Last night one of our little doelings (5 weeks old) got her foot caught between two pieces of wood in the goat barn. She was kind of raised up and caught. I don't think she was caught for long because I had been out there a little while before and she was out running. Anyway, we went ahead and gave her a bottle last night and she ate well.. she also had some grain. The part of her leg that was caught (the joint right above the hoof) was a little swollen but no other part of her leg was swollen and nothing felt broken. She could not bear any weight on it at all but she was up and hopping on three feet. We thought maybe she was just sore or maybe the leg was "asleep", although my husband did wonder if the shoulder was dislocated. Well, this morning she is swollen at the shoulder area and still cannot bear weight on her leg. She ate some grain and she drank some of her bottle (but left a few ounces, which is really unusual) and she is still trying to hop around. My question is: is this something that will resolve itself, or is there something we can do to help her, or do we need to see the vet? The vet is a big deal because it will involve either a housecall (lots of extra $$$) or my husband taking time off work (also more $$$$). I have five kids and a minivan we are busting out of and I am 7 1/2 months pregnant.... a trip to the vet is not something I can manage right now. I hate to see her hurt but I know these things happen. If I needed to get her to the vet ASAP I *might* be able to get a babysitter if I ask early enough, but if it gets very late I may have to have him come here or make an appointment for tomorrow. Will tomorrow be too late? (It is never easy to find someone to babysit five kids, LOL!) Thanks so much in advance for any help or advice, I appreciate this forum so much!

-- Leighanne T. (robertt@click1.net), April 04, 2002

Answers

I would take the little doeling and hold her between my legs so that each hand could feel a shoulder and see if, other than swelling, there was a really difference in the bone structure. What the swelling COULD be is due to her struggling and really reaming on those shoulder muscles, in which case it would resolve itself. I had a similar incident with one of my top show goats when she was a little thing. If you feel a real dislocation or a sharp pertrusion, I would suggest a vet. In the greater scheme of things, those kids are usually really hardy and don't tend to have major injuries IMO. In all my years of goat keeping I have never had an injury that didn't resolve itself with a little herbal treatment to promote healing and a lot of TLC. She won't walk on it for days if the muscle is real wrenched, like us they don't like pain. Hope this has helped, and I am sure that when Vicki or anyone else sees this they will give you more medical advice.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), April 04, 2002.

If you are still able to drive, I'd load up the children and have one of them hold the kid for a trip to the vet. If you have a collar and leash you could put on her, she should be fairly easy for one of the children to manage.

-- mary (mlg@mlg.com), April 04, 2002.

Thanks, Diane, I had just about decided to let things work out on their own =0). I did what you said a little while ago and moved the shoulders on each side around and around and I don't feel any difference in the way they moved, and nothing feels broken in the leg at all, there is just more swelling this morning than there was last night. I also talked to my Grandparents who used to keep scrub goats (not much knowledge about dairy goats but they have done a lot of goat doctering) and she pretty much said what you said, that little goats are hardy and things like this usually resolve themselves. This is just our first year with goats (our "breaking in" year- but hey, we made it through kidding!) and we made a pretty good investment with our first does and I would hate to lose any of them, you know? I am sorry to be a worry wart but I am glad that this forum is here when I do worry.

Thanks, and I will let you know how Buttercup (named by my five year old daughter) is doing.

-- Leighanne T. (robertt@click1.net), April 04, 2002.

Leighanne, glad to hear the shoulder moves well. If she didn't scream in pain and you didn't feel anything terribly out of the ordinary, I am quite certain that she will be fine. When I first started out with goats I had not very good goats, was very ignorant of their needs etc. It's amazing how much you are motivated to learn in a hurry when the vet call costs more than the goat did!!! Good luck with your dairy goats and have FUN. I have some new babies in the kitchen right now, got to love them!!!

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), April 04, 2002.

Leighanne, nieghbor down the road had the same thing happen to a sheep, and we put a warm (almost hot)cloth around the shoulder area for a little while, then rubbed in horse linement (sp) twice a day, also gave her 1/2 an aspirin. In just 2 weeks she was like new again. In His Grace, sissy

-- Sissy (iblong2Him@ilovejesus.net), April 04, 2002.

Vicki isn't a vet, she just plays one on the internet :)

If the vet is out of the question, and honestly unless its a horse vet, better yet a horse chiropractor, it isn't going to do alot of good anyway. No seasoned horse or goat folks around you to help you feel your way through this? How about using just aspirin, while buffering her tummy with probios and/or yogurt? How about glucososmine and MSM, and/or a good liniment rubbing. The swelling is natures own cast so I wouldn't want to take the swelling down, with compresses. When the swelling goes down on its own you will be able to see for yourself what the damage really is, and more than likely their won't be. Unless its a compound fracture, kids have a really good healing system. As heartless as it may seem I would just leave her to work this out. I would treat her for stress related problems if you are in the south. Worming and cocci meds, for her and all kids in the pen. This was very stressful for her to get caught like this, and for everyone else in the pen while she was struggling and screaming :) Good luck! Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (Nubians) (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), April 04, 2002.

After watching her and talking to my goat mentor (she is in Nebraska and I am in Tennessee! But she is helpful over the phone...) I think that this is minor. There is no difference in the movement as I rotate the top of the leg at the shoulder (I did this on both sides at the same time so that I could compare movement) and she did not seem like she was in pain at all. The area of leg between the shoulder and knee seems to be what is hurting her, and it is swollen, but she lets me feel it. I can feel the bone and it seems fine, there is no give or movement. If there is damage to the bone it would have to be a fracture. My goat buddy in NE recommended that I rub a horse linament on her muscle, and the worming is on our schedule anyway =0).

I am learning so much this year. Lesson number one was not to use a caustic paste for disbudding... as of last week we have scurs and our disbudding iron is on the way. (The other thing we are learning is that just like life with children, life with goats is not ever boring!) We plan on nipping off the tops of these tiny little horns and using the iron immediately afterwards in case they bleed. I wish, wish, wish that we had just ordered the iron in the first place, but live and learn. Thank you again for all of your help!

-- Leighanne T. (robertt@click1.net), April 04, 2002.