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Rescue Goat

8K views 93 replies 20 participants last post by  Mike_User 
#1 ·
so we went to the horse sale last night and there was a little nanny goat caughing and such so we decided to spend 25$ and take the poor gal home. she seems to be pregnant, probably around 15 weeks i would assume, when the vet comes out to check mom's horse we are going to get her checked too, we decided to name her Asia, today we picked up some grain for her, and she seeems to be on the skinny side so she LOVED that, as well as we gave her some cucumbers and squash, we don't really know anything about goats, but now we are cramming down research, right now she's in the 8x12 pen out back, with a decent sized dog house and tarps keeping the sun and rain off of her, but she will move over to the horses after she kids, and after we move the horses to a goat safe pasture in a couple of weeks.
 
#4 ·
thank you so much! i went out there earlier today, and it feels like those ligaments have went away so i think i may have guessed wrong and she may be closer then we thought, her udder seems tight, but idk about shiny, i don't want to shave her udder and tail and cause her more stress since she isn't used to us or being shaved. so i think we'll just leave her and make sure to clean her up really good after. she is eating but not a whole lot it seems, she was laying out there on the ground heaving, but i didn't see any brown discharge so i don't think she's THAT close yet.
 
#5 ·
Awww she looks so young, too bad she is pregnant :( I would recommend shaving her tail but you can leave the udder the tail just gets sooo icky and you will have to clean her every day in order to keep it clean. I also recommend you get her CAE tested when the vet comes out. Make sure she gets plenty of alfalfa after the babies arrive and mine always get oatmeal and molasses as a treat after birthing.
 
#6 ·
Asia is a Pygmy goat:) I have 4 goats ( 2 are pygmies)! Seems like your doing well..a few things you might want to add in beer diet are loose minerals and a salt block. Grass hay is needed more in the winter, in the other months they tend to eat forage. Btw- my goats LOVE saltine crackers:)
 
#7 ·
Couple things.

First, PLEASE do some research. Don't bring an animal home that you know nothing about, and just go about assuming they are like other animals.

Goats are ruminants, they have a 2 part compartmentalized stomach, and they rely heavily on friendly bacteria to help break down their food. Any change in food, it takes a full 23 days for their stomach to adjust to the change by adjusting the proper growth of the right kinds of digestive bacteria. Since you have brought her home already, and are just throwing whatever kind of food at her without knowing what to provide, chances of sending her into enterotoxemia are pretty high. Get to your local feed store and pick up some GOAT FORMULATED probiotics and get her on them right away.

The heavy coughing is most often a sign of lungworms, in goats. A good worming is needed, ivermec products do the trick, but will need done over a period of a couple weeks if she is coughing badly.

Thirdly, are you absolutely certain she is pregnant, and has not already kidded? Pygmys are litte fat things, they have wide stomachs and they often LOOK pregnant even when they are not. Bottle raising baby goats is extremely common and selling a doe that has just come in to milk is not unusual. If that is the case you could be doing her a whole lot of damage by not milking her.

Please spend the afternoon reading up on information about goats, so you can properly provide for her.

Feeding and Hydrating a Sick Goat

Goat Health Information

Pioneer Meadows Pygmy Goats: Pygmy Goat New Owner’s Manual

Pioneer Meadows Pygmy Goats: Feeding Your Pygmy Goat

How To Care for Pygmy Goats | Goat Health
 
#10 ·
lol justdoit i at first thought you were suggesting me to feed her beer until i reread it.

Indy i am pretty certain she is pregnant, her tailhead is pretty much exposed, and i could have swore i felt her tummy move, but i'll try to get pictures, i don't think she has kidded before, and they people from the auction said she was in with a billy so it's a pretty high chance she is preggo. i'll let mom know about the probiotics for her. and thats great we are picking up wormer for the horses this week, do they make special goat wormer or would we just give her a small amount of regular horse wormer which doesn't really make alot of sense, but i figured i'd ask anyway.

i'm off to read all your links now and favorite them for my mom to read as well when she gets home.
 
#11 ·
i also as anoter question, should we be milking her just in case and just bottle feed the kids afterwards? if she is pregnant that is. and she isn't fat by any means she's actually quite skinny but big the belly, her little hips bones are all sticking out and her back bone is poking up.
 
