I have a whole bunch of bucklings together, ages 1 &1/2 years to 5 months, 2 of the LaMancha bucks have horns, the rest have been dehorned properly. They have all been in this pen together for about 3 months, 3 days ago I noticed 4 just smaller than egg sized lumps on a 5 month old Nubian buckling in the pen. All of the lumps are located around the ribcage area. I have isolated the Nubian buckling. First thing when feeding this morning, I noticed That a 6 month old Alpine has 1 bump that is on his ribcage, on the right hand side and almost to the bottom of the ribs, I will be isolating him immediatly. These bumps are just under their skin, and are the consistancy of a bubble of liquid. I have never seen these before, they do not appear to be sick, in any other way. I am asking all of you if you know what these are and if so how do I deal with them. I am a long way from a vet. I have medical supplies on hand. I usually treat my own animals. But this one has me worried. All of the mentioned bucks/lings have been raised on pasturized milk. the youngest ones have been wormed with the milk before they were weaned. I use tiramisol injectable for the older ones. No one else in the pen has any other signs at this time. All appear extremely healthy and robust. Please help!

-- Lawannea Sue Stum (Whitedov1@citlink.net), May 27, 2000

Answers

Just a thought but could those bumps be from getting slammed by the goat with the horns? They usually do hit them in the side like that. Keep them away from the larger goats for a while and see if the bully with the horns was your problem. The larger your pen, the more room the smaller ones have to get away from the more dominant goats.

-- Pat (pmikul@pcpros.net), May 27, 2000.

Could they possibly have been vaccinated there, or any other shots given? The youngest ones are a little to young for abcesses, yet the yearling is the right age. Are you injecting the tramisol or giving it orally? Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), May 27, 2000.

Lawannea Sue, does seem like this buck is at the bottom of the butting order. There is also a chance he's suffering from insect bites even if the others aren't having the same problem. I'd just watch him for a bit and see what happens to his bumps and if the others (especially the new bottom of the butting order one) get bumps like his. Gerbil

-- Gerbil (ima_gerbil@hotmail.com), May 27, 2000.

It sounds like an abcess to me. Some years we get a lot of them, and some years we don't see any on our goats. My vet said that any kind of little cut etc. can form an abcess, and if they are on the bottom of the butting order they probably get their fare share of scrapes. I would take a sterile needle or scalpel( big gauge on the needle), and make an opening in one of the bumps. If you find some yellow or white thick to runny stuff in there, then it is an abcess ( make sure to get all the way through the skin. It will bleed a bit.) If it is an abcess ,take a syringe and some hydrogen peroxide, and squirt it in there.(You might want to enlarge the opening for better drainage) After you got all the "cheesy" stuff out , squirt in some iodine, blue kote or something like that.ou have to keep an eye on it, and maybe repeat the procedure. You can do this to all the bumps, if that is what they are, but if you don't, they will get bigger and eventually burst on their own.You'll still have to clean them out then, so you might as well do them. NOW, if all that comes out of the bump is blood, then you got an injury, probably from getting budded . Disinfect the opening you made, and don't open any more. As they heal (keep them separated) the body should slowly absorb the blood back into their system.

Hope this helps karin

-- karin morey (wind_crest@hotmail.com), May 28, 2000.

Lawnnea, Good answers already, it seems to me to be in the wrong place for abcsesses and the horned ones could be hurting the otherss. What bothers me is your choice of wormers, tramisol has been used for so many years and does not work very well anymore, talk to your vet. I was told a several goat seminars that tramisol is almost worthless as a wormer, and there are so many new wormers that you need to check this out please. karen

-- Karen Mauk (dairygoatmama@hotmail.com), May 28, 2000.