2019 Not Going Well For Goaties
#1
Sheeeeeee!! I want to start this year over. Bucks that escaped into our nannies earlier this year rather than properly introduced has resulted in babies dropping everywhere in the wettest winter we have had in a long time and 2 born in 20 degree nights. Mayhem! Heartbreak! Our lead.doe we.found partially laying on one. Don't know if.that is what caused "Lucky" (to-be-alive) to be too spastic to stand or not. Of course couldn't nurse so into a tub in our tiny house it went with the thrill of 2 am and 6 am feedings not to mention all the every 2-3 hour feedings during the day. Next day, another zinger temperature-wise I noticed another newborn hunched up by mama. My bad, something in back of.brain was.trying to tell me it.was in trouble. But I ignored it until next morning, found it standing in barn alone, not next to Mom, even more hunched and very very cold. I could hold it in my lap and it would actually draw the heat out of my legs making my legs.feel like ice. Brought it in, held by heater and put it in with Lucky. Fed it small amounts colostrum every two hours. Seemed to be getting better until the.w.and.6 am feedings. Downhill. Could not feed or.get him to swallow. Morning rushed to feed store.to get selenium-vit. E gel plus another feed store.recommended. All feedings from this point on were.very difficult and poor swallow response, kid weaker and.weaker. it died that afternoon. I hit the internet trying to find out what I did wrong. Best conclusion I can make is that I killed it feeding it the colostrum before it worked completely thru the hypothermia tho I don't see how it could have made it any longer with no nutrition. I don't believe it ever nursed on Mom. Found.article.that said hypothermia can affect the digestive system and that the colostrum can become toxic in such a stomach. Heartbreak! I really worked hard to save that little.thing and.now I know.I did.the very wrong thing. Today when Hubby opened the barn to let them out he came.back and said it looked.like its mom was paralyzed in hips, dragging back legs. 

Well, my bad again, I had noticed yesterday she looked like she had dropped more weight than a freshener mother should in one.day. Hubby was thinking he would have to shoot her, that she had broken her spine or hips. I thought it was too much coincidence, her of all does after producing.a sick baby. Thought maybe infection connected to pregnancy. All I had on hand was.1 cc bactricillin and just to be sure it wasn't worm-related.also gave her.4 cc Curtin. I felt I had to do something immediately. Now for a more.conclusive.answer, back to the internet. Decided it.was hypocalcemia as one symptom seemed to be weak or dragging back legs, often accompanying kidding.  Recommendation, CMPK. SO Another trip to feed store.for.that and a drench gun which I have yet to find one worth the price. Required 30 cc.2x a.day tho said if.condition was.too advanced, would do no good as it would not reach the bloodstream fast enough. Well, we rushed back and now.her back end was working better but she was mobilizing by her backend up in the air, using her hips but she was walking on her knees. Jury still out but I think that bactricillin shot helped.and may have saved.the day. We went ahead.and.drenched her with the CMPK when that stupid expensive drench gun fell apart and.for.the life.of us, we.cannot find.the spout in the straw.and.sawdust, so it's back to the syringes that we have always used before.  We will see when we go out in an hour if anymore improvement. 

I swear, if we have one more.goat.incident.this year, I am going to scream and pull all my hair out until I look like Yule.Brenner!

Two points to share, if you have a hypothermia baby don't feed it colostrum without doing research ahead of time on how to treat the hypothermia first and besides the thought that every sudden illness.connected with kidding is pregnancy toxemia and.pretty hopeless, know signs of hypocalcemia which is treatable. Well, we.hope! I believe everything I read and.I am a hopeless and sometimes foolish optimist.
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#2
I'm so sorry you lost the baby! Sounds like you're really having a rough go of it. I sure hope things improve as the season continues! It's rough to have kids this time of year.
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#3
(01-23-2019, 05:48 PM)Nanno Wrote: I'm so sorry you lost the baby! Sounds like you're really having a rough go of it. I sure hope things improve as the season continues! It's rough to have kids this time of year.

