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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2017 14:51:30 GMT
A couple of days ago we noticed that one of our girls, Ariel was not eating her breakfast. She is normally very aggressive, trying to eat as much, as fast as she can at breakfast time. Not Sunday morning. She wouldn't eat. Luckily macmad (my hubby), has done lots of research. We took her temp, checked her eyelids. Then call the local vet. I'm so grateful that they make house calls. We don't have her tamed enough to be able to get her into the vet.
It turns out that she does have parasites. Even though she was wormed about 4 weeks ago, when we bought her and 2 other females. We started giving all of them antibiotics, yesterday. Ariel is feeling a little bit better today, but still not eating much. At least she just doesn't just stand there with her eyes closed. I love having animals, but worry so much about them, when they're not feeling well. I'm looking forward to healthy animals soon.
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Post by here to stay on May 2, 2017 15:00:36 GMT
Always a learning curve with animals. I thought, having had horses for decades, I knew a thing or two about animal health. But goats and horses turned out to be - wait for it- two different things.
After a baptism of fire, I found goats to be easier than horses in terms of health care but their fewer needs are more often more urgent. Goats can go downhill fast. Good for taking action so fast.
I don't understand though why she is getting antibiotics if the issue was a parasite load?
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2017 17:20:26 GMT
Yeah, why the antibiotics, did the vet say? I have found that most vets, not all, don't really understand goats. They are different than sheep and have different dosing requirements. I have printouts of the more commonly used drugs and the dosing for goats,although its several years old. I'd do some research on it for future reference. A B vitamin shot can improve the appetite sometimes. I hope she picks up! Its so hard to see them sick.  Not antibiotics actually. We wormed again. |
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2017 17:25:44 GMT
Funny thing is I started reading this thread and thought, "WOW", we have a situation just like this. Took me a few seconds to figure out that the wife had posted it. Ya, I'm a dork.
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Post by feather on May 2, 2017 18:59:30 GMT
Funny thing is I started reading this thread and thought, "WOW", we have a situation just like this. Took me a few seconds to figure out that the wife had posted it. Ya, I'm a dork. And that is why Bubbe loves you. Being a dork can be a good thing too. |
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2017 21:05:13 GMT
Always a learning curve with animals. I thought, having had horses for decades, I knew a thing or two about animal health. But goats and horses turned out to be - wait for it- two different things. After a baptism of fire, I found goats to be easier than horses in terms of health care but their fewer needs are more often more urgent. Goats can go downhill fast. Good for taking action so fast. I don't understand though why she is getting antibiotics if the issue was a parasite load? Yes, per the vet. She had parasites. She also told us that there were lots of different parasites in our area. I did see Ariel eating a some leaves from a branch we threw into her area last night. Slow but sure we're seeing improvement. |
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Post by Deleted on May 2, 2017 21:07:21 GMT
Yeah, why the antibiotics, did the vet say? I have found that most vets, not all, don't really understand goats. They are different than sheep and have different dosing requirements. I have printouts of the more commonly used drugs and the dosing for goats,although its several years old. I'd do some research on it for future reference. A B vitamin shot can improve the appetite sometimes. I hope she picks up! Its so hard to see them sick. Not antibiotics actually. We wormed again. Oooppsss my bad. I thought you went to pick up antibiotics. I guess I should learn to listen better  |
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Post by shellymay on May 3, 2017 0:41:08 GMT
True about giving antibiotics........if a goat has a high worm load and you worm them with meds, blood sucking worms like Barber pole latch on inside of stomach and once they are wormed and you kill off the worms the goat will have many small holes in stomach lining, best to give a dose of antibiotic IF you are experiencing a high Barber pole worm But for most other parasites not needed..... @bubbe,@macmad, Wet seasons are prime time for worms, when you purchase new animals and bring them onto your property the stress of the move causes a worm bloom, after having kids is a good time to worm and sometimes weaning, BUT many goats don't have to much of a big issue just some, it would help you both to find out from your vet how much a fecal test cost, most places it is 10-15.00 per sample and it will tell you WHAT kind of worms and then you can treat the goats for those worms to make sure you are using the right wormer. About 2 weeks later it is a good Idea to take another sample back in from the same animal and find out if the worm load DROPPED a bunch?, this will tell you if the wormer that was used was effective or not, just throwing wormer at a goat is not the right way to