Tail up or down means what?

[CntryBoy777]

Thanks for helping me....trying to Help another Latestarter!!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I think the tail is a kind of barometer of the mood they are in, lol. Tail up - happy, or alert, or being dominant....tail down can mean anything from sick, to pi$$ed off, or being picked on by some other goat....

 

[NH homesteader]

I think in Lilly's case it was pi$$ed off... She doesn't like weather. Lol! She's happy today, it isn't raining or snowing.

 

[misfitmorgan]

I think the tail is a kind of barometer of the mood they are in, lol. Tail up - happy, or alert, or being dominant....tail down can mean anything from sick, to pi$$ed off, or being picked on by some other goat....

I agree!!

Also i've noticed if it is yucky weather(rain, snow, sleet, hail, strong wind) they tend to keep their tail down, i think as @Latestarter said their delicate's are getting cold or wet....pretty sure none of us would enjoy that either I've also noticed it when the buck is after them and they are not interested.

 

[samssimonsays]

My does don't hold their tails up unless they are stressed, on alert, spooked or in heat.

 

[Southern by choice]

On a baby goat if the tail is tucked hard that can be a sign of something not right. When the goat is walking around it may be relaxed and not upright but not tucked either. Usually once they are walking and be bopping that tail is up.

 

[Citifarm]

Thank you all so much for your answers, thoughts and observations. We are really anxious to get our first kids but are trying to be careful and learn at the same time. Thank you again you folks are awesome. ;-)

 

[babsbag]

trying to be careful and learn at the same time.

A couple of other things to ask the breeder is if they do any testing. At the least you would want kids from a herd that is tested for CAE and CL. Add Johnes to the list of tests and it would be even better but not many herds test for Johnes as it used to be considered only a cattle disease. Also, are the kids vaccinated for CDT and were they given any prevention for coccidia?

Many times a newbie doesn't know any of this and the seller doesn't bother and then you end up with sick goats down the road or at the very least, goats that you don't know the history of. Better to be over prepared, I sure wasn't when I bought my first goats and I got lucky.

 

[farmerjan]

We had Johnes in our texas dall sheep many years ago. Had a ram that was a pet that kept getting thinner, then weak so that he couldn't get up and was still eating lying down when he died. Had done all the worming, and everything. Had him posted and they tested for johnes and it was. It is a real problem in cattle, but there are some cases in sheep. Don't know about goats. Never had another animal with it, and any sheep that are wormy alot and have bad feet more than others we are slowly weeding out. The biggest problem is too many people try to "save" animals that have problems, and in the end they wind up perpetuating problems that should be culled.

 

[Southern by choice]

We had Johnes in our texas dall sheep many years ago. Had a ram that was a pet that kept getting thinner, then weak so that he couldn't get up and was still eating lying down when he died. Had done all the worming, and everything. Had him posted and they tested for johnes and it was. It is a real problem in cattle, but there are some cases in sheep. Don't know about goats. Never had another animal with it, and any sheep that are wormy alot and have bad feet more than others we are slowly weeding out. The biggest problem is too many people try to "save" animals that have problems, and in the end they wind up perpetuating problems that should be culled.

It is becoming more problematic. Our love affair of multi-species grazing and lack of understanding diseases of livestock this is on the rise. Usually doesn't show up for close to two years so meantime all the animals are being infected.

For the poster-
http://www.johnes.org/