Shivering Goats...

[lupinfarm]

I moved Cissy and Hermione to the goat house last night, and they were fine last night... I put hay in, and they had some of that, they ate a bit of grass outside, and they downed their pan of grain last night (2 cups of goat ration, 2 cups of alfalfa pellets) but this morning when I let them out they were shivering in their pen, so I locked them back up in the insulated goat house with their grain and hay and all that until it warmed up outside, it's now 4 C out. ANYWAY, I checked on them and they haven't really touched their grain or hay.

They've been locked in the chicken house for about a week and its since gotten quite a lot colder out since they were out last, and I was thinking it was because they were in a new place and scared or because it was cold out... Is there anything I can do to ease the transition? How worried should I be about the shivering... Is there anything completely irresistable I can put on their grain?

 

[cmjust0]

How old are they?
Have they had any signs of illness?
Do their rumens look pretty full, or are they kinda hollow looking?

I don't like it when a goat doesn't fill up on long fiber when it's cold out... Digestion = warmth. The courser the hay, the warmer they'll be.

Could also be that allowing them to getting out and exercise might do them some good..

 

[Sweet Cheeks]

I'm curious to know the answers or advice you get as well.

I brought home my first two goats last Friday - wether and doeling 6 mo old. Saturday and Sunday mornings I found them standing there shivering. They didn't eat on their own all night. They would only eat while I was standing there.

I even ran to Petsmart to get them a couple of dog coats to keep them warm but they didn't have any large enough.

In the last few days, they have eaten on their own but not much.

We had our first freeze last Friday night - now just rain and constant drizzle.

I used to put light weight to medium weight waterproof blankets on my horses so they wouldn't get rainrot.

Do folks use goat blankets?

 

[lupinfarm]

How old are they?
Have they had any signs of illness?
Do their rumens look pretty full, or are they kinda hollow looking?

I don't like it when a goat doesn't fill up on long fiber when it's cold out... Digestion = warmth. The courser the hay, the warmer they'll be.

Could also be that allowing them to getting out and exercise might do them some good..

Cissy is 2 yrs, Hermione is 7 months.

I put them back in the house and they ate a good deal of their grain and were munching on hay for a while (as you know, I can't get any alfalfa hay unfortunately). I've let them out again because Cissy was starting to let me know she wanted out. They're in a small pen still, the 10x10 chainlink pen has been attached to the back of their house as I'm actually putting up a larger pen for them right now... (like 30x40 or something like that). I'm not so worried about Cissy anymore, neither are shivering anymore but Hermione seems off... It could be the weather and the change of location, now that they're on their own and their pen is in an exposed area so they can see everything. Pooping normally though, urinating normally.. Hermione isnt as friendly as Cissy though, and I think that's a big downfall for her right now.

I think she might be a bit stressed from the move to their new house from the chicken house.

 

[cmjust0]

I've seen goats with blankets on, but I'm always a little wary about stuff like that. They try their level best to eat our clothes when we're out there, so I just don't think I'd feel all that comfortable with putting clothes on them and leaving them to their own devices.. Last thing I need is someone eating a big ribbon of nylon or something and getting a gut twisted.

Throwing a blanket over a downer that's in a pen by itself is a different story, of course...but even then, covering it up with hay or straw is probably safer and just as effective.

 

[cmjust0]

I put them back in the house and they ate a good deal of their grain and were munching on hay for a while (as you know, I can't get any alfalfa hay unfortunately) ... I'm not so worried about Cissy anymore, neither are shivering anymore but Hermione seems off...

It doesn't take all that much of a stress or illness to put a goat off its eats, so the fact that they both ate and are no longer shivering is certainly encouraging news.. As simplistic as it may seem, I've come to find that noting the presence or lack of appetite is of really good diagnostic value in goats. That's always my PGP's (primary goat physician ) first question...."Still eating OK?"

Still...what do mean by "Hermione seems off" though? What's different about her?

 

[lupinfarm]

Hermione takes longer to adjust than Cissy, she's shy and I think she felt exposed outside. I put their feed pan outside and she ate fine, and went in for bed time and seems fine now. I think she was a little weirded by me hanging out putting up fencing around them LOL.

 

[Griffin's Ark]

I am wondering about humidity, drafts and ventilation. Since you stated that the new house was insulated, you need to make sure any humidity can get out. High humidity with colder temps will cause lots of problems. Remember also that the goats themselves can increase the relative humidity in an enclosed area simply by breathing and insulation can retain moisture. They may have stopped shivering because the opening of their house door allowed for better ventilation.

Just some things to look at and think about. I hope that it helps some!

Chris

 

[lupinfarm]

The house is actually vapor barrierd as well and they have a gable vent. They were shivering OUTSIDE, I had let them out in the morning but they had been in the chicken house all week where its rather warm and all of a sudden they were kind of thrust out into -5 weather. They're fine now, and we have been waiting a bit longer to let them out in the mornings.