Just got some skinny goats

[Southern by choice]

I'll look for it, it would be nice to have all that on hand even if she isn't testing positive.

Excellent!
We always keep a pack on hand and usually it goes unused in the trash because of expiration date. We use a different product for prevention so cocci the disease hasn't been an issue.

I was happy to have it on hand this year when 2 kid goats came in... due to stress, weaning and castration they had a major bloom! They were on preventative on their farm. So glad we had it.

Sadly many goats don't show symptoms til they are on deaths door and then it is a mad scramble to find the things you need and often too late!

 

[Goat Whisperer]

Stocking the goat medicine cabinet is good!

Be sure to research the proper dosage for all the meds you get. Good luck finding the di-methox sadly it is pretty much on back order everywhere. There was a huge shortage a while back ( might have been in 2015- it's been a while!) and I haven't been able to find it online or local. I was just looking for some for a client and still couldn't find it.

Research all you can. Having the right eye and knowing when to give the proper meds (under a vets supervision) is something you generally learn after having goats for a while. Waiting to treat until you see symptoms of cocci can be deadly. They don't always scour, but when they do you won't have much time. Sometimes irreversible damage has already been done, sometime a big die off of cocci kills the goat, sometimes the intestinal lining is expelled, sometimes they recover, other times they don't.

This is why I like the fecal analysis.

You are less likely to come home to a dead goat. Treating at the right times before they act sick can doesn't put as much stress on the goat. When the goats immune system isn't so stressed from things like cocci, it is less prone to secondary issues.

I know of someone's wether that got a bad case of cocci this year, right after that the goat almost died of secondary issues due to a lowered immune system.

You saw how fast you other goat went down, you had no time. This isn't to criticize you, this is looking at how fast things can go downhill.

Maybe I'm more proactive than others, but I don't like waiting until a goat is on deaths door.

Good luck with your other girl
Please keep us posted

 

[Green Acres Farm]

@Southern by choice the reason I said that about the copper and selenium supplements was because you said:

Depending on your region and where they have come from they may need additional supplementation.

What I said was reccomemded by my vet and other more experienced goat owners than myself. I was not trying to imply that that was something that needed to be done ASAP. I'm sorry if I misinformed anyone.

 

[JenniferDuBay]

Stocking the goat medicine cabinet is good!

Be sure to research the proper dosage for all the meds you get. Good luck finding the di-methox sadly it is pretty much on back order everywhere. There was a huge shortage a while back ( might have been in 2015- it's been a while!) and I haven't been able to find it online or local. I was just looking for some for a client and still couldn't find it.

Research all you can. Having the right eye and knowing when to give the proper meds (under a vets supervision) is something you generally learn after having goats for a while. Waiting to treat until you see symptoms of cocci can be deadly. They don't always scour, but when they do you won't have much time. Sometimes irreversible damage has already been done, sometime a big die off of cocci kills the goat, sometimes the intestinal lining is expelled, sometimes they recover, other times they don't.

This is why I like the fecal analysis.

You are less likely to come home to a dead goat. Treating at the right times before they act sick can doesn't put as much stress on the goat. When the goats immune system isn't so stressed from things like cocci, it is less prone to secondary issues.

I know of someone's wether that got a bad case of cocci this year, right after that the goat almost died of secondary issues due to a lowered immune system.

You saw how fast you other goat went down, you had no time. This isn't to criticize you, this is looking at how fast things can go downhill.

Maybe I'm more proactive than others, but I don't like waiting until a goat is on deaths door.

Good luck with your other girl
Please keep us posted

So you fecal analysis on a preventative basis? How often do you perform the test? And coming home to a not-dead goat would be ideal. I didn't even get to name her. We were talking about lulubelle.

 

[babsbag]

@Goat Whisperer it looks like Valley Vet might have the di-methox in stock.

 

[babsbag]

Most people that live in a worm problem area will test 2-4 times a year depending on their environment. If you test and find nothing then you can maybe even do once a year. You will learn what works at your farm. Checking the eyelids is quick and lets you know if the "killers" are on the loose. i.e. Barber Pole worm, liver flukes, Brown stomach worms.

I don't have a worm problem (super hot and dry) so I test randomly once a year. Or if I see a goat that has a poor coat or scours I will check them too.

 

[Southern by choice]

You know as i read through the post I am very moved.

This really is an awesome community! Each person has added and given valuable info.

@JenniferDuBay We know this is tough on you! If anything, at least you know you have so many "strangers" that care. We are goat people and goat folks are a little "different".

You have been thrown into the goat world under less than ideal circumstances. We are all pulling for you and your new girl.

Looking back you received such a great deal of info and wow that can be a lot.

I'll post a little on the prevention side maybe in another thread.

Breathe!

 

[Goat Whisperer]

@Goat Whisperer it looks like Valley Vet might have the di-methox in stock.

Nope, still not in stock. Just checked again. You got me all excited though- I was really hoping they had it! I've been looking constantly. Thankfully we have the toltrazuirl, but I've been looking for others.

@JenniferDuBay
We own a scope and run our own fecals, using the McMasters method.

We run a several fecals a few weeks apart on any new goats we bring in. We want to catch any parasite bloom before we have a sick or dead goat.

We run a fecal before breeding does and after kidding. Kidding generally causes a parasite bloom.

We run a fecals on kids periodically on kids to check for parasites and cocci.

We run fecals whenever we suspect a problem. We know our goats pretty well and can usually tell if they are starting to get wormy.

If we know a hoat in particular is having problems of any kind we check the fecal.

More later

 

[JenniferDuBay]

Also update: girlfriend brought home a scale for me. Took me a while to figure out how to weigh her. I was like coaxing her up on some plywood and then trying to bribe her into staying... herding goats is like herding cats. I finally figured out I stand on the scale, and lift her. It worked great!

In a completely unrelated note, when you pick up a goat, they poop on you.


Truly you don't own an animal until it poops on you.

Anyway, I had an idea, if being friendly is related to being bottle fed, I thought maybe I could dose her with the worming agent in a bottle. So I put the meds and about 2 oz of water in a bottle, and gave it to her. She tried to drink, but wasn't getting anywhere. Then I figured the hole was probably too small, so I cut it, and DING DING DING! We have a bottle baby.

 

[babsbag]

How fun is that. Once a bottle baby always a bottle baby. I have had the does take bottles at a year old. I still think that she is very young.