Today we had to take some goats back to get for suspected pneumonia so we took "Lucky" (NOT) with us to see if we are fighting a losing battle. She said yes, his balance.problems were permanent, probably a.fault in brain development in the uterus so.after all this 3 am and 7 am feedings +++++, we had to.have him destroyed. Third.round of.antibiotics.on pneumonia because we.are.not.gaining.well.on that either. I have no faith in vets around here when it.comes.to.vets. I am just about.ready to get rid of.all of them, I can't.take.much more.
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#4
Oh no!! What antibiotic are you using? Have you tried Nuflor or Dexamethasone?
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#5
His vet doesn't inform very well. I don't know what the first round of antibiotics were but ineffective. Second batch was Nuflor. She was going to give.them a double dose and.then send us home with a lesser dose to follow up with. Sprite our big boy acted up just enough she got.scared.and only gave him half the dose. Said she was going to adjust the dose.she was.sending home with us but she did not. I think she is.afraid of.animals that don't bark or meow. And she is.taking over.our big animal clinic here we have used.for years.

Two of the 3.still coughing with lung sounds. So this time what she described as a heavier antibiotic but did not give us.the name. With having to put Lucky down I forgot to ask for the name. I will call her tomorrow but they don't write the names down in the animal's records believe it or not so I may or may not get it.

This one, we have to give 4 additional shots.over.the next 4 days. Blackie and Butterscotch we.can manage.but our big 180 lb. Boy is.pretty hard for us to handle. We get hurt some way or.another every time we have to doctor him. He is otherwise such a doll, but we noticed.when we got him home this.time, his personality really changed. Runs.from us, won't let us stroke him anywhere on his.face, charges us now.with his horns. I am afraid we are turning him mean with all this doctoring. This is also the one whose feet we.cannot trim.

I am to the breaking point. He is only one close to being able to carry any load for us.
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#6
How can a vet not write things down in their records?? That is highly irresponsible.

For your big guy, get his head down in a bucket of grain or something and then quickly give him the shot. That's what we used to do with Cuzco when he needed doctoring. Usually the big boys have pretty insensitive hides so you can give shots without upsetting them if you do it quickly while they are preoccupied with food. Wink
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#7
OK, Nan, I will try your bucket trick. The.series of.dive.shots.they are on now is PPG, which vet assistant says is.a.form of.penecylin. I worry that.5 days in a.row.following the Norflor is.too much antibiotic but a vet.at.Valley Vet.Supply assured me.it.was.not. Don't like risking.destroying good flora or.antibiotic-induced.coccidia. Been there with rabbits, not pretty.

Yes, I agree, not responsible but that is what they said, they don't write it down in the record


Reason I was.trying to reach Valley Vet Supply to track down aureomycin sulmet soluble.which I read.was.very good at grating whole.herd and had.been successful for one.guy when nothing else.would.get rid.of the respiratory problems. It used to be over.the.counter.till 2017 when I guess.the.veterenarian.decided.it was too successful a cure.and.therefore.cutting into their.revenue. Now only available thru vets.
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#8
Feeding probiotics will help the rumen maintain its flora during a course of antibiotics. I have probiotic powder that I sprinkle on grain and the goats all love it. Some will even lick it out of my hand.

Federal regulations actually took a bunch of over-the-counter meds off the shelves and turned them into prescriptions. Blame the factory farms that over-medicate. Too many of these medications were being found in the human food chain because big farms were feeding them regularly to healthy animals as preventatives instead of using them on sick animals on an as-needed basis. So the government stepped in. As usual, its the little guys that end up suffering for it.
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#9
What is name/brand of.your probiotic powder. Something goats love.and lick out of.your hand sounds good with all the mean stuff we are putting these guys thru right now.
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#10
This one: https://www.jefferspet.com/products/goat...-power-1lb
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