Baby goats with swollen abdomen..Help!

[chickengrl]

We have 2 new nigerian dwarf goat babies. They were born 4/24/2011. We have only had them about a week. They were weaned according to the folks we bought them from. We have been feeding them sweet feed and goat pellets mixed about 50/50. They also have hay free choice and we had alfalfa we were feeding it and today bought some timothy that was recomended by our vet. We have also been cutting some greens for them, mostly small saplings and brush type plants. We noticed yesterday that their bellys are really distended, to the point they are waddling some. They still seem to be eating and pooping fine. They don;t seem to "play" much, but not sure what is normal behavior for them. We also have a year old nigerian cross we have had 3 weeks. Our vet saw her and vaccinated, and her fecal showed worms. We will worm her tomorow. Any idea what is going on with the babies bellys? I have been reading, but am pretty lost so far. Please help!!

 

[shadowpaints]

sounds like it could be bloat dio you leave baking soda out for them?

 

[chickengrl]

uhhh, total newbie goat owner here. Do you just set it out in a dish? Will they know to eat some? I can put some out first thing in the morning. We have our horse vet coming Wednesday to vaccinate and a check up. Anything else i should do? Hold back the sweet feed and pellets? Thanks, really appreciate the help. I have a book on goats, but haven't had loads of time to read it.

t

 

[debilorrah]

Pics would really help alot. Goats are distended naturally, so I am not sure if you are seeing something normal or not.

 

[glenolam]

My first concern is that they are only 7 weeks old at this point and off milk. Typically, goats are dam raised until they are at least 8 weeks old or bottle fed until that time.

It's not the end of the world if they were weaned early, but definitely causes some concern. If they are off milk, I wouldn't try giving them some since it'll only upset their rumens more.

The baking soda is a great idea. You can give it one of two ways - the first is literally putting it in a dish or mineral feeder and most of the time they'll take it as they need it. Being as young as they are, though, I'd probably give them the baking soda the second way, which is to drench them with it. Put some baking soda in some warm water...enough to make a thick solution, but little enough so you can suck it into a syringe. I'd get about 6cc's worth and put the syring in their mouth as far back as you can and give it to them that way. Be careful not to put the syringe too far back and try to keep their head somewhat level so the liquid doesn't go down the air pipes, so to speak.

I would withhold the grain for now - how much are you feeding them? They really don't need much at all at this stage....grain, IMO, is more for lactating does, pregnant does, or goats you need to put weight on. That's just my opionion.

Are they on a coccidia treatment plan at all? The "typical" coccidia treatment that I give my goat kids is 1cc/5# of DiMethox 12.5% the first day and then 1cc / 10# days 2 - 5 and I do this at 3, 6 and 9 weeks old. If they are 7 weeks old and have never had a treatment, I'd start it now and do at least 2 "rounds" (start the 2nd round 2 weeks after the first round is completed).

Have the kids had a CD&T shot? If not, you'll also want to give them one of those and follow up with another dose about 4 weeks later. The dose is 2cc regardless of age/weight or breed.

Other than that, if they are eating/drinking/peeing/pooping fine, I'd just monitor them and do the stuff I mentioned above.

 

[elevan]

Since you're so new to goats I would really suggest that you go to the goat section of the sister site www.backyardherds.com
You'll learn a lot there.

I second the baking soda. Mix with a little water to form a dough that you can roll into balls or mix with maple syrup and drench them with it.

 

[babylotzahenz]

Horse Feed-Sweet Feed will eventually kill goats, there is too much Selenium in it. Regular STOCK sweet feed is okay. I use a medicated goat feed, it works well. I think worming would do them good and the baking soda is very important. Good luck. Our baby goat is very active, she bounds everywhere and climbs all over everything, as high as she can go.

 

[chickengrl]

Thanks for the help. i really need it! The vet came out and saw them last Wednesday and they got the CD&T shot, a fecal test and a good look over. She thought the bellies were probably fine since we did notice that they seem to get better overnight. We are still waiting on the fecal results. I have gone ahead and put the baking soda out(thanks shadowpaints) so they can have it if they need it. I am planning to start them on the coccidia treatment plan. (thanks glenolam) The vet also recommended the same thing as well. I have cut the sweet feed/goat food way back. A small serving in the morning more in the treat size portion. Plenty of hay and fresh water. Also have out a salt block. but after reading on BYH I now have out loose mineral for goats. They are eating it too! They are currently in our VERY large chicken run with the chickens, so they are eating way too much layer chicken food. Not at all ideal, DH will get them a separate pen ASAP. Sometime between his 60 hour work weeks. We got them a bit earlier then planned since the owners were going to take the 2 babies to the auction(probably why they weaned them so early). The year old doe we got because a guy was keeping her in a very small pen on the side of the road trying to sell her. Can't stand that sort of thing. Anyway, we have goats now and have a lot to learn rather quickly. Thanks for the help!

 

[chickengrl]

Quote:
we got the sweet feed for stock. It didn't specifically say it was for goats, but had a picture of a goat head on it.

The picture wouldn't lie would it? I would like to see our 2 little goats a bit more active. Seems like they would be more playful, but with no experience.

They have become a little less human shy since we spend time with them everyday. Thanks again!

 

[elevan]

Quote:
we got the sweet feed for stock. It didn't specifically say it was for goats, but had a picture of a goat head on it.

The picture wouldn't lie would it? I would like to see our 2 little goats a bit more active. Seems like they would be more playful, but with no experience.

They have become a little less human shy since we spend time with them everyday. Thanks again!

It's probably an All Stock Feed...it can be fed to almost any livestock critter but doesn't really have the proper nutrition for ANY livestock critter. It's good in a crunch, but you'll want to find something more suitable for the goats.