Goats, I guess I don't know much.

[()relics]

Sorry to hear about your goat. Its always rough to lose an animal no matter how many you have. I would have a vet do a post on the animal that died. He/she will be able to give you a cause of death. This may help you determine if the rest of your animals are at risk and may give you some preventative treatment options to reduce their risk of sickness. You have experienced the greatest risk of buying an animal at an auction or from a questionable seller...Buying a sick or unsound animal and it dying or passing some sickness on to the rest of your goats...I, personally, would never buy an animal at an auction...I have been tempted many times but the risk is too great.....Also remember any advice you get here or anywhere is based on the authors experiences, right or wrong....Your vet should be your first call at any sign of problems....I've seen alot of websites listed above but no one has listed the sister site: http://www.backyardherds.com/forum/index.php There are many very "wise" people that contribute there.

 

[dutchhollow]

You don't have to take the goat in to the vet, but do take a sample to have run to find out what you are dealing with. Lots of dewormers are useless on goats. And if you don't want to deal with parasites they are probably not the animal you want. If you have them in a pen you are going to use a lot of dewormer. If they are in a very large pasture most do OK with a few times a year. If you still have bottle jaw you are going to want to get them some iron (comes injectable from the feed store).

 

[RIRJen]

()relics--- The goat that died was not purchased from an auction. The one purchased from the auction is just a pet and is doing fine. (actually is my little side-kick) I

dutchhollow--- I got some from TSC and was giving her injections to help with the anemia. I thought that the problem was poisoning from an oak tree they were under, but I have mixed answers on wether or not oak leaves and acorns are actually poisonous. They have been moved to a different area reguardless.

I have plans to stick them on a regular worming schedule and I'm having a fecal done this morning. I can not afford to do a post on the animal that died, I live in Michigan if you know what I mean. She's dead and already buried and the other two are doing good.

 

[()relics]

Use a FAMACHA eye test. You will be able to easily tell if your goats are anemic. If they are extrememly anemic then worm them with a goat wormer, I use Safeguard, and follow your worming schedule. If they aren't showing signs of anemia you have some other problem.

 

[RIRJen]

()relics :

Use a FAMACHA eye test. You will be able to easily tell if your goats are anemic. If they are extrememly anemic then worm them with a goat wormer, I use Safeguard, and follow your worming schedule. If they aren't showing signs of anemia you have some other problem.

In my original post I wrote that I had given them valbazen, which is a wormer. I will be starting them on a regular dose of Safeguard and whatever other wormer that is needed once I get the fecal back and know what type(s) of parasites I'm dealing with. They are anemic (had also put that in my original post), but the two that are remaining seem to be doing well and with the injections I'm giving them and the wormer I think they'll be just fine.

Does anyone have a good recipe for grain mix? I'm thinking of making my own instead of buying the mill's goat feed.
Thanks!​

 

[cmjust0]

I'm really sorry to hear about your goat..

If the other two are anemic, you might consider drenching them with Red Cell. It's made for horses, but lots of folks have good luck using it to treat anemia in goats. An adult gets about 15ml/day for about a week.

As for wormers...Valbazen and Safe Guard are in the same wormer family...albendazole and fenbendazole, respectively, which are members of the "white wormer" family.

If you treat with the same family of wormer more than a couple of times in a row, your worms will build up resistance to that particular wormer -- if they're not already resistant to the "white wormers," which lots of worms are. White wormers are practically useless around here, for instance.

My suggestion would be to hit them with a white wormer for three days in a row to reduce your worm count, followed by a "clear" wormer within a week or so to (hopefully) clear them out pretty good. The clear wormers are in the avermectin family...ivomec, dectomax, double-impact, etc. Clear injectable formula wormers (Ivomec injectable, for instance) are usually dosed orally at 3ml/100lbs bodyweight.

You may even need to repeat that treatment in a month or so, if they don't "pink up" well enough after the first round.

Or...there's always Cydectin pour-on, used as a drench. I've done it myself and seen it done LOTS, but I don't recommend it as a general rule these days.. It contains something called "Aromatic 100," which is a solvent that's supposed to help the wormer med soak into the thick hides of cattle.. It's also used as a fuel additive, in paint thinners, varnish, industrial chemicals, etc.. Lots of folks consider Cydectin to be sort of the "nuclear" option, if all else fails. Just sayin...you might want to keep it in mind, just in case the white wormer+clear wormer+Red Cell doesn't work.

You might also consider jumping over to BackYardHerds and looking around.. The folks over there have a lot of good knowledge to offer.

Again...really sorry to hear about your goat.