Chat
08-23-2020, 07:29 AM
I used to give old Cuzco (or first goat) Cosequin ASU for his joints and it worked very well. He developed arthritis between his toes later in life, not because of poor conformation but from general old age and wear-and-tear. The Cosequin gave him a new lease on life.
Sputnik had less-than-ideal conformation to start with, but when he was 1-2 years old I gave him a diet way too high in alfalfa. I had all my boys together and Cuzco had lost most of his teeth by then so pretty much the only thing he could manage was 3rd or 4th cutting alfalfa with all the soft leaves. Since Finn and Sputnik were growing I thought alfalfa would be good for them, and several packgoat people were also recommending it for growing wethers so I let the young boys have the alfalfa Cuzco was eating. However, I really should have listened to that little voice niggling at the back of my brain that was telling me to be cautious about feeding alfalfa to youngsters. I've seen some young horses whose legs were ruined from eating a lot of alfalfa during their growth years but I thought maybe goats were different. Turns out maybe they aren't. Sputnik's legs turned funny during the spring when his growth spurt kicked in and they've never been the same since. We got lucky with Finn. Not only was he a buck for most of that winter (higher metabolism, slower growth), but he also didn't particularly love the alfalfa and I think gave himself a more balanced diet than Sputnik, who pushed aside everything else and ate only the alfalfa. Later that spring I had the boys up in Fort Collins for a goat show and we took the opportunity to have Sputnik's lower front legs x-rayed since I could tell that he was growing abnormally. The coffin bones had dropped but the rest of the joints were too upright. There was nothing that could be done about it since the growth spurt had ended and the damage was done before I knew what caused it. He's been a stiff mover ever since but hasn't been sore until this summer. I was hoping the soreness wouldn't start for another couple of years, but at least I was prepared that this would happen eventually.
I'm not sure what went on with your guy but I'm going to guess it's a birth defect and not a mineral problem. I would expect a mineral problem to show up in both front legs and not just one. I'm currently giving Sputnik Durvet MSMEQ but since I only started giving it to him a week ago I'm not sure whether it's doing any good. I picked it up because it was cheap. The selenium yeast seems to have made a difference. He's the only goat in my herd that seems to have periodic selenium deficiency. We have enough growing in the plants on our property that I don't generally need to supplement selenium. I bought a supplement for him a couple of years ago to help with his feet and drooping tail (I've read that bent-down tail is a sign of selenium deficiency) and it seemed to help but then I quit that spring because I didn't want to overdose him. The kind I bought back then is no longer available so I'm going to start him on some pellets when the last of this old stuff runs out. We'll see how it goes.
I wonder if you could wrap that one hoof to give it some support. I would try a vetwrap bandage around the toes and see if it helps.
Sputnik had less-than-ideal conformation to start with, but when he was 1-2 years old I gave him a diet way too high in alfalfa. I had all my boys together and Cuzco had lost most of his teeth by then so pretty much the only thing he could manage was 3rd or 4th cutting alfalfa with all the soft leaves. Since Finn and Sputnik were growing I thought alfalfa would be good for them, and several packgoat people were also recommending it for growing wethers so I let the young boys have the alfalfa Cuzco was eating. However, I really should have listened to that little voice niggling at the back of my brain that was telling me to be cautious about feeding alfalfa to youngsters. I've seen some young horses whose legs were ruined from eating a lot of alfalfa during their growth years but I thought maybe goats were different. Turns out maybe they aren't. Sputnik's legs turned funny during the spring when his growth spurt kicked in and they've never been the same since. We got lucky with Finn. Not only was he a buck for most of that winter (higher metabolism, slower growth), but he also didn't particularly love the alfalfa and I think gave himself a more balanced diet than Sputnik, who pushed aside everything else and ate only the alfalfa. Later that spring I had the boys up in Fort Collins for a goat show and we took the opportunity to have Sputnik's lower front legs x-rayed since I could tell that he was growing abnormally. The coffin bones had dropped but the rest of the joints were too upright. There was nothing that could be done about it since the growth spurt had ended and the damage was done before I knew what caused it. He's been a stiff mover ever since but hasn't been sore until this summer. I was hoping the soreness wouldn't start for another couple of years, but at least I was prepared that this would happen eventually.
I'm not sure what went on with your guy but I'm going to guess it's a birth defect and not a mineral problem. I would expect a mineral problem to show up in both front legs and not just one. I'm currently giving Sputnik Durvet MSMEQ but since I only started giving it to him a week ago I'm not sure whether it's doing any good. I picked it up because it was cheap. The selenium yeast seems to have made a difference. He's the only goat in my herd that seems to have periodic selenium deficiency. We have enough growing in the plants on our property that I don't generally need to supplement selenium. I bought a supplement for him a couple of years ago to help with his feet and drooping tail (I've read that bent-down tail is a sign of selenium deficiency) and it seemed to help but then I quit that spring because I didn't want to overdose him. The kind I bought back then is no longer available so I'm going to start him on some pellets when the last of this old stuff runs out. We'll see how it goes.
I wonder if you could wrap that one hoof to give it some support. I would try a vetwrap bandage around the toes and see if it helps.