Goats with Goiters??!

[FlockEweFarm]

I just very recently became part owner of 6 wonderful knuckleheads, all of whom had been living in pretty gnarly conditions,(think- mud bog/slaughter house/Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and you have the conditions. The Swiss/Toggenberg milker that I have is at least 20 lbs under weight, and everyone else is kinda scrawny. I did get a couple muttly looking wethers, and a nanny that I named "Spazz" because that is what she does, probaby because she was exposed to the constant slaughter by throats getting cut of critters all around her! I would at least do it out behind a barn, away from everyone!!
ANYWAY, Spazz and one of the wethers have growths on their necks where their dangly thingys are. The growths are getting bigger, and I was going to try and rope the wether and using a syringe and a large needle, drain it like an abscess, but if its something really bad, then perhaps he should go to the great bar- b-cue in the sky? I had even debated with my partner, removing the growth all together, but the previous owner assured us that he had been told by a vet that it just needed to be drained from time to time, though that doesnt sound like any vet in Flagstaff I have ever met. The vets up here usually go for major surgery, drug therapies, and extensive treatments that rack up the bucks, even on future food, so I am doubting that they saw a vet.
I need to know, what would you long time goaters do, what kind of goat is Spazz, and what do you call those dangly thingys?

 

[MandyH]

I know sheep get what's called Bottle Jaw when they are pretty wormy, I'm sure goats get it too. Look that up and see if that could be it? That's my best goat guess though.

 

[Smoky73]

The dangly thingies are called Wattles, just like on chickens

 

[FlockEweFarm]

Hi Kristen,! Worms arent real common up here due to the high altitude and the cold, but you know, that place that those poor critters were living was soo nasty that if there were worms up here, it would be there. Do you think ivermectin would be the way to go? I am milking the Swiss and slowly increasing her feed so as not to bloat her, and letting her graze and eat alfalfa and have salt and minerals,(which they all act starved for)that they want. If I dose them all with Ivermectin, should I toss the milk for a while?
The poor silkies that I got from over there had toenails soo long, they were grown up back into their feet! I have been having to slowly cut them back and feed the crud out of them as well. I wish that I could treat that guy the way he treated these poor critters.

They cost a bunch of money I didnt have, but I could not leave them, and my partner felt the same way, so now we are just trying to fix all the damage.

 

[FlockEweFarm]

Thanks Smokey, what do you do when they swell up to the size of a tennis ball? Can they be safely removed? I do have some surgery skills, but I do not want to hurt them anymore than they have already been hurt. Do you happen to have an idea of breed ballpark?

 

[MandyH]

We use some wormer that is $70 a bottle that's called Valbazen (I think), but worms are common in our area. We don't have much trouble with them, but that's because I treat proactivly. You can go to your local feed n seed and ask what they have that is more in the price range you want spend. That poor goat in that pic is pitiful. We have come home with MANY animals we didn't need, but were too sad to leave in their current living situaton. Kudos on saving them, but they always end up being money pits.

 

[Chatychick]

The goat you call Spazz looks to be part Nubian and probably crossed with either Boar or or Alpine as seh has what we call airplane ears. The lumps need to be checked by a vet as it can be CL and its contagious to people also if they rupture. Its not a good thing either and I would be for having it checked by a large animal vet. Boers are known to have it and some of the breeders dont care as they are raised for meat.
Goiters are caused by milk and usually and mostly seen in baby goats. and then they slowly go away as the milk is stopped. That is why I think its probably CL. Sorry for this type of news. Some cases of CL can be deadly to the goat if tis the type on the inside and then they die when it burst. Sometimes the lumps are on the outside and will rupture. Draining isnt what I would do. If it does rupture clean the area and treat as a open wound and use gloves and burn the paper towels and gloves.
Yes you did a good thing rescuing them and I am sorry to say what I have about them but this is just what it souonds like to me. Good luck

 

[MandyH]

Yeah, what she said. CL is Caseous Lymphadenitis and is highly ontagious among your herd as well as to humans. It will be nodules that form along the lymph system, in the nodes and exudes a green, thick, non smelling substance about the onsistency of cheese whiz (no I'm not joking) The lesions that are not visible are the ones that are deadly to the goat. They form in the liver and lungs and such. If that's what it is, they really need to be culled.

 

[FlockEweFarm]

You think Spazz is pitiful? Just wait until I post pictures of the supposed 6 month old Nubian doeling that we paid 250 for,(yes we are tenderhearted fools) and the poor milker. The baby is sure to be badly stunted, and it is truly pathetic. Yes, they are money pits, and what is sad, is that Spazz is probably pregnant, as is the milker and the Nubian nanny, and the kids are sure to be stunted and deprived. The 6 month old is soo small, I would swear she was maybe a 3 month old at most. AZ has some of the laziest livestock officers, because the previous owner should have been in a world of hurt. He ran ads on Craigslist asking outrageous prices for all of his animals with the cavaet that if they were not sold by a certain date, they were going to be killed and yes, sops like me wanted to see what kind of person would butcher a silkie or a OEG, and I got sucked in by the plight. We got all the ducks,(ick! ducks are stinky), 20 chickens and all of the goats except the billy who would have been a danger to my kids because he was just so big and aggressive. I couldnt save him, and the guy swore he was going to butcher and put him in the freezer, even though he was about 6 years old and peed on his own face!!

I wouldnt eat a burrito from that thing on a bet!

 

[FlockEweFarm]

Quote:
Thanks so much for your input, but what is CL?