Common Goat Problems

[mikey]

Blackleg:
infection initiated by trauma of the body and oral muxosa.Cases in larger ruminants maybe source of infection in the area.
Symptoms:
sudden deaths in acute cases,less acuate,depression,fever,rapid respiration and suspected ruminatism,swelling in thigh and leg muscles (typically not painful).Crackling sensation of palpation of swelling due to gas in tissues,lameness in affected limb.
Prevention:
Vaccination,cremation of dead carcasses,early isolation and treatment with massive doses of antibiotics.

[mikey]

Tetanus:
direct infection due to the introduction of a organism in open wounds.Castration,old ulcerating wounds,dehorning complications.Not contagious to other livestock.
Symptoms:
early stages,rigid and stiffness of muscles.Gait will be off.Late stages,tetanic convulsions,prolapse of the 3rd eyelid,stiff tail,head and neck thrown back,bloat and other nervous signs.
Prevention:
treat open wounds with a oxidizing antiseptic until completely healed.Always use clean instruments in casteration and dehorning.Some farmers give a injection of antibiotics prior to casteration as a safety measure.

[mikey]

Pinkeye:
is a condition where the eye clouds over and becomes opaque in colour.Some research indicates that a lack of vitamin A in the diet may play an important factor in the onset of pinkeye.
Symptoms:
the eyes becomes watery,clouiness of the eyes is usually noted within a short period of time.There is no cure but several remedies for pinkeye,like the common cold it will run its coarse.
Treatment:
oxytetracycline,oxytetracycline of penicillin used in conjunction with eye drops.Treatment used to prevent secondary infection from taking hold,The area around the eyes should be treated daily,wash with a soft,damp disposable cloth at least 3 times per day.
Caution:
pinkeye is contagious to humans as well as other livestock.Persons handling a goat(s) with pinkeye should be extremely careful.Left untreated will lead to blindness.Flies can spread pinkeye from 1 goat to the entire herd.Separate the infected animals.Pinkeye in goats is different from pinkeye in cattle.There is one old fashion treatment for pinkeye and that is flushing the goats eyes with vinegar and water mixture 3 times daily.Wash your hands with vinegar to kill the bacteria or alcohol after handling infected livestock

[mikey]

Lice Infestion:
direct or indirect contact with infected animals through environment or facilites.
Symptons:
constant scratching and rubbing to relieve itching and irritation,scrufy coat (dandruff) and encrustion of exudate with scabby deposit.loss of hair,raw skin and bruises in severe infections.Goats become unthrifty.poor thriving,weak and anemic.
Prevention:
use insecticide,Asuntol,Ciodrin,Diazinon,Neguvon,Supona,Nankor.Use in a dust or solution form,one should repeat the treatment in 10-14 days to kill the nymphs that hatch out.Also spray pens and litter.Isolate treated goats from untreated goats.
By:Special Thanks to the Philippine Govt.for this information.(support the goat)

[mikey]

Mange;
direct and indirect contact with infected animals.
Symptons;
marked itchiness and irrition with animals constantly rubbing or licking the affected areas,maybe patchy or generalized.Skin becomes hairless,thickened or scabby.
Prevention;
periodic examination to detect cases,regular spraying with acaricides such as malathion,trichlorfon,fenthion,diasinon,crotoxyphas,coumaphos.Interval of treatment should be 7-10 days with 2-3 applications to destroy mites that may have hatched after each treatment.
By;Special Thanks To The Philippine Govt.

[mikey]

Bloat: kinds of bloat;
green legume bloat-from eating fresh chopped green grasses.
hay legume bloat-from eating whole chopped,ground or pellet grasses which is conducive to bloat.
free gas bloat-the inability of the animal to eructate usually associated with systemic disease or due to foreign bodies with escape of gases and favor its accumulation.
grain concentrate bloat-from feeding bloat producing concentrates such as corn,soybean,barley.

Symptoms;
RETENTION OF GAS IN THE RUMEN,INCREASED INTRA-ABDOMINAL OR INTRA-THORACIC PRESSURE CAUSED BY INTRACTIONS OF PLANTS,ANIMALS AND MICROBIAL FACTORS.DISTENTION OF THE ABDOMEN.ANIMALS BECOME UNEASY,MAY ALTERNATE BETWEEN STANDING AND RECLINING POSITIONS,BREATHING BECOMES DIFFICULT AND SHALLOW.RUMINAL MOVEMENT IS PROMINENT.

