Lets talk about goats!

[cassie]

Either Pygmies or Nigerians would be fine, and for your purposes a couple wethers would be the best choice.

 

[campingshaws]

Either Pygmies or Nigerians would be fine, and for your purposes a couple wethers would be the best choice.

Thanks so much!

 

[RTFchickens]

I'm in Michigan and have a very friendly pet wether that I would donate to you. He is ND. You would just need to pick him up. He is healthy, and well cared for. He is almost a year old, and his mom is pregnant now. I need to make room for more babies.

Morning y'all! I'm reading my way through this thread and learning so much! But I'm getting impatient with myself, so now I'm jumping right in.

DH and I run a summer camp in south western Louisiana. We're on a 5-year plan for a farm program here. Last year we put in a garden and a small chicken tractor. This year we are getting a nice big coop! Too big, apparently... DH wants to add in another animal, and I chose goats. Here it our setup:

This is the backside of the building. Chickens will coop on the left side, and goats on the right. The middle section is a breezeway and viewing platform. Each housing section is 6'x12'. Is that enough barn space? We were already fencing pasture for the chickens, so the goats will just bounce along. I will have the feed either in the coop or in an enclosed porch area, so no goat access.

DH wants pygmies. Would this be the best breed for a camp program? We want pets, first (not meat or milk), and DH wants them tiny. Do wethers make the best pets?

I'm nervous about having adequate shelter, and friendly enough goats, more than anything else.

 

[lizardandchicks]

An I the only one ready to hop on a plane for this? https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...s-to-snuggle-with-its-baby-goats-this-winter/

 

[cassie]

An I the only one ready to hop on a plane for this? https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...s-to-snuggle-with-its-baby-goats-this-winter/

This sounds a whole like Tom Sawyer getting his friends to paint the fence.

 

[politicalcenter]

I am here to ask for some advice. I had a very severe outbreak of worms in my goat herd and just about every goat got sick and one goat (Buford) almost died. I mean he was very sick.

So I had some Ivermectin and I gave Buford a dose with a turkey baster and then put some Ivemectin in their drinking water. It has been a while and all of them recovered and all except Buford are healthy and gaining weight. Buford seems healthy but he is still very thin. He is butting heads with my other billy and he is eating and drinking. But he is skinny. I think he is a Nigerian.

How can I get some weight on him?

 

[prizepete]

I am here to ask for some advice. I had a very severe outbreak of worms in my goat herd and just about every goat got sick and one goat (Buford) almost died. I mean he was very sick.

So I had some Ivermectin and I gave Buford a dose with a turkey baster and then put some Ivemectin in their drinking water. It has been a while and all of them recovered and all except Buford are healthy and gaining weight. Buford seems healthy but he is still very thin. He is butting heads with my other billy and he is eating and drinking. But he is skinny. I think he is a Nigerian.

How can I get some weight on him?

I would Talk to a vet, Until you can talk to a vet, Is it possible to separate him when you feed? Because he is a little weaker he might not be getting enough food

 

[CLSranch]

Separate him and his feed with unlimited hay. Oats are good for putting on the weight. Don't change his diet dramatically. Or that'll make him sick and lose weight but slowly work it up. I'm not sure how goats take to oats. And a higher quality feed is worth the money for getting one up. I wouldn't feed everything Purina.

 

[H Diamond]

I am here to ask for some advice. I had a very severe outbreak of worms in my goat herd and just about every goat got sick and one goat (Buford) almost died. I mean he was very sick.

So I had some Ivermectin and I gave Buford a dose with a turkey baster and then put some Ivemectin  in their drinking water. It has been a while and all of them recovered and all except Buford are healthy and gaining weight. Buford seems healthy but he is still very thin. He is butting heads with my other billy and he is eating and drinking. But he is skinny. I think he is a Nigerian.

How can I get some weight on him?

So, let's start from the beginning. It's always good to start by getting a fecal test done by your vet or mail them in to http://www.midamericaagresearch.net for $5 a sample. That way you know what you're dealing with. If you did that, great!
Secondly, a turkey baster is an ok tool to deliver medicine I suppose as long as you measure it prior to using the baster. For that you need some type of syringe so you can measure cc's or ml's (they are the same thing) and get an exact dose.
Thirdly, putting it in the drinking water also doesn't give you an exact dose. You don't know how much each animal is getting. Is it water soluble? If not, it would just float on the top of the water.

I'm not telling you this to criticize, just to help for the future.

So now. .... You have 1 goat that is still thin. You need to get a fecal test done on him to see if he still has a worm load or not. If not, he may have some gut damage that needs time to heal. I also agree he may be getting shoved out from the feed, so feeding separately is a great idea. Go get a good balanced goat ration to feed him. Make sure between it and your hay he's getting a balanced calciumhosphorous ratio, so you avoid further complications. If it was severe enough, he may never be as robust as the others.
Check his eye membranes. Are they pink/red? If not, he may need some treatment for anemia.

 

[politicalcenter]

So, let's start from the beginning. It's always good to start by getting a fecal test done by your vet or mail them in to http://www.midamericaagresearch.net for $5 a sample. That way you know what you're dealing with. If you did that, great!
Secondly, a turkey baster is an ok tool to deliver medicine I suppose as long as you measure it prior to using the baster. For that you need some type of syringe so you can measure cc's or ml's (they are the same thing) and get an exact dose.
Thirdly, putting it in the drinking water also doesn't give you an exact dose. You don't know how much each animal is getting. Is it water soluble? If not, it would just float on the top of the water.

I'm not telling you this to criticize, just to help for the future.

So now. .... You have 1 goat that is still thin. You need to get a fecal test done on him to see if he still has a worm load or not. If not, he may have some gut damage that needs time to heal. I also agree he may be getting shoved out from the feed, so feeding separately is a great idea. Go get a good balanced goat ration to feed him. Make sure between it and your hay he's getting a balanced calciumhosphorous ratio, so you avoid further complications. If it was severe enough, he may never be as robust as the others.
Check his eye membranes. Are they pink/red? If not, he may need some treatment for anemia.

I have a microscope and I have learned to do my own fecal samples. I have watched them at feeding time and I think he is getting all the feed he wants. He didn't eat at all at first. I thought he was gone and I was just about ready to dig a hole. All the other goats look really good.

I have a place to separate him and he will be able to see the other goats and I will give that a go. I will also give him a good goat ration. I will also check his eyelids. I haven't done that for a while. I have been feeding them all stock and corn with hay.

Thank you for your help. How to I make sure the calcium phosphorus ratio is correct?


I have tried several worm medications and none seemed to work. That is why I tried Ivermectun. It is not marketed for goats so there was really no way to tell the dosage. I just figured the weight the same way a person would dose a cow and it seemed to work. He is still alive. This was a last resort because I was about to lose the whole herd. The rest recovered very well and are looking good.


I did an edit on this post to clarify the worm problem and I will follow your advice.

Once again...thank you.