I recently had to treat one of our bucks for pneumonia. I spend a lot of time with our goats so I know them so well I can almost always tell immediately when one of them just isn’t “right”. I noticed as soon as I walked outside to his pasture that he was not his normal, curious self. He was standing away from the other goats in the pasture with his head down, tail drooping and his back hunched up. He was coughing off and on, had a raspy sound to his breathing and had a slight nasal discharge. The very first thing I always do when I suspect a goat is not well is take their temperature. It is the first step to determining what might be wrong with them. A goat’s temperature is taken rectally, (don’t forget to lube the thermometer). A normal temperature for a goat is between 101.5 and 103.5. Though on a warm day a goat could have a temp of 104 and still be perfectly healthy. My buck’s temperature was 106.3 on this particular day, he was definitely sick!
I gave him a good dose of Poly Serum, started him on Tylan200 (an OTC antibiotic that has proven to be very effective against respiratory bugs) and some banamine for pain and fever reduction. The next day his temperature was back to normal, the nasal discharge was mostly gone and he was no longer coughing. He still was not completely back to his old self but there was a definite big improvement. It is often tempting for goat owners to stop antibiotic treatment as soon as their goats seem better, but this makes antibiotics less effective and risks the goat to a relapse in illness. It is very important to continue antibiotics for the recommended length of time they are supposed to be given. Today is the last day of his antibiotic treatment and I am sure if he knew he would be most happy this will be his last injection for awhile. I will follow up the antibiotic treatment with some Probios.
He is now back to his old self, looking for treats, peeing on his beard and chasing the girls. I believe catching this early contributed greatly to his quick and successful recovery. If you are new to goats and would like some information on signs to look for when your goats might have health issues that need addressing, you may find the post below helpful.
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1 month ago
5 comments:
First, glad your buck is doing better. Thanks for all the information on treating sick goats, very useful and I'm sure I will refer to it often. We have been very lucky with our little herd, 2 boer does and 1 pygmy doe along with 1 pygmy buck, no signs of sickness since we had them. Thanks for all the great information.
Chris
Thank you for the goat info because Mike and I are fairly new goat owners so we're on a big learning curve. Glad you've got your buck on the mend.
I'm glad your goat is doing better! What a scary thing to have an animal sick.
Linda
http://coloradfarmlife.wordpress.com
Wow! Good job, Jenn.
You know, it seems our bucks do not get sick all that often. But your post is quite the reminder that even the big healthy guys can be sick from time to time.
Thanks guys. He is doing fine now, back to his old self. I think the drastic, quick weather changes we have had did not help any for sure, it stresses them and makes them more at risk for getting sick in my experience.
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