Pregnant goat won't stand

[barefootfarmer]

Last night Midnight laid down and hasn't gotten up since. She's chewing cud, eating hay that is in front of her, ruminating. I can palpate her kids and they are moving. She's due in 6 weeks.

Exactly one week ago, the same thing happened. So I ran the feed store and gathered up some supplies. When I got back, she was up and walking around. So I thought she was just giving me a hard time when she wouldn't stand for me. 

Today when I saw she was still in her hut, and by all the manure pellets I could see she hadn't moved- I knew something was wrong. 

Here's what I've done so far:
I gave her an oral drench of CMPK- 2 ounces. Midnight is a Nubian and I'm guessing 100lbs. 
10 grams probios paste
1 tube of Vitamin B-12 max
4ml of Selenium and Vitamin E gel.

She's due for her CDT on the 25th of this month. 

I also have on hand Noromectin (Ivermectin) that I usually give oral at 1 ml for every 50lbs of body weight. 

I'm wondering if I should give her an injection of the Ivermectin in case it's meningeal worm? My understanding is that I would give 2ml per 50lbs SQ and then follow with daily dose of safeguard. 

Any other ideas? I'll get a fecal sample to the vet tomorrow and I'll take her temp in the morning since I lost the thermometer tonight in the dark. The vet will probably have some ideas, too- but I'm hoping to handle this in house since I've been wracking up vet bills all month between the dog and the cow.

Thanks for any help.

[barefootfarmer]

@redfish, she has free choice grass hay, kelp, dairy goat mineral with selenium and she's up to date on vaccinations. I run fecals twice a year on everyone and she's my own goat who will show a heavier load of worms than any of the others. She's due for a fecal and her annual CDT towards the end of this month.

I'll run fecals if any of them look like they need it even if it's not at the scheduled time.

As for moving- nothing stood out from the other goats. I'll trim her hooves again while she's laying there when I go back out in a bit. She's also the one whose hooves grow faster than the rest.
How long will your doe lay there typically? We're pushing 36 hrs now. I try to lift her up and she just won't do it. I've been repositioning her so that her legs don't get numb.

[shellymay]

You can NOT test for meningeal worm in a fecal test, it lives in the spinal cord and brain stem and there are no eggs

release in poop......So are you in a populated deer area? is she just on hay and not out grazing? Not sure what your

weather is like and don't know if you have pasture and such for the goats to graze?

[shellymay]

Sorry stepped away for a few, I agree with @redfish, on the calcium deficiency and the CMPK needs to be given

as instructed in that article until she is back up, then maybe you can get away with feeding the alfalfa hay until she kids, but

if you can't feed alfalfa hay then you will have to give the CMPK everyday.....NEVER easy is it when one goes down?

[Deleted]

I would start drenching her with molasses and Karo syrup along with the calcium. ( 2 parts corn syrup 1 part molasses) It won't hurt at this point, as long as she doesn't have a fever. If she has a high temp don't give the molasses/syrup.
Do you have anyone that can help you stand her up? She is able to poo right now but if she isn't able to pee she will not drink water/stay hydrated- causing even more issues. You don't want to put goats in a sling but for a short period maybe you and hopefully somebody else came lift her, many with a towel under the belly for a minute to see if she can get on her feet. If she doesn't get up soon, I would be calling a vet.

If she likes warm water, I would be offering it whenever I could.

Have you noticed any neurological issues? Weakness in the back legs (before she went down)

Do you have a ketosis test? At this point it's treating for several things and ruling others out!

X2 on the MW not showing on a fecal.

Hope you get your doe back on her feet!

[barefootfarmer]

Just got back from the vet a little while ago.

Her fecal showed only 2 coccidae on the entire slide, so it was en excellent fecal as far as that goes. I didn't realize that with the MW- but it makes sense. I was thinking I would see a parasite overload so I'm happy to see that wasn't the case.

Her temp was 100.9 this morning. She's still not standing. She is dehydrated so I'm setting a timer to keep going out and offering water with molasses. She drinks about a half gallon at a time right now. Maybe a little less.

Vet prescribed 2 doses of banamine and 2 doses of penicillin. The doe's eyes were showing a yellow discharge this morning.

My friend who keeps goats came down this afternoon and helped me with hooves. She said that the doe had a "blow out" on her back hoof so she trimmed it and packed it with a salve. Also said she looked zinc deficient due to some missing hair along her ears. She suggested a tablet of zinc once a day. Anyone else do this? I give copper bolus twice a year, but never zinc.

With her being 5 weeks out from her due date the vet doesn't think low calcium should be an issue right now but also said to go ahead and start feeding alfalfa flakes with her hay. I'm doing that. We're thinking/hoping it was pain from her foot that made her not want to stand up and a secondary issue with an infection just coming on with the yellow discharge in her eyes. Penicillin should take care of that.

So we watch and wait, keeping a close eye on her to see if anything changes.

[shellymay]

Good luck with your girl and will be praying she fully recovers and kids healthy babies for you   Do keep us posted as to her
condition as we all care!

[mzgarden]

Been checking in - I have nothing to offer but prayers and good wishes. Hope the foot repair, penicillin and banamine make a big difference by tomorrow morning.