PREVENTION  and TREATMENT;
good management and medicinal regiment in feeding avoid grinding the hay or other components too finely.Stomach tube should be passed into the dorsal part of the rumen to remove any free gas.Administer 0.5-1 litres of mineral oil or vegetable oil

CAUTION;goats have been known to chock to death on mineral oil,mineral oil has no taste,in NORTH AMERICA many goat farms add BAKING SODA to the feeds and your goats will never get bloat,prevention is always the best management system too follow.The goat usually dies within 24 hours,if not treated.
By;Special Thanks To The Philippine Govt.       support the goat

[mikey]

Acute Ingestion of Grain Overload:
non-contagious
Symptoms:
signs appear fron 10-36 hours after dietary changes.Depression,loss of appetite and abdominal distention causing pain and discomfort.Diarrhea develops,rapid respiration and pulse,weakness,coma and death.
Prevention:
avoid sudden dietary changes.Treatment is generally unsatisfactory.Early cases may respond to high antibiotic levels given orally to reduce population of acid forming bacteria (acidosis).Indigestion maybe treated with anti acids like sodium bicarbonate,magnesium carbonate or magnesium hydroxide given orally in warm water 1 gram/kg. of body weight to neutralize rumen acidity.Systematic acidosis requires intravenous injection of acid neutralized like 5% sodium bicarbonate repeatly given.
By: Special Thanks To The Philippine Govt.         support the goat:

[mikey]

Dehydration:
in baby goats,this is usually the result of a prolonged battle with diarrhea.There are numerous other causes relating to sodium,potassium.The kid may appear unthrifly,the skin will lose its elasticity,if severe,the eyes will be sunken.Dehydration is always a very serious situation.,not only must you restore the fluid levels to the proper amount.One must deal with the diarrhea.Fluid level,one can do this by oral fluids,buy a commercial prepared mix,or make your own at home with salt and soda mixed with coconut water.

[mikey]

Diarrhea (neonatal)
always regard diarrhea as a SYMPTOM of more basic illness which can take many forms.We need to start treating the symptom right away so things do not get out of hand.We need to be constantly trying to discover the real root of the problem.This can be an organism,environment factor or something as simple as too much milk.We have to rely on certain clues based on experience to help us figure out what is wrong and what to do about it.Iteams for treating diarrhea,kaolin pectin,pepto-bismal,summet,terramycin,scours tablets,there are a broad spectrum of injectable antibiotics.
Prevention:
make sure the kid is not overfed or underfed.
give the mother vitamin a/d 3 weeks before kidding.
cleanliness is real important,careful cleaning of birthing stalls,,bedding,bottles,udders to eliminate ingestion of organisms wherever possible.
cut milk amounts in half at the first sign of loose bowels,for 1 or 2 feedings only.

[mikey]

False Pregnancy:
false pregnancies are fairly common in goats.If you raise any number of goats you will probably see 1 or 2 cases in your lifetime.
Symptoms:
udder enlarges as in a normal pregnancy,but usually does not fill up with milk.The doe may search for or call for the missing kid.The uterus and stomach may increase in size and/or fill with fluid,but will contain no fetus.This accumulation may be carried past the normal 5 months and spontaneously expelled.
Treatment:
better to do nothing,do not milk her,do not increase or reduce her feed.Do not give her an orphan kid  to try and raise.Again,do nothing.Watch for uterine infections and mastitis.Do no attempt a breeding if the doe is still expelling fluid from the uterus.

[mikey]

Foot Scald,Foot Rot & Founder:
foot scald is termed as the onset of Foot Rot and is caused by improper levels of copper and sulfur in the goats diet.As the scald progresses into rot,one will notice a foul smell and may see some discharges from the hoof area.This needs to be treated as qucikly as possible.There are a number of treatments used to correct hoof rot,most common is to trim away the rotten part of the hoof,using care not to trim away good tissue.Scrub the area with a copper wash consisting of 2 tablespoons of copper sulfate and 1 tablespoon of vinegar mixed into 1 litre of water.You can also apply copper sulfate powder directly to any lesions or scabs and leave covered for at least 24 hours.In addition to the above treatment.prepare a solution of a 1/2 teaspoon of copper sulfate and 1 teaspoon of dolomite lime mixed with 2 teaspoons of vitamin C powder,give to the goat(s) for 2 days.Check your feeds to make sure your goats are getting the proper amounts of copper and sulfur and adjust accordingly,if these amounts of minerals is not properly adjusted,the foot rot/foot scald will return.
Founder:(laminitis):
shows up as a sudden lameness where the feet are warm or hot to touch.Causes for founder are basically low magnesium or sudden intake of high protein,(sudden change in diet etc.)Treatment basically giving affected goat 1 or 2 tablespoons of Epsom Salts and adding Dolomite Lime to the feed.Once the mineral ration has been stabilized with proper balance,founder should not be a problem.
Note:dolomite lime for animal use only,do not use dolomite lime that is used for farming,they are different.
By: Goatworld U.S.A.

