I noticed about 4 days ago a sudden reduction in my milking does milk supply, but with no signs of mastitis. She seemed otherwise in good health. The only noticable difference was that she won't eat her grain. THis is not unusual around here because the feed store is always changing the formulation and sometimes the goats don't like the alfalfa pellets in there. I figured this was why her supply of milk went down. Her milk supply seems to be really affected by the amount of protien in her diet. I am feeding a mix of grass and clover hay besides.

This morning I noticed she had diarhea. It is not extremely watery, but her rear end was smeary looking and it defidently was not normal stool. My goat vet manual said that antibiotics weren't necessary for diarhea. I am heading to the feed store to buy Probios paste for her. I have some electrolyte solution in the barn. Should I do more than this? Do you folks reccommend medication for diarhea?

Thanks!

-- Tiffani Cappello (cappello@alltel.net), August 18, 2001

Answers

Response to Goat with diarhea

Tiffani, I believe the first thing I would do would be to walk the pasture looking for something she could nibble on that would be toxic to her. This time of year there could be any number of things going on out there that could be slowly poisoning her. One year we had cherry leaves falling from tent worms of all things and one doe in particular was obviously either more sensitive or eating more. We have since removed the tree from the pasture. Her not eating well would be what would make me believe that. Coccidia can happen in adult animials to cause diarhea but I don't think it particularly takes away the appetite. I have also heard that a toxic amount of worms can cause diarhea. Have you wormed lately?

If it were my doe I would dose her with some activated charcol, it doesn't hurt anything if she doesn't need it. I would do that before I gave the Probios paste. Since IMHO diarhea is only the symptom, I would not treat it unless it was obviously dehydrating her, in which case you would be in some pretty steep trouble and IMHO should have a vet.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), August 18, 2001.

Response to Goat with diarhea

Just had another thought. This is a true story. When I first started keeping goats we mixed our own feed from a recipe out of a book for old time goat keepers. Worked wonderful. As we got bigger I started having the mill mix it for me........it had wheat in it. One day my most favorite doe was standing there drooling and weaving and I was frantic. Was quite certain it was a poisoning of some sort since it came on really sudden......gave her the charcol, electrolytes etc. and pulled her out of it although she was really sick for days. Bottom line?? Deadly nightshade berries in the feed. They had cleaned their own wheat and the berries didn't get cleaned out. Just a thought........forgot about it until I thought about this more.........been a lot of years ago.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), August 18, 2001.

Response to Goat with diarhea

Plain activated yogurt is probally as good as Probios paste and much cheaper. Also sometimes goats go down in production and other weird things when coming in to season.

-- Sheryl R. Clifton (BryrPatch35@aol.com), August 18, 2001.

Tiffani, if you are at the mercy of your mill and whether or not your doe will eat her grain mix, than mix yourself up your own, from raw grains. Make sure your hay contains no mold, something notorious of clover hay in our area. Diarrhea is always worms or rumen acidosis in another wise healthy doe. It of course is the first symptom of a milady of diseases but they usually come on quickly, not taking 4 days. Your wormer may be ineffective, and really the only way you can tell is with a fecal, problem as long as the diarrhea persists a correct fecal is hard to take. Stop the diarrhea with Probios, Baking Soda and Keopectate, yogurt contains but one, and in a very small amount of the millions of active cultures in Probios. Good in a pinch. I would also worm her and if you have been using one class of wormer I would switch to a new one, we have gone the wormer dosages and kinds at nauseum, so email me privatley.

You are so much better off either purchasing an all grain horse feed or corn, oats, barley and adding your own alfalfa pellets and black oil sunflower seeds to it, putting out a good loose mineral and perhaps uping her protein on the milk stand with small amounts of Calf Manna, Purina's Animax or Headstart (all feed mills have there own knock off of the high mineral, soy protein milk fed pellets) Of course make all feed changes slowly, and feed her for her condition, more grain if she has no flesh over her ribs, less grain as she puts on weight the further into her lactation she goes. With the stress of diarrhea you may also want to choose a sulfa to put her on. Rarely will a goat who is fed well, have good hay in front of them, eat poisonious plants, unless new to the area or young. Now mold etc. found in grain mixes or in their hay, is always a possibility. With the heat we are having it is very important to find the cause of this, and a doe in heat, other than acting crazy should not have any diarrhea, though they may have a lowered milk production from running fence lines, screaming to the buck, rather than browsing!! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), August 18, 2001.