treat them....Its all a learning curve but it is easier to stay ahead of troubles rather then find yourself pouring out dollars to fix a problem, having samples done every so often on NEW animals will tell you who carries the highest load and who carries the lowest, sometimes you would be amazed the the goat that carries the highest load is VERY healthy, while the one with the smallest load is always sick... I know the goats still aren't the tamest yet, but you can stand around and watch them and when one drops goat berries (poop and you see it, walk over with a baggy and pick up sample (turn baggy inside out before picking up) then right side the baggy afterwards, berry samples must be kept in the fridge Yep in the fridge and brought to vets straight from the fridge the next day, (assuming you will watch for these goat berries in the eve when your off work) then take them in the following day keeping them in a nice cold cooler if you have to take them to work?   Really it is all repetitious and done yearly and you will get the hang of it You guys did great getting vet out |
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2017 3:01:36 GMT
True about giving antibiotics........if a goat has a high worm load and you worm them with meds, blood sucking worms like Barber pole latch on inside of stomach and once they are wormed and you kill off the worms the goat will have many small holes in stomach lining, best to give a dose of antibiotic IF you are experiencing a high Barber pole worm But for most other parasites not needed..... @bubbe,@macmad, Wet seasons are prime time for worms, when you purchase new animals and bring them onto your property the stress of the move causes a worm bloom, after having kids is a good time to worm and sometimes weaning, BUT many goats don't have to much of a big issue just some, it would help you both to find out from your vet how much a fecal test cost, most places it is 10-15.00 per sample and it will tell you WHAT kind of worms and then you can treat the goats for those worms to make sure you are using the right wormer. About 2 weeks later it is a good Idea to take another sample back in from the same animal and find out if the worm load DROPPED a bunch?, this will tell you if the wormer that was used was effective or not, just throwing wormer at a goat is not the right way to treat them....Its all a learning curve but it is easier to stay ahead of troubles rather then find yourself pouring out dollars to fix a problem, having samples done every so often on NEW animals will tell you who carries the highest load and who carries the lowest, sometimes you would be amazed the the goat that carries the highest load is VERY healthy, while the one with the smallest load is always sick... I know the goats still aren't the tamest yet, but you can stand around and watch them and when one drops goat berries (poop and you see it, walk over with a baggy and pick up sample (turn baggy inside out before picking up) then right side the baggy afterwards, berry samples must be kept in the fridge Yep in the fridge and brought to vets straight from the fridge the next day, (assuming you will watch for these goat berries in the eve when your off work) then take them in the following day keeping them in a nice cold cooler if you have to take them to work? Really it is all repetitious and done yearly and you will get the hang of it You guys did great getting vet out Shellymay, thank you so much. This is great information! I'm home during the day, and spend time with the goats several times a day. I see them pooping lots.  I'll start carrying bags with me, when we're ready for some samples. |
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2017 3:04:08 GMT
Great news! Ariel is eating, playing and having fun again. Thank God that macmad noticed she wasn't herself so quickly.
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Post by shellymay on Nov 5, 2017 22:46:10 GMT
Running sheep on tons of acre's can have some negatives like Meningeal worm which comes from deer.......This ewe lamb was picked up out of field about 8 days ago, I knew as soon as I seen her what was wrong, she couldn't walk and couldn't hold her head up, the worm had entered her spine, I picked her up and brought her up under roof covered area, M-worm is hard to cure and most die within a few days, treatment is 5 days straight with 2 different wormers being given every day for those five days to try to stop and kill the worm, Panacure and cydectrin is what I treated her with, she couldn't drink, or anything on her own, she just laid out flat for many days but could eat hay laying on her side, ( I had a BED of hay under her to absorb urine and fecal matter plus cushion for her and plenty around her head for consuming if she could/would..... I also administered two doses of Pen 3 days apart during this and had to use a drench and drench her water because she couldn't hold her head up to drink....... I am happy to report she is improving, I take her out in grass by herself so she can start working on building up loss muscle, she is now able to hold her own head up and is scooting around some on her front knees dragging her back end, I am working with her on building muscles back up in back end, we have a long road to go yet but there is hope now......LGD's didn't like me putting one of their sheep outside the fenced in pasture. LOL...    |
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Post by here to stay on Nov 5, 2017 23:14:02 GMT
I hope she recovers fully.