[mikey]

Floppy Kid Syndrome:
newborn kids seem to do well for a few days after birth,then start to show depression and weakness of limbs that progress to flaccid paralysis,drunken appearance.No signs of diarrhea or elevated temperature,possible distension of the abdomen.
Possible cause,too rich of the dams milk,or E Coli.
TREATMENT #1:
remove kid from source of milk immediately for 24-36 hours,dissolve a teaspoon of sodium bicarbonate in a glass of water.With a syringe administer between 20 and 50 cc of the solution orally.Do it slowly so the kid has time to swallow.Repeat the treatment at 1,3,6,12 hours from initial treatment.Feed electrolytes as alternative until returned to milk.Also administer a wide spectrum antibiotic to prevent secondary bacterial infections.
TREATMENT #2:
treatment is one half tsp. baking soda,mixed with electrolytes and one half teaspoon Pepto-Bismol.Repeat in 6-12 hours.Not required to pull from mothers milk from this solutions perspective.
TREATMENT #3:
if the kid can walk,but is wobbly give 2 cc long acting penicillin orally and 500 mg thiamin (vitamin B1).The B1 is mixed with the penicillin,is imperative to recovery.This should work in 6 hours.If the kid is comatose,give 5 cc 50% dextrose (molasses will work) orally and keep warm.Give the penicillin and B1 for 3 days once a day.

Thanks to J.Mauldin for the help on this one.Thanks buddy.

[mikey]

Caprine Arthritic Encephalitis  CAE
CAE is a chronic joint disease in adult goats,in the past dairy breeds were most commonly associated with CAE,now with crossbreeding between dairy and meat breeds,CAE is showing up in these breeds.
SYMPTOMS:adults with visible signs of CAE often have swollen over sized knobby knees,sitting down is painful,goats do not wear the hair off their knees,smooth knee pads may be a indication of CAE.Does may have hard udders, sometimes without any milk.Fatal pneumonia,progressive crippling arthritis in older goats.A doe can infect her kids through infected colostrum.Symptoms with kids will usually show up in 1 to 4 months of age.Encephalitis seizures, usually kill infected kids quickly.
Goats can be infected with CAE their entire lives and never display visible symptoms.This disease is seen more in adult goats.CAE is also called the silent killer,can be very costly to goat producers.
I am not sure if they test for CAE in the Philippines.

SUPPORT THE GOAT:

[mikey]

C.L. Contagious Abscesses:
contagious abscesses (CL) is caused by Corynebacterium of several types,spread by contact with the pus from a draining "lump".Should the bacteria get into the lymph nodes,the goat may develop new abscesses for months or years to come.Abscesses can grow on internal organs and kill the goat.External abscesses are ugly,but the goat may stay in good health otherwise.Occassional abscesses will develop inside the udder,this milk should not be used for humans.There is no cure for C.L.A good program of cleaning the ripe abscess with rubber gloves and cleaning with tincture of iodine,isolating the goat can reduce the incidence of abscesses in the herd.Abscesses caused by imbedded foreign particles or small cuts infected with Staphlococcyus,C,pyogens,are not a contagious herd problem.
By: American Meat Goat Association

[mikey]

Abortion
1301



Our doe just had an abortion (or delivered dead babies), her udder is very hard and I can’t get any milk out; what is going on?


You have worked very hard for a couple of years to get Suzie Q raised up and bred and you were so eagerly looking forward to watching her with her first little ones only to have her abort. All you have to show for it is a couple of dead little things that you have to dig a hole for. She doesn’t feel very well, refuses to eat; her new little udder is hard, sore and she doesn’t want you messing with it. You have kicked the dog, blamed your spouse, yelled at the kids and, when no one was looking, had a little bit of a cry.
And if you think that that is bad, consider this scenario: You have developed your herd to the point where you now have thirty or so does, all with real good breeding, good udders, wonderful personalities and all that. It is delivery season and almost all of them have delivered stillborn or very weak kids; you have an obvious epidemic on your hands—a crisis not only for the goats but also for your own sanity.

