HELP! Goat got into Chicken Grower/finisher and possibly in labor OR Bloat?

[Icedangel11]

Okay, and I'd have to give her the shots myself? Where would I put the needle in her? I've given dogs their vaccines before, but never a goat.

 

[Stacykins]

Okay, and I'd have to give her the shots myself? Where would I put the needle in her? I've given dogs their vaccines before, but never a goat.

Unless you want to pay a boatload to have a vet do them, most goat owners just give their own injections. Vaccinations are quite routine, and it is easy, so don't worry.

A vaccination is given via the subcutaneous (subQ) route. That means under the skin, but not yet into the muscle. The technique is raising up a small 'tent' of skin, and injecting into that.

This image shows some common injection sites.


This is actually a very short, informative video on how to do it. They start out by scrubbing the top of the bottle with a disinfectable, which is great technique. And they also scrub the site the injection is going on the goat, too.

Use clean, sterile needles and syringes for each injection. Do not put a used or dirty needle back into the bottle, or else it will contaminate it all.

 

[Icedangel11]

Oh, wow, I can do that. You'd think I'd find the vaccine at a TSC?

And would the Vaccine help the babies at this point, or would I need to vaccinate them separately after they are born?

Also update on Tea: Her vulva's lose again and she's regained the 'sunken' look. She's showing BIG signs of interest in the other goats' baby for once and her lip is curling up at everything. I thought I seen a bit of discharge, but couldn't get close enough to see for sure. But I did see her vulva twitch. Like an actual pulse twitch thing unrelated to her pooping.

Not going to get my hopes up about her having them today, though.

 

[H Diamond]

TSC Should have it. It will be in the Vaccine fridge as it's one that you need to keep cold. It' around $10 for a 50mL bottle. The bottle should say Clostridium Perfringens, Types C & D plus Tetanus Toxoid. Unless we are very wrong and she is still weeks away from kidding, you will need to vaccinate the kids to. Actually, without knowing her status, I would just do them anyway. Same dose every time, 2mL sq per animal per vaccination. Doesn't matter what size, always 2mL.

 

[Icedangel11]

Ahahah, dear heavens I hope we're not wrong!

On page 5 you can see pictures and video of her from yesterday.

Also, you mentioned needing a kid fix. How about this cutie? She's 1 week old and was born off farm, but she's adorable!

 

[Icedangel11]

So, can I get your guys' opinion on this?

I talked to a vet about possibly being able to disbud the little doeling above. And he said that disbudding is a 'big deal' and she'd have to be under general anesthesia.


That.. doesn't seem right? I thought Disbudding was simply pressing a hot iron to the horn buds to stop them from growing? Is he planning on surgically removing them or something??

 

[Stacykins]

So, can I get your guys' opinion on this?

I talked to a vet about possibly being able to disbud the little doeling above. And he said that disbudding is a 'big deal' and she'd have to be under general anesthesia.


That.. doesn't seem right? I thought Disbudding was simply pressing a hot iron to the horn buds to stop them from growing? Is he planning on surgically removing them or something??

Disbudding usually is pressing a hot iron to the horn bud area in order to kill it before it becomes a horn. When it is still a 'bud' is is an unattached lump of horn tissue, it hasn't started to grow really, or root down into the skull. The tissue can easily be killed stopping all horn growth. Dehorning is a very traumatic procedure, since once a horn is actually formed, it grows into the skull. It is painful, messy, and can lead to a bad infection if a vet doesn't do is properly. If he doesn't know the difference between the procedures, so he shouldn't be doing it to your little goat.

Don't get me wrong, using the iron is painful for the kids. Mine all get painkiller (banamine) before the ordeal. But general anesthesia is much more dangerous than the pain of the iron. It is easy for general anesthesia to kill an animal, if they go into cardiac and respiratory depression.

If you can't find another goat keeper who is skilled with a disbudding iron, using disbudding paste if your next best bet. Dr. Naylor's Dehorning Paste is available at TSC. There are some really good tips and tricks to using it here. I've never used it, but people have done so successfully without scur growth. IGNORE the first few posts in the thread where people are trying to scare others away. It does have useful information on using it (look for a post by Keren). I mean, disbudding with a hot iron can go horribly, horribly wrong, too! So yea, don't let the scare tactics of a few posters alarm you too much. If you do it carefully, then your kids will be just fine!

 

[Icedangel11]

I thought so. Why would you ever thing about dehorning a week old doeling?

I think I'll try the paste! She's an alpine/Pygmy(I ink Pygmy, anyways) mix so it should be just about the right time to apply the paste.

 

[Icedangel11]

Update on Tea: She went off food for a while, even her favorite treats, but has started munching again but much less than normal. I let her loose for a while, then moved her to a pen I forgot I had. It's about 7 X 7ish and has leaves and some young trees for her to eat. Hidden behind some underbrush. It's very private and quiet. It might encourage her to try and start pushing.

I don't think there is anything else I can do right now. I'm not going to fuss with her too much. I'm going to go to the good will to pick up a cheap baby monitor and let that do the spying for me.

 

[Icedangel11]

So, the vet called me back with a quote on the cost of 'disbudding'.

260 dollars.

Yeah, he didn't know the difference between deHORNing and DisBUDDING. I've had enough 'bad' experiences with this vet on my chicken (She had a gurgle and he wouldn't test for MS or MG on my request because it'd 'take a battery of tests to do') and I lost a puppy that got bitten on the face (She was unconscious. When he thought I had an unlimited credit card the story was 'It can take four weeks to start to respond' but when he found out I was broke he decided 12 hours was enough time and put her down)

But after this I'm not messing with him again. He has lost a customer. Too much heartbreak in dealing with incompetent vets.