The dogs do worry about their flocks. I watched the neighbor's dog trying to get a wayward yearling to get back with the herd. She had gone under the fence and was on the wrong side. The dog repeatedly scooted under the fence, lead her back to the dip and went under again. I guess on the proposition she would follow. She shied off each time and he repeated. And repeated and repeated.
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Post by Use Less on Nov 6, 2017 13:29:22 GMT
My vet, who knew goats, recommended carefully storing a few clean dry leaves after they fell from the trees. Goats will much some of those when they won't ate anything else. You have to figure out how to keep a few in conditions where they won't get mold or mildew.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 6, 2017 15:33:33 GMT
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Post by princessferf on Nov 6, 2017 18:32:28 GMT
My vet, who knew goats, recommended carefully storing a few clean dry leaves after they fell from the trees. Goats will much some of those when they won't ate anything else. You have to figure out how to keep a few in conditions where they won't get mold or mildew. I hand-cut a bunch of leaves, weeds and grasses from the "wild area" of our property. I then baled it by hand and build up a pile about 5'X3' of "weed bales" for my goats this winter. My plan is that when the snow falls and everything else is dormant, I'll offer these bales as a treat. I sure hope they like them. |
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Post by here to stay on Nov 6, 2017 19:58:05 GMT
princessferf , I dried and bagged blackberry leaves for a couple of years and the goaties were thrilled with them when little else was available. Surprisingly, if you grab a berry vine by the cut end (with gloves) and slide your fingers down towards the tip, the leaves pop off without thorn issues. I even did this with Himalayans and they are the wickest vines on the face of the earth. Sleeping Beauty around the castle level awful.
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Post by Use Less on Nov 7, 2017 13:01:32 GMT
My vet, who knew goats, recommended carefully storing a few clean dry leaves after they fell from the trees. Goats will much some of those when they won't ate anything else. You have to figure out how to keep a few in conditions where they won't get mold or mildew. I hand-cut a bunch of leaves, weeds and grasses from the "wild area" of our property. I then baled it by hand and build up a pile about 5'X3' of "weed bales" for my goats this winter. My plan is that when the snow falls and everything else is dormant, I'll offer these bales as a treat. I sure hope they like them. Wow, that sounds like quite a bit of work. Just be sure that the stuff is dry enough or has good air circulation, so you don't get molds in there. Those can be toxic. |
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Post by princessferf on Nov 8, 2017 18:03:38 GMT
I hand-cut a bunch of leaves, weeds and grasses from the "wild area" of our property. I then baled it by hand and build up a pile about 5'X3' of "weed bales" for my goats this winter. My plan is that when the snow falls and everything else is dormant, I'll offer these bales as a treat. I sure hope they like them. Wow, that sounds like quite a bit of work. Just be sure that the stuff is dry enough or has good air circulation, so you don't get molds in there. Those can be toxic. It was a bit of work, but I would only do a bit at a time, when the weather was sunny and dry. Basically I was "making hay" using a hand-held scythe. I followed the weather and only cut before we had several good sunny days so it could dry out well. The bales aren't as tight as those that are done by machine, so there's still air that can get in, plus they are loosely stacked. I'm pretty sensitive to watching for mold, I sure don't want to make them sick. |
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Really it is all repetitious and done yearly and you will get the hang of it 
I'll start carrying bags with me, when we're ready for some samples. 
