Lethargic doe with runny poop now has teats!

[schmije]

We bought Ethel, a boer goat, with another mom & kid in March. She was born in spring 2013 and lived with a buck until we got her. The previous owner assumed she was pregnant, but did not have a date, and he was confident that she'd kid by the end of April if she was going to. Nothing happened, so we assumed she wasn't pregnant.

This morning I noticed she just wanted to lay around and didn't approach me like normal. I checked her out and saw what looks like runny poop stuck to her back side, and then I saw teats! I'd be thrilled to have a kid, but I'm worried about the runny poop. We wormed her 3 weeks ago, and she seemed normal until today. Should I be doing something for her? These are our first goats, so this is all new to us.

One thing to note is that she got into the chicken coop yesterday and ate a bunch of their feed before I caught her. Could this cause the poop problem?

 

[WhiteMountainsRanch]

The chicken feed can absolutely cause diarrhea. It can also bloat them very easily. I would give her a ton of probiotics and hay and water only. As long as she isn't bloating and up to date on her vaccines (as long as this is what is wrong with her) she should be fine.

Also since you now see teats it's probably safe to assume she is pregnant so you need to give her her CD&T vaccine, BOSE shot and deworm and giver her a cocci treatment. In addition to those items I also trim all the hooves, shave the udder and rear end, and give a dose of vitamin b in preparation for them kidding.

 

[schmije]

Thanks for the info. I've seen her drink several times today, but she's barely nibbled on anything in the yard. We'd given up on her being pregnant, so this is a pretty exciting development!

 

[goats&moregoats]

might not have been runny poop. could have been her mucus plug. just a suggestion

 

[schmije]

She seems to be feeling better today. She isn't laying around, and she's out in the pasture with the others. I'm curious - once you see the teats, how long before her udder drops, and then the kid?

 

[goats&moregoats]

varies, never the same with any two does and may even be different with the same doe at varies points.