Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats Blog - Triplets born - New baby pics

[Chirpy]

Wow ... I would have put that bench in with my goats in a second. That's a great playtoy! I'm thinking your little goatie just came down wrong and would have if it had been any other 'toy' also.

 

[ruth]

Thanks Chirpy - I thought it looked like a fun plaything too and put it in mid-day one day and by mid-day next day she'd broken her leg. Like I posted, DH was really mad (at me) and ran out there and I think he picked it up and tossed it over fence - it weighed a ton.

I'm starting to think there's something wrong with Bitsy that led to the broken leg. She's a half the size of the others and was the runt of the herd. She's coughed off and on since we got her and the breeder said it's normal for them to cough after running or playing but the other night she was laying in her own pee, was soaking wet, and was coughing and breathing very gurgly sounding. I sat and held her and woke up DH at 1:00 a.m. to help me clean out the kennel. I'm thinking of starting her on penicillin. Do you have any advice?? It seems she's just really fragile. I probably should not have picked her out and paid full price but I'm a sucker for the little guy.

I'm thinking of putting the bench back in for the others since they now seem really bored.

 

[dfchaser]

If there is a gurgle coming from the lungs there is a problem. One of my 3 weeks old developed a gurgle one nigh and the next day we got the vet out. She said we caught whatever it was very early and started her on a round of penicillin. I would call your vet and tell them what is going on and see what they suggest. After a few emergencies here when i call the vet i tell her what i have on hand and over the phone she will give me instructions on how to deal with it. Maybe yours will be nice and do the same with you. She and I think it is better to call and ask then to just start giving meds.

 

[ruth]

Quote:
Our vet refuses to see chickens and even said she didn't work on goats. When it broke it's leg I had to plead with her to see it - that setting a broken leg couldn't be much different than a dog or cat. She agreed and said she had seen a goat the day before so bring her in. She set the leg but said she did not know what they could or could not take or how to treat any illnesses. The nurse even commented on the goat coughing so badly and the vet said she'd heard they cough when laying down. I told her I had been concerned about the wet souding cough but she didn't listen to its lungs or offer any help. I've been doing some research and it seems penicillin is o.k.

I really wish we had a true farm vet around here that knew farm animals but it seems I'm going to be on my own for the most part.

 

[dfchaser]

Since you do not have one in your area, I would suggest giving one as close to you as possible a call. Even if you are unable to go out to them and they are unable to come out to you, having them to talk to about issues is a helpful idea. If you are interested in trying that, send me an email and I can give you my vets information. She is a goat specialist in NC (goats are basically her favorite animal so she pays close attention to them - and comes highly recommended)

 

[Akane]

We call up the big horse clinic north of here all the time despite the fact they refuse to drive that far to our place. They are the most knowledgeable and we have no good horse vets near us. Occasionally I end up calling them and then calling a local vet and repeating what I was told so they can come out and do it.

 

[ruth]

I'm going to check in Natchez tomorrow (Monday) to see if there are any vets there who treat farm animals. I'm going to need one. I know a lady here who once mentioned having to rush a cow to Natchez to see a vet so I'll find out who she uses.

Our local vet is so sweet but only here part time and is very young. She's honest and says she just doesn't know anything about chickens and little about goats. Her clinic is also a poodle parlor (dog grooming).

 

[ruth]

Bitsy is doing well and seems to be taking to life in house. She went back for her vet check up and her lungs were fine. We did discover she and the other goats have tapeworms so all are being treated.

Here she is in her recovery room. I take her out to visit her friends and to get some fresh air, sunshine and exercise each day.

Here are her friends on the infamous bench which hubby put back in pen. Decided no need to punish all because one got hurt. They really enjoy their bench. Everyone got new collars since I have to be able to catch them and give them their medicine. Not a fun or easy job by any means.

Edited to add: By the way, look how tall the grass has grown. Whoever said goats will keep your grass cut must not have owned goats. These won't eat so much as a blade of grass so now I have to get in their pen and mow the stuff that's knee high. The other day I was picking some of the weeds that the ducks love and the goats were coming over and taking it out my hands. I'm like "Hey, it's right here on the ground, pick your own."

 

[Henrietta23]

Thanks for the update Ruth! I love Bitsy's hot pink color.

 

[Haviris]

They are a cute group! I actually found my current vet due to a goat's broken leg (two goats actually). I came out one day to find one goat missing and my alpine doeling w/ a broken leg, as I'm talking to my mom on the phone in a panic I notice my boer wether standing with his leg slightly swaying. The vet I was using at the time didn't do broken legs (or emergencies, if it didn't happen during office hours, tough luck). So after a series of calls I finally found a vet that would treat goats and been using them ever since! They treat anything (I was using 4 different vets before them because I couldn't find one to treat everything).

Never did figure out what had happened, I found the missing goat laying near the creek dead, no marks or anything, just looked like she layed down and died. My poor alpine took it really hard, I thought she was going to starve herself to death, the boer seemed to be doing well, then dropped dead from a reaction to the penicillin. The alpine did get better and now you'd never know it'd been broken.