#13 ·
well it's been about 2 hours since the sac popped out and we've had hardly any progression. mom will be here in 5 minutes, and i've been calling vets all over the place, none want to come see her, and think that i'ts not a problem as it can take up to 3 hours, but another vet i called said she needs assistance now but he's to far away, and was prepared to instruct me on how to help pull them out, when mom gets here i will probably call him back and have him help us. i do hope all goes well.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Good luck with the kidding!

Twins and triplets are normal, singletons can be more of a prob. You don't need to milk her and bottlefeed unless you want the milk yourself. Milking and bottlefeeding maximizes milk production (nursing, she will only produce as much milk as her baby will drink) and also it helps with the spread of many milk born diseases (if you pasteurize the milk).

Also, goats are a dairy breed, like cows, it's not bad for their spine and hipbones to be prominent even when they are in very good weight. They are built differently than horses, a prominent topline is normal. She doesn't look underweight from what I can tell in the pictures (which admittedly isn't a lot, since she is laying down).

Since I assume you will let her nurse the babies, you need to make sure she is getting free choice alfalfa hay in her diet. A BoSe injection after the delivery is a good idea, and a calcium supplementation for the first few days will prevent ketosis.

ETA: You posted while I was still typing. If you have not had any progress in 2 hours since the bag appeared it is a VETERINARY EMERGENCY, she has the kid stuck - again common with pygmies and their little bodies. Find a vet to get there NOW, if no one will come search the computer for goat breeders in your area and see if someone can come out and midwife. Do NOT try to pull the babies yourself, most often goat kids actually need pushed back in and internally repositioned. You just try to pull it you WILL end up with a prolapsed uterus. Please get someone in your area that knows what they are doing out there ASAP.
 
#17 ·
we are waiting on our large animal vet to call us back on if he is on the field in our area, if not we are going to load her up and take her in. i definitely think it's a single one, and he's no longer moving around, not sure if thats normal but i just have a feeling we've lost him, so mainly trying to save our little nanny.
 
#20 ·
If it's breech, I would go in and try to adjust the kid. Goats DO NOT take that long. Normally they can kid without assistance, but since it's her first time.. The prognoses does not sound good. I'm hoping for at least a healthy mom.

As for the coughing, it may be a respiratory infection. Or, as Indy said, lungworms. I can dig up the vaccines we give our goats for your guidance. We also give a supplement for vitamins/minerals they may not get in their usual diet. For a milking mother I would get a high protien dairy goat feed to keep producing milk (for baby). We give Southern States pellets/sweet feed.. I do suggest Purina Goat Chow/Purina goat show feed. TSC no longer carries it in my area. e.e

I'm wishing you luck and good thoughts.
 
#23 ·
i come bearing sad news, the babies were way to big for her, and we are pretty sure there were 2, all the vets were on call and to busy to come to us, and by the time we got her up there, it was best just to have her euthenized. and so we did. sad news, and it was due to irresponsibility of breeding the goat to a billy that was way to large for the doe, on top of it being her first babies.
 
#25 ·
Um, no.

It was because someone who didn't know the first thing about goats decided to buy a pregnant doe. :?

You're responsible for her death and the death of the kids, not the buck. You need to learn to accept culpability for things, instead of constantly shoving the blame off on others.
 
#28 ·
Dadgum SR, how old do you think the OP is? Her mum got the goat, her mum was gone at work, she beening a young woman (teen) did the best she could. Back off the laying of the blame.
Posted via Mobile Device
The OP is an adult. I believe she is actually 19.

Why is it wrong to point out facts that are being neglected? It is OK for the OP to lay the blame on someone else (the buck and the person who bred the doe to the buck).
 
#27 ·
Even bred to a larger buck, the kids will not exceed size in the womb that a doe can carry and deliver. They are like horses in that respect.

I believe the loss of the doe and kids was more likely due to the kid being stuck for 2+ hours before vet attention was sought.

I am sorry for your loss, but this is seeming to become a recurring theme with you - please, please, do not bring home any more animals that you are unprepared to provide care for.
 
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