[barefootfarmer]

Thanks everyone. I brought her out a flake of alfalfa and held it kind of high- she tried to stand up, but didn't get up off her knees. That's better than what she was doing this morning. Hoping for a miracle tonight. It's nice to know you're all rooting for us.

[grannyg]

I would do range of motion on her legs....do not give up....maybe one of the kids is laying on a nerve.....

[Bear Foot Farm]

I wouldn't get carried away with lots of medications.
I suspect the biggest problem is a lack of Calcium, and it will get worse as gestation progresses if you don't get enough feed into her.

Forget about worming, and I really don't understand giving antibiotics if there was no fever or trauma

Mix a little salt and baking soda in the molasses water to help with electrolytes

[shellymay]

What?? Zinc deficient, I am so puzzled now!!!

I would give the zinc that your friend told you to give for a week or so and keep track of the results, Zinc deficiency

can be BUT NOT always it can be caused by TO MUCH calcium (thud) You might tie that bale of alfalfa up once she

is up and moving again and feed it to her the last two weeks before her due date as she will need it for sure then....

 Question, where is she getting to much calcium, search the foods/minerals you give now and find out if any are high

in calcium, but they maybe just right and the zinc is real low in what you feed, also research zinc for goats and it gives

you some of the signs your girl is showing......

Is she up yet today?

 

[shellymay]

@redfish, they have caused a gray hair or two for me every year!

[Wendy]

If she is carrying multiples I would also guess calcium deficiency . I had one do this one year. She was about that far away from delivery. I ended up losing her. I cut her open to check kids & she was carrying quads. It takes a lot out of them if they are pregnant with high multiples.

[barefootfarmer]

Alright let's see where I'm at:
Bear Foot Farm, Penicillin because she had goopy eye and vet thought might be the start of something. Temp is up to 102.5 this morning.

@redfish, shellymay, Zinc- my friend saw that she had some missing hair along her ears and a little scaly at base of neck. Her goats had presented with the same thing and her vet diagnosed zinc deficiency. After giving a zinc tablet daily her goats' condition cleared up. So that's why she said mine might also have a zinc deficiency.

Everyone else- I'm truly guessing at her due date. All of my records were burned up in the barn fire back on September 11th. You think you would remember dates on just a few goats...but it's harder to remember than you'd think. I remember that the buck got in with the does the day before or on Halloween. That would put her due March 29-30. I thought she'd been bred before that, but my breeding board was lost and I didn't pull blood samples in all the chaos. Also, all the goats that survived the fire were housed in a temporary pen for a week or two. So, you can see that it's possible she's further along than I thought.

I was going with low calcium initially because it's what I would have suspected if my dairy cow presented the same way.

I'm on my way to check her again now. I'll check back in a bit. Thanks!

[shellymay]

Praying for good news.

[barefootfarmer]

Wendy,that is so sad! I was worrying about what I'd do if she died. I really hope it doesn't get to that point.

Last night my husband was making 2 hour checks on her because I wasn't at the farm. He said that she started getting up on her front legs when he brought her flakes and water. That's a really good sign since she wasn't doing that earlier. Kind of getting up on her knees for a few seconds was the best she was doing.

I'm guessing she's carrying multiples and it's taking a lot out of her. She's also low girl in the herd so she might have been getting pushed around. Having her own kidding pen with lots of attention being doled out has to be helping.

[shellymay]

That is encouraging news  So does she have milk bags? small/medium/large? Keep up the extra work

and caring for her special needs and praying all will work out!

[barefootfarmer]

shellymay, Before she went down, her udder was just starting to fill out, kind of lopsided. Yesterday I could feel her kids moving like crazy. Little nose, maybe a hoof or knee...the way she was laying you could see the kid(s)under her skin. Today, no movement. She was starting to leak some milk yesterday and today she has a tinge of amber goo- just barely.

[Wendy]

Are you positive of the due date?

[mzgarden]

barefootfarmer, we're on pins and needles hoping for a positive update. Thinking about you and your girl alot.

[barefootfarmer]

Wendy, No, I'm not. My kidding board got lost in the fire. I had to house the buck with the does for a while immediately after the fire. All the goats were acting crazy- of course. I expected her to be bred before the fire- I hadn't sent out blood tests, though. I saw the buck mount her right about October 31st. So I assumed she didn't get bred earlier. That is how I came up with March 30th for a due date. But- if he actually bred her during that two week period immediately after the fire, she could have a due date between Feb 8-27 ish. And here we are.

Of course, now I'm looking at the other two does to see if they might be closer to kidding as well. What a mess.

mzgarden, I posted over on my other thread about not feeling the babies. I freaked out and started another thread in case it got missed over here. I probably should have waited, because eventually I felt them, moving less and in a different position, but definitely there. So now I have two threads going. If Wendy, knows how to combine them, that might be good. Or I can delete one. But Midnight is perky, eating, drinking, pooping and peeing. Still not up, but shifting around and stretching for alfalfa that I hung in a feeder above her head to encourage her to get up if she can. Of course, I feed her by handfuls too.

[mzgarden]

barefootfarmer, Good news it seems.