In any of these situations, it is easy to become totally overwhelmed. You’ve looked at books, talked to sympathetic friends and called the vet. But you still can’t make heads or tails out of the whole mess. All the descriptions of the diseases which can cause abortion are so confusing and you discover they’re talking about cows anyhow. But you know you have some horrible bug crawling around your farm wrecking havoc on everything in sight.

In this introductory section we will try to:


Familiarize you with the causes of abortion or weak kids
Acquaint you with some of the options
Cover some of the causes of reduced milk supply that can accompany an abortion
Help you develop the confidence to overcome the problem and get on with the enjoyable task of raising goats

Start by reading all the way through this first section. One of the reasons for trying so hard to present a unique discussion of this topic is that we have been down this abortion epidemic road. The learning process was very agonizing. We may not be able to hit upon an exact diagnosis for you, but hopefully we can ease the frustration just a little bit. Having a look at a broad overview of the topic is a much better way to start than to dive deeply into each specific disease.

Causes of abortion, a preliminary overview
An abortion or the delivery of very weak kids that have little chance of survival can be the result of serious generalized infections of the dam wherein the abortion is only a "minor" or secondary symptom. These diseases include:

Anthrax
BVD
Contagious caprine pleuropneumonia
IBR/IPV
Listeriosis
Mucormycosis

There are several infectious diseases where abortion is the primary symptom; these are generally considered as diseases of the reproduction process and frequently occur in epidemics known as an "abortion storm." These are the things that generally send shivers through all livestock producers and cause millions of dollars in losses to the agricultural community each year. And, unfortunately, some of them are rather frequent visitors to the goat raiser. If you have multiple abortions in your herd, chances are pretty good that the cause will be found in this short list.

Aspergillosis
Brucellosis
Campylobacter fetus (Vibrio or vibrionic abortion)
Chlamydial abortion
Epididymitis (Brucella
Leptospirosis
Nocardiosis
Salmonellosis
Toxoplasmosis
Trichmoniasis

The following deficiencies can lead to abortion, weak or stillborn babies:

Caloric deficiency
General nutritional deficiencies
Hypoprogesteronism
Iodine deficiency
Manganese deficiency
Protein deficiency
Vitamin A deficiency
White muscle disease

Poisonings can also be the cause of abortion:

Nitrate/nitrite poisoning
Selenium poisoning
Sweet clover poisoning
Western yellow pine poisoning

There are a few other, rather weird miscellaneous disorders that can cause these problems but which don’t fall into any neat, tidy category:

Border disease (Hairy shaker)
CNS congenital anomilies
Myopathies, general
Myodysplasia
Rift Valley fever

Make a note as to when the abortion takes place. These periods are generally referred to as the first third, middle third and last third of gestation. Furthermore, an "abortion" may show up at the end of a very normal appearing pregnancy, causing delivery a few days early or on time but with stillborn or weak offspring or a fetus which has obviously been dead a long time and which probably have to be manually removed.

And now for a further complication of the problem:
Abortions or the delivery of dead/weak kids are frequently accompanied by severe problems in milk production. Some examples: the doe may never produce any milk (not a single drop!); she may appear at first to have some milk and then dry up; she may produce just a small amount of milk; she may produce a lot of milk, have no babies to take it and have a rapidly growing and very painful udder. It may be nearly impossible to determine if the problems with the udder are related to the disease which caused the abortion; in some cases they will be and in others they may not. (Now your vet won’t talk to you that way, will he/she?) Nevertheless, you will have to deal with the problem.

And for a final complication: it is relevant to ask what percentage of the herd is affected? Obviously, if you own only one doe and she has an abortion, you have a 100% abortion problem, but it would be hard to make guesses about the infection rate. But if you have 100 does and only one abortion, you can be fairly confident that you are not dealing with a serious infectious disease. You would, therefore, begin to look elsewhere for causes. But when you start having numerous abortions within a large herd, then the matter becomes grave. You have to start puzzling out which of the many causes is creeping through your herd like an invading army. You will want to enlist the aid of a qualified diagnostic laboratory to test the fetus, the afterbirth and the dam for indicators of the more common abortion-causing diseases. You may, depending on the results, want to test all members of the herd. By the time this whole process is over, you will learn a lot about disease, antibodies, titers and all sorts of technical terms you may have never heard of before.

Now, let’s take a moment to summarize what we have covered so far:


In using the term "abortion" we are talking about a large number diseases or disorders which can include the delivery of dead or weak offspring.
The defining event can occur at any time during the pregnancy and may also be the culmination of a gestation of normal duration.

