Help!!! Goat experts input needed...

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OK, here is the 9:00 report!

She did a doo while I was searching her bedding for signs that her bowel is working. It was half solid and have packed blackbeans, which is a bit better, I'm hoping. I always check everyones poo, water consumption, and food intake along with attitude to get a daily idea of how everyone is doing. Not always accurate in a herd (or flock) environment, easier with horses each in their own stalls.

She had a lick of baking soda and a nibble....and I mean barely a nibble....of alfalfa pellets.

Couldn't quite "turn her eyelid out" but think I got a good peek of salmon color in there. I wouldn't say rosy red pink, but the light is poor in the barn. But definitely not anything close to white.

 

[Beekissed]

Free, I know goats and sheep aren't the same, but since they are both ruminants and I know you like to keep things as natural as possible, I thought you might enjoy this article:

http://www.sheepmagazine.com/issues/24/24-1/Laurie_Ball-Gisch.html

 

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Hmmm....I wonder if it would be ok to give her now since she has been nibbling at the baking soda. Would it react inside her in a negative way. Hmmmm.....

 

[Beekissed]

Isn't that how they make volcanoes for science projects?

 

[FarmerChick]

while it may sound like a miracle cure.......bottlejaw won't be cured by cider vinegar.

it was the owners aggressive de-worming that probably saved the sheeps life.

some info:

Bottlejaw occurs when a goat is so worm-infested that serious blood loss via the gastro-intestinal tract results in anemia. Bottlejaw is visibly apparent -- the flesh immediately underneath the chin becomes enlarged and puffy. As the day passes, the puffiness usually gets worse. Sometimes it goes down overnight but re-appears the next day.

Just as anemia is life-threatening in humans, so it is with goats. Many goats die from anemia. It is a difficult and a long-term process to bring a goat back from severe anemia. Very wormy goats, when dosed with dewormers, may initially become sicker; the shock to the goat's system from sloughing off the heavy worm load is difficult for an anemic goat to handle. Severe diarrhea commonly accompanies the expulsion of a heavy wormload, therefore rehydration is critical.

****this is basic in sheep also. An anemic animal with a heavy worm load will take a long time to recover....as noted, they get alot sicker before better...if they "make better"

while cider won't hurt, it isn't a miracle cure at all.

 

[FarmerChick]

a little info about alfalfa pellets.

Grinding roughage into small particles greatly reduces the "roughage effect" on the rumen. For this reason, ground and pelleted feeds such as alfalfa pellets are not roughage. While containing fiber, alfalfa pellets do not provide roughage. Alfalfa -- either pelleted or in hay form -- is high in calcium and protein and low in energy and phosphorus, so it should not be fed exclusively but rather as part of a balanced nutritional program.Since the "roughage effect" does not occur with grain-based feeds and does take place with long fiber digestion, producers should deduce from this information that goats should not be fed grain at night in cold weather but instead should be given extra grass hay to keep the rumen functioning which in turn keeps the goat warm.

***in reality your goats don't need alfalfa. Sometimes we just feed more than they need.....alfalfa pellets are expensive here.
A few, sure, but it can not replace long stemmed roughage which is what goats need.

 

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Waddaya think about the free-choice timothy hay and the free-choice alfalfa pellets....she eats about 1-2 small coffee cans per day....I have no access to anything leafy for her, and it is the only way I could think of to get some variety in her diet.

I philosophically do not like the idea of pelleted anything (unless it is goat poop!) as the pressure of commercial extruding destroys proteins, and who knows what can make it into the pellets. So it was a reaction to so many goat people saying "You MUST feed alfalfa hay!" which seemed a bit much to me anyways.

My plan next year is to dry lots of good leafy stuff for variety in the winter diet, like homegrown pea hay, wild grape, raspberry, rose, and some tree leaves picked early rather than fallen autumn leaves. This will be to supplement the grass hay I can get here.

I used to have a good thing going with the horse and the goats, because the goats made a dive for any weed or leaf in the hay that I gave my horse, so everyone was happy. This year, not a leaf in site in my hay, which is considered higher quality here. I was able to get an older farmer to specifically bring me the hay from the edges of the fields, which others didn't want, but he retired.

So now I am nervous about her feeding program for the six days that I will be gone, assuming she is ok tomorrow. I feel like I should cut out the grain altogether for a while. Is that too severe? I have to make up daily feed packets for the guy that will be feeding them, to make it simple for them. I will have to do that tomorrow (Monday.) So, FC, what would you do? Hay only? Maybe keep the alfalfa pellets so the change is not too severe? Or what? Beet pulp? Hay only? Carrots? I can buy some veggies for her for the week, if that is best.

Aaarrrgh, what do I do?

 

[freemotion]

Isn't that how they make volcanoes for science projects?

Oh, yeah, and very funny, Bee!!!

OK, you know I love ya!

 

[Beekissed]

The vinegar sounds like a good electrolyte booster and sounds like it helps digestion in ruminants, from all that I've read. While not a miracle cure, I'm sure, it sounds like a simple and effective immunity, digestive and circulatory booster.

Can't hurt, can it?

 

[FarmerChick]

The vinegar sounds like a good electrolyte booster and sounds like it helps digestion in ruminants, from all that I've read. While not a miracle cure, I'm sure, it sounds like a simple and effective immunity, digestive and circulatory booster.

Can't hurt, can it?

Yes it can.

If the pH of the rumen is "off" (it should be slightly alkaline), then the goat will not get proper nutrition and may become sick or possibly die. Unlike humans, whose stomachs use acids to digest foodstuffs, goats begin the nutrition manufacturing process in their rumens before their food is thoroughly chewed. For this reason, what the goat eats and how much it eats is very important to its overall health.

Goats can't do acid very well as you can see. So just pouring vinegar down the gullet is not smart actually.

A little of anything won't hurt maybe in a healthy animal, but when you have a sick animal, dosing it with anything when you don't know the problem is not recommended.

You need to truly know the animal you are vetting...inside and out.