I got a goat today at a yardsale for free, shes a doe and on the skinnier side. I can feel and see her back bone and back hip bones. Shes got a hard big belly and im not sure how to tell if shes pregnet. I gave her some grain and she took a couple bites then started foaming at the mouth and puked it all back up can anyone give me some advice??? Please and thank you
New goat and scared!!!
- Thread starter brandylyn
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CochinBrahmaLover=)
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Sounds like she was choking.
Take some blood or nannyberries (poo) to the vet (both best) and find out if she has worms, CAE, CL, etc. Or just take the whole goat to the vet.
Let her graze on a little forage but not too much, and if you want to know if shes preggo send some blood in via biotracking
best of luck with her, try and get her a buddy!
Take some blood or nannyberries (poo) to the vet (both best) and find out if she has worms, CAE, CL, etc. Or just take the whole goat to the vet.
Let her graze on a little forage but not too much, and if you want to know if shes preggo send some blood in via biotracking
best of luck with her, try and get her a buddy!
TGreenhut
Loving the herd life
If she is thin and she has a large, firm potbelly, then she probably has a heavy worm load. Definately get her fecal tested and treat for the worms ASAP!
20kidsonhill
True BYH Addict
being bony with a hard belly is also a sign of protein deficiency and poor diet, Like a starving child with a big belly. I would start by offering good quaility hay and slowly get her on goat grain. No more than 1/2 cup the first few days and going up 1/2 cup every few days, until she is eating as much as she wants twice a day. I gues the question would be is she a young doe or a really old doe or somewhere in between. Age will determin how you handle her. You can tell age after a year old by looking at her teeth, be careful of the back morals, they will hurt if you get your fingers in to far. http://www.ansci.cornell.edu/4H/meatgoats/meatgoatfs11.htm
Weigh her. You can always weigh yourself on the bathroom scale, then hold her and weigh both of you, then subtract the difference.
I would determin if she needs to be wormed. In her condition, I am not sure you want to just guess at wormers. If you aren't able to do a fecal then I would start with Safegaurd wormer, and worm her 3 days in a row and then again in 14 days. Use 3 x the dosage on the bottle and give it orally. Safegaurd is a pretty gentle wormer, not the strongest or best on the market, You wouldn't want to start with the best wormer, it may be too hard on her.
she probably needs her feet trimmed.
It does sound like she was chocking on the grain, probably not used to grain and overly hungry and got carried away. A good grass hay would be really good for her, but eventually adding some alfalfa hay to her diet would help her gain weight and is higher in protein than grass hay. I would recommend as far as grass hay a good timothy or orchard grass or a mix of both, 2nd cutting. If you are lucky enough to live in an area that has hay available this year.
I would suspect you are looking at 4 or 5 months of consistant feeding to start seeing an improvement, assuming she doesn't have perminant damage from untreated parasites.
If she is young, you will also need to consider treating her for Coccidiosis. So determing her age will really help.
Also you will want to get her some goat minerals and keep them out for her.
Weigh her. You can always weigh yourself on the bathroom scale, then hold her and weigh both of you, then subtract the difference.
I would determin if she needs to be wormed. In her condition, I am not sure you want to just guess at wormers. If you aren't able to do a fecal then I would start with Safegaurd wormer, and worm her 3 days in a row and then again in 14 days. Use 3 x the dosage on the bottle and give it orally. Safegaurd is a pretty gentle wormer, not the strongest or best on the market, You wouldn't want to start with the best wormer, it may be too hard on her.
she probably needs her feet trimmed.
It does sound like she was chocking on the grain, probably not used to grain and overly hungry and got carried away. A good grass hay would be really good for her, but eventually adding some alfalfa hay to her diet would help her gain weight and is higher in protein than grass hay. I would recommend as far as grass hay a good timothy or orchard grass or a mix of both, 2nd cutting. If you are lucky enough to live in an area that has hay available this year.
I would suspect you are looking at 4 or 5 months of consistant feeding to start seeing an improvement, assuming she doesn't have perminant damage from untreated parasites.
If she is young, you will also need to consider treating her for Coccidiosis. So determing her age will really help.
Also you will want to get her some goat minerals and keep them out for her.