The causes of abortion include:


Generalized infections
Infectious diseases where abortion is the primary symptom
Deficiencies
Poisonings
Miscellaneous

An abortion is frequently followed by problems in milk production, which may or may not be related to the cause of the abortion.
The percentage of the herd affected by abortions may be helpful in determining the cause and the level of response to it.


General treatment considerations

When you have an abortion or delivery of stillborn or extremely weak kids, you should do as much as you can to try to discover the cause. A fetal death in late pregnancy is almost always infectious in origin; if more than one doe aborts, then you definitely have to consider the presence of a disease. In these cases, the fetus, afterbirth and blood from the doe should be submitted to a diagnostic laboratory by your veterinarian.
Abortions in early gestation are fruently due to the ingestion of toxic substances from plants or environmental contaminants. Other non-infectious causes include: malnutrition, Vitamin A deficiency, crowding, injury, fatigue, shock, drugs (including some wormers), poisons or chemicals.

In an abortion, there will not be the usual enlargement and discharges from the vulva. There will be little falling of the sides by the root of the tail. Frequently, there will be no preparatory signs whatsoever, especially if early in the pregnancy.

After an abortion, the afterbirth and bedding should be burned. She should be isolated from other members of the herd until a diagnosis has been completed. Treat her just as if she has delivered, with lots of "TLC." The abortion causes page may suggest some treatment measures for specific abortion-related diseases. Otherwise, give the doe a long-acting broad spectrum antibiotic such as LA200® or 48hr penicillin. Taking her temperature may provide some information about the seriousness of an infection (but not always). If she has a high temp or is in obvious pain, she can be given aspirin or other pain killer as recommended by your vet. Symptomatic treatment of other signs such has runny eyes or lameness may help her feel better.

If she has an infection of the uterus, that should be treated aggressively with Nolvasan® suspension or uterine boluses.

Pay careful attention to the cleanliness of the tail, vulva and back of the udder, keeping discharges frequently cleaned off.

Nutritional needs should receive careful attention. If she will not be producing milk, you will want to avoid large amounts of high protein feeds; but a well-balanced ration should be provided. It is extremely important that she not go "off feed" (stop eating) at this time of high stress. Make sure that she has access to her "favorite" treeats as well as leaves, branches, fresh grass, balanced concentrate ration and the like. If in doubt, it is much more important that she continue EATING than that she eat "properly." For once she stops eating, the situation can become grim real rapidly. If she has surviving babies to feed or if you decide to milk her, or at least to try, then she should receive a normal diet.

Pay attention to her general health. Has she been recently wormed? Does she need to be treated for liver flukes? Parasitic infections seem to blossom during times of stress.

Finally, there are some situations where it is probably best not to rebreed a doe who has aborted due to a serious disease. Even worse, the owner should consider removing from the herd a doe who could be a carrier of a serious infectious disease. These decisions are best made in consultation with your veterinarian.


For help in sending things to a lab, click HERE
DIMINISHED MILK PRODUCTION


Following an abortion or a difficult delivery, particularly if there are no surviving kids, a common sequela is a failure to produce a normal supply of milk. There may even be a total lack of milk production. This situation has to be "played by ear," since the udder may completely dry up no matter how hard you try. On the other hand, by keeping at it and gently mlking her two or three times a day, you can sometimes nurse the udder back to full (or near full) production.
For information purposes, the following is a list of some of the diseases which can cause a drop in milk production. Any of these can occur in combination with an abortion or unsuccessful delivery. In fact, the digestive disorders such as displaced abomasum, indigestion, etc. do occur quite regularly following a difficult delivery ("hard pull"): (The page numbers can be searched for, where the topics have been completed)


ANAPLASMOSIS 8022, 8070
COBALT DEFICIENCY 5011
COPPER DEFICIENCY 5021
CRYPTOCOCCOSIS 8160
DISPLACED ABOMASUM 8300
DISTENSION OF ABOMASUM 8304
DYSTROPHY CALCIUM, PHOSPHORUS, VIT D 5141
FOOT ROT 2031
GASTRITIS 8292
HARDWARE DISEASE 8280
INTESTINAL TORSION 8336
KETOSIS 1341
LEPTOSPIROSIS 8610
LIVER FLUKE 4351
MASTITIS, COLIFORM 1466
MASTITIS, MYCOPLASMA 1466
MYXEDEMA (THYROID) 8574
PERITONITIS 8360
PHOSPHORUS DEFICIENCY 5061
POSTPARTURIENT HEMOGLOBINURIA 1366
SALT DEFICIENCY 5161
SIMPLE INDIGESTION 8244
TORSION OF ABOMASUM 8308

 


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