Hi Tiffani.........hope that your goat is better today. I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to you and to anyone else that I have offered my opinion to without requesting more information, specifically geographic location. Problems in herd management vary greatly from one location to another and my first thoughts always relate to keeping goats in Michigan.

In Michigan, parasite load, except when dealing with the most neglected herds, is not the first thing you would think of. Even the most aggressive herdsmen seldom worm more that 2 or 3 times a year. We have the winter kill and with pasture management seldom face parasite overload.

We have in Michigan a rather large number of plants that can cause rumen acidosis and frequently at our state DGS meetings we do a woodland walk series to help people identify the toxic plants. Take the wild cherry tree. Bark is ok, unwilted leave seldom cause problems, but wilted leaves are a BIG problem to both goat and cattle herdsmen. Most just cut down the trees that are in the area of the herds.

I have caused my whole herd to have diarhea by feeding too many fresh corn husks for the number of animals I have. They love them and will leave beautiful 3rd cutting alfalfa hay to eat them. I have one doe that tells me each year that the apples on her favorite tree are falling because she gets the runs. Why just her?? I don't know but she is a glutton for apples.

On my small 40 acre homestead, the goat herd has approximately 15 acres of wonderful pasture and browse. I only feed a little hay in the evening in the barn as I do shut my animals in because of my fear of the feral dogs we have about this area. I still get milk in the quantities to qualify my girls as star milkers.

My point??? Please people help us out and let us know where you are located. Painting with a broad brush, even in goat keeping, can and does occasionally get us in trouble. hugs

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), August 19, 2001.

Hi Diane, I have talked previously to Tiffany which was the only way I knew where she was from, though with my memory, my children say it is so full of goat info :) it has no place to store other stuff! But you are so right! Everyone really needs to put their at least state on their signature, especially if you are wanting correct information. I also have a doe who loves green blackberries, she eats them to the exclusion of everything else when they are in season, and yes has some of the prettiest green diarrhea you have ever seen, not much you can do for her! Here in the south, worms, cocci and mold, and pnemonia are out biggies, all from the stress of the heat and humidity.

I am getting very discouraged with this forum, you had absolutly nothing to apoligize for, yet I know exactly how you feel. Everyone is so touchy of late. When anyone asks a question or makes a statement, you are asking for opinions, which will vary from what someone has heard, what someone else does or what someones vet says, all which can be wildly different through each answer! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), August 19, 2001.

Everyone gave great information , pat yourselfs on the back for a job well done .Hopefully things will mellow with the cooling weather .

-- Patty {NY State} (fodfarms@slic.com), August 19, 2001.

You didn't say if your goat got grass and clover as a normal part of her diet. If not it could be too much for her. My goats have that in the spring after a diet of grain and hay all winter. A little pepto and they are fine.

-- Mary R. (cntryfolk@ime.net), August 19, 2001.

I certainly have not complaints. I appreciate the advice I get from you folks on the forum. We all have had differing experiences and therefore our opinions will vary. Honestly, I have got better advice here on this forum than I have gotton from the local vets. I learn something from each persons response whether or not it applies to my particular situation or not. Am I am grateful for the opportunity to post here on the forum. And so are my goats! They would certainly be worse off without you folks to help me out when I get in a pinch! Sometimes I imagine they see me coming with some remedy and say. Oh No what will we have to endure next at the hands of this novice! The poor animals! It is purely miraculous that I have only lost one goat in four years.

-- Tiffani Cappello (cappello@alltel.net), August 19, 2001.

Gee, I can't spell either!

-- Tiffani Cappello (cappello@alltel.net), August 19, 2001.