[maddy]

I gave my kids a dose of vecoxin as a precaution 3 weeks ago.  They are now 8 weeks old.  Yesterday I gave them Oramec and their first vaccination of Lambivac.  This morning one of the kids has bad runs.  Darkish colour.  What can I give him to bind him up abit.  Surely it can't be coxiddia?  May it be the wormer?  It would be a bit difficult to get a sample from him as its so runny.

[Melmarsh]

Why did you worm them ?? Did you have a problem ?? If not it would have been better to get a FEC ( feacal egg count) first before blindly worming ! That would also give you an idea as to whether you needed an anticoccidiostat. I would suggest you take a fresh sample of the poo to your vet and see if there is a problem or whether it's just grass ,if you have plenty of lush grass .

[Anke]

The majority of kids will not ever have any problems with cocci if your stabling environment is reasonably clean. The ones that have (in my experience the ones that may have been a bit slower on the colostrum take-up) get a dose of vecoxan if and when needed. Sometimes you need to repeat the dose after three weeks.

It is difficult to detect the "bad" coccidia in FEC, especially in older goats, as they can have a high number of non-harmful coccidia in their system. To differentiate between harmful and non-harmful coccidia is expensive and rarely done.

Re worming as said above - unless FEC indicates (and at this time of year it should really only be nematodirus), no need to worm.

Is the kid otherwise fine and bouncy? Temperature? Chest sounds ok?

Also remember that goats can get both viral and bacterial diarrhoea, just like humans... If they are on real milk I would continue with it, and if lots of diarrhoea put some rehydration stuff into the milk (like Rehydion), but not give any concentrate. Just hay. If on milk replacer I would just give bottle of warm water with Rehydion, then start again with diluted bottles and build up to your usual strength over a couple of days. Rea milk does not need to be diluted.

Hope it's nothing serious - have they had their Lambivac/Ovipast yet?

[tattycat]

Could try it with some plantain.....mine look for that if they have diarrhoea....hope all OK.