alfalfa. She ate some watermelon, she went out with the herd and browsed and I saw her eat dry leaves and poison oak. I drenched her with another bolus. Tonight she actually pushed a herd mate out of her way to get to the hay, but she didn't eat much but I am hopeful.
For anyone that has this happen, don't wait as long as I did to talk to the vet. I knew the risks and really thought she would pull out of this sooner. This is always one of the emergency first aid topics at our Goat Educatin Day; it can kill them. If she is not 100% by tomorrow afternoon she will go to the vet and she will tube her and do a major dose of fluid and magna lax. The vet is also on standby for me for the weekend, it helps that she is a friend as well. I was doing the right treatments, just not in large enough quantities. Another thing that is sometimes added to the treatment is Pen G to kill any harmful bacteria growing in the rumen.
Tonight I will do another bolus, some probiotics and listen for rumen sounds.
BTW, the beer needs to Heffenweizer. It has a microbe in it that is very similar to that of a goat rumen. I knew there was a reason I hate beer. Could you just see that on my tax return...beer...for the goat.
I will be storing grain in cans from now on, not on the barn floor in bags
Let me say first that this is my first and favorite goat, that I knew the dangers and the treatment, and that I preach "never let the goats into the grain/chicken feed/supplements/etc." Now I can preach it more loudly.
On July 4th I was getting ready to milk and Moonpie is always first. I let her into the barn area and then decided I need to muck some hay out of the gate area as it wouldn't close and the other goats were being pushy. I spent 10 min. max doing this chore while Moonpie patiently waited to be milked AND helped herself to quite a bit of Calf Manna, a high protein supplement...28% protein. She then jumped on the stand and had her normal ration of grain. That evening she did not come to the feeder for dinner.
July 5. She wouldn't eat breakfast. OH OH. I brought her out of the field and did a temp, normal which was good. She would not be tempted by alfalfa, beet pulp, or BOSS; I wouldn't give her much of those last two but wanted to check her appetite level. She would eat oak leaves and blackberry vines. That evening no change; temp was still normal and she was pooping dog logs. I drenched her with some beer to jump start the rumen and gave her some probiotics.
July 6. No change except now she not interested in ANY food at all. She licked at some kelp and some salt blocks. I gave her some more beer, some pepto bismol, a shot of vitamin B, some probiotics, and some baking soda. She would not look at any food... nectarines, squash, alfalfa, tree branches, tomatoes, nothing. I could here her rumen slosh when I pushed on her side, but no rumen sounds.
July 7. Really expected her to be dead. She would hang out with the herd and was alert, but wouldn't eat. I walked her around the property and she would sniff at weeds and trees and nipple here and there but not really eat. She now had toothpaste consistency poop and her urine was red, I assumed blood. She would however drink water and quite a bit of it. I gave her a dose of SMZ TMP as I happen to have some pills for me, just in case she had a bladder or kidney infection.
July 8. No change except urine was not as red. I called the vet and got ready to take her in but the vet was swamped and just told me what to do next to treat her. I did take in a urine and stool sample and there was no blood in the urine, just super concentrated. The stool just smelled sour from the acid overload in her rumen. I was told that a goat's rumen is about 5 gallons and that in order to "fix" her I needed to buffer the acidity caused by the grain overload and that a little dose of baking soda or pepto wasn't going to do it. I needed to drench her with 1/2 cup of baking soda in 1 GALLON of water !!!! Are you kidding me. Another suggestion was a calf bolus called Laxaid and she would need those dissolved in water and given two a day. Also I needed to stop the B complex and do just thiamine and continue the probiotics. She hates that stuff. Oh let the fun times begin.
I dissolved a bolus in a bottle of water and I drenched her using a 60 cc syringe; It took about 7-8 syringes full. Moonpie is a BIG goat, probably about 170lbs and even after 7 days of not eating she could fight. Good thing the girl has a beard as that is how I held her while I drenched her. Fortunately she seemed to like the taste just not the process.
July 9. She acted interested in some dried leaves and she sniffed the Alfalfa. She ate some watermelon, she went out with the herd and browsed and I saw her eat dry leaves and poison oak. I drenched her with another bolus. Tonight she actually pushed a herd mate out of her way to get to the hay, but she didn't eat much but I am hopeful.
For anyone that has this happen, don't wait as long as I did to talk to the vet. I knew the risks and really thought she would pull out of this sooner. This is always one of the emergency first aid topics at our Goat Educatin Day; it can kill them. If she is not 100% by tomorrow afternoon she will go to the vet and she will tube her and do a major dose of fluid and magna lax. The vet is also on standby for me for the weekend, it helps that she is a friend as well. I was doing the right treatments, just not in large enough quantities. Another thing that is sometimes added to the treatment is Pen G to kill any harmful bacteria growing in the rumen.
Tonight I will do another bolus, some probiotics and listen for rumen sounds.
BTW, the beer needs to Heffenweizer. It has a microbe in it that is very similar to that of a goat rumen. I knew there was a reason I hate beer. Could you just see that on my tax return...beer...for the goat.
I will be storing grain in cans from now on, not on the barn floor in bags
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Never thought I would be happy to see a goat burp.
