Hello everyone,
When I was a kid, we had a pet goat. He was a boy goat, and he was mean. We never did anything special to take care of him, so I always thought goats were pretty low-maintenance. I hope you can forgive me for that assumption.
Now, I have two goats— I bought one in milk and one from her previous litter. I've had them for about a year. I didn't realize they needed minerals or deworming; I thought they just lived off grass like my childhood goat did. The one in milk was due for freshening and dried up, so I got her serviced, and she’s due any moment now.
As I researched how to care for her and her kid, I realized I had missed some important steps! I’m here to admit my mistakes and ask for your guidance, so please be kind. From what I’ve learned, her tail is pointing downwards, and her eyelids are around a 4 on the FAMACHA score (I read to go down a level if unsure, so it looks between a 3 and 4). The top of her tail isn't bald, so I'm not sure if it's a copper or selenium issue.
About two months ago, I dewormed both goats with Rumatel and gave them CD&T vaccines. Last week, I dewormed them again with Rumatel, plus Fenbendazole and Ivermectin, since I discovered they might be deficient in something. I gave them a mineral block a couple of weeks ago, then loose minerals last week, and yesterday I gave them some Red Cell for horses. They also have sweet feed, alfalfa hay, Timothy hay, plenty of grass, and grass clippings. Since the pregnant one is due soon, I’ve been giving her Tums as treats this week. She looks like she’s going to pop!
Both goats seem fine and show no signs of illness, which is probably why I didn’t realize I was doing anything wrong. I’m attaching some pictures and would really appreciate any advice on what I should do moving forward. Thank you all!
Edit to add: one of my biggest questions is how long after getting the deficiencies fixed will their tail go to normal? I know the famacha can take a while but the tail?
When I was a kid, we had a pet goat. He was a boy goat, and he was mean. We never did anything special to take care of him, so I always thought goats were pretty low-maintenance. I hope you can forgive me for that assumption.
Now, I have two goats— I bought one in milk and one from her previous litter. I've had them for about a year. I didn't realize they needed minerals or deworming; I thought they just lived off grass like my childhood goat did. The one in milk was due for freshening and dried up, so I got her serviced, and she’s due any moment now.
As I researched how to care for her and her kid, I realized I had missed some important steps! I’m here to admit my mistakes and ask for your guidance, so please be kind. From what I’ve learned, her tail is pointing downwards, and her eyelids are around a 4 on the FAMACHA score (I read to go down a level if unsure, so it looks between a 3 and 4). The top of her tail isn't bald, so I'm not sure if it's a copper or selenium issue.
About two months ago, I dewormed both goats with Rumatel and gave them CD&T vaccines. Last week, I dewormed them again with Rumatel, plus Fenbendazole and Ivermectin, since I discovered they might be deficient in something. I gave them a mineral block a couple of weeks ago, then loose minerals last week, and yesterday I gave them some Red Cell for horses. They also have sweet feed, alfalfa hay, Timothy hay, plenty of grass, and grass clippings. Since the pregnant one is due soon, I’ve been giving her Tums as treats this week. She looks like she’s going to pop!
Both goats seem fine and show no signs of illness, which is probably why I didn’t realize I was doing anything wrong. I’m attaching some pictures and would really appreciate any advice on what I should do moving forward. Thank you all!
Edit to add: one of my biggest questions is how long after getting the deficiencies fixed will their tail go to normal? I know the famacha can take a while but the tail?
Attachments
Last edited:
