I have a two year old Nubian. I purchased two weeks ago. The previous owner said she was milking a gallon a day. She may have had her kids still with her before I picked her up. She went through the usual home sickness when I brough her home and then started doing better. But she only milks a quart a milking for me. I got two quarts a milking out of her at the very first and then it dropped and never came back up. I have a one year old Alpine also that I just purchased a month ago and two kid pygmies that I purchased about six weeks ago. They are all housed together. A week ago the Alpine came down with something and went off her food and didn't feel well, then the Nubian came down with it. It lasted about three days and they were well again. I didn't notice the pygmies being sick. Now just the Nubian is showing signs of being sick again. She milked her quart this morning and I noticed her laying in the stall this afternoon. Tonight when I went to milk she was still laying in the pen and she did not eat any grain and only gave about a cup of milk. These are my first goats I have owned.

Jo

-- Jo Nelson (p-jnelson@orofino-id.com), July 04, 2001

Answers

Hi Jo,

Have you wormed them yet? when were their last shots... such as CD&T? Have you taken a temp? normal temp is 102 give or take a degree. Is it hot where you are? This may be some of the trouble sometimes. This can typically happen after shipping, were they given anything for shipping stress? sometimes you don't see the effects of shipping right away, it takes a little bit. Thats when they are vunerable to anything. If you could give a little more info I could probably help a little more. If not try going to http://www.goatworld.com read the archives or the recent posts, there are medical articles there too. hope this helps. oh... and a 911 for goats there as well.

Bernice

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), July 04, 2001.

What are the symptoms of them being sick? Did you call the person you purchased them from? Hopefully if you have been reading this forum for long we have all voiced our opinions over and over again, enough so that you would have purchased from somebody that will help you with aftercare? Are you feeding her the same grain she is used to? Same hay? Clean water? What area are you in? and....Bernice's questions. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), July 05, 2001.

I tried to call the owner last night but they were out. I got ahold of her this morning. She purchased the goat at three months and does not vaccinate her goats. She said she has been raising them for 10 years and has no trouble with them. The goat was wormed with a yellow med. that you can use on all your animals, it is also used on humans. They did this on June 17th. I rewormed her with the same stuff on June 27th. I purchased her on June 19th. It took about an hour to get from her house to mine in the transfer. She was on green grass and two pounds of dry cracked grain twice a day at milking. I put her on dry grass hay and c.o.b. with molasis. She kidded four kids on May 6th and was still nursing the two bucks at the time I purchased her. Her stools look fine. Her temp is 102.4. She is just "droopy", walks slow to be milked instead of running, is off her grain and is drying up quickly. This morning I got 1/2 a cup out of her. Her utters are not hard or hot, they are empty.

Jo

-- Jo Nelson (p-jnelson@orofino-id.com), July 05, 2001.

COB, wet with molassas has about 25% per ton of molassas in it. 19% to high! Though it is fine for a base grain, adding alfalfa pellets, Black Oil Sunflower Seeds (BOSS) to it would help, by itself it has upset her rumen. COB also only has 9 to 12% protein, way to little for a milker with just grass hay. COB also has no vitamins or minerals in it, and with no calcium in her diet, she is quite literally starving. Purchase a loose mineral for cattle or horses from the feed store and put some out for her to eat. She may eat alot very quickly and then taper down to just a little. Do not buy the new goat and sheep minerals with molassas in it! And don't even bother buying the blocks. She is feeling awful because her rumen (one of her four stomachs) is very acidic from the molassas. I would doubt she is even chewing her cud much at this point. I would give her baking soda, which I am sure she would lick from your hand. I would also restart her rumen with Probios, which you can fine at any feed store. About 5 grams twice a day, until the tube is gone. If you make yogurt you can also offer her it.

To make milk does have to have calories to do it, or a good milker will simply rob her body reserves until she is truly a walking skeleton. What do her mucous membranes look like? Her eyelids, gums? None of the wormers I use are yellow liquid, and hopefully you aren't talking about ALbon. Perhaps you can get Panacure in a yellow liquid where you are for dogs? Got me here. But if her mucous membranes are pale I would reworm her with any of the many wormers we have talking about on tons of threads. Ivermectin, Valbazen or cydectin.

Though the person you purchased from says she has had no touble with her goats, I think the truth is probably somewhere in the middle. Lots of folks who choose not to worm, vaccinate, trim feet, disbud etc. simply accept loss on their farm. They also have kid mortality higher than I can afford to have, and unexplained deaths can easily be enterotoxemia and tetanus (both things found in vaccinations), simply because they don't know what it looks like. Kid deaths from CAE, can look like seizures from snake bite, enterotoxemia looks alot like bloat. And we all know from all the forums that though folks may talk about liking goats with horns, they spend alot of time also tieing 2by4's to their horns and tennis balls, and also how many goats are loss to getting their heads stuck in fences? And goats who just die for no reason after kidding, are then certainly to have died of kidding problems?..... More than likely it was from worm burdens causing severe anemia.

Either increase the protein slowly and decrease the molassas in your grain mix, with BOSS and alfalfa pellets, or switch her to a nonwet COB. OR Increase the quality of her hay from grass to alfalfa, slowly. She needs at least a 16% protein diet, and with grass hay being about an 8% you can see where a 12% COB grain is going to make very little milk. Also a doe who is purchased with bucklings nursing, could very well have been conditioned to milk only while kids are nursing, drying up when the kids are weaned. 8 to 12 weeks. It is a bear to keep them in milk! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), July 05, 2001.

Have you checked her water supply? I know when we show our 4 H does we have to take our well water as they just wont drink city water. Goats can be very picky about their water. Another thought is since you are keeping her with the others maybe she is being picked on. Goats can be territorial.Good luck.

-- Susan Winovich (herdergirl@hotmail.com), July 06, 2001.

I purchased some alfalfa pellets and screened pea pellets and some dairy goat mix. I gave her some baking soda and the probios. She has good water, we are on a well also. She is doing a little better today but she doesn't like the alfalfa or pea pellets and won't eat the pellets in the dairy goat mix. I have some whole triticalle, oats and barly. I am giving her 1 part barly, 1 part oats and 2 parts triticalle. She likes that, mixing it with the other grain. She is picking out the whole grain though. The triticalle is supposed to be 16% protien. Thank you for your help. I will let you know how she is doing.

Jo

-- Jo Nelson (p-jnelson@orofino-id.com), July 06, 2001.

Just to let you know that my goat is doing much better. I bought some hay alfalfa, because she would not eat the pellets, and she is eating her grain good. She milked 5 cups this morning. Thank you for your help.

Jo

-- Jo Nelson (p-jnelson@orofino-id.com), July 24, 2001.