[McRennet]

I have three problems currently...

One, I have a goat who kidded on saturday and has two seemingly healthy kids (touch wood) however they are only drinking from one teat. the other side of the udder is big and heavy. I have tried milking the other side out yesterday, she was Not happy with me doing this. Tried again today and she didn't seem quite so annoyed with me. The udder itself is just large, no lumps, lesions etc and the milk is coming out absolutely fine, no lumps there either. Is this a quirk? The start of mastitis? How do I remedy?

Two, I have another pen that has 4 kids in, one of them has a runny back end, and two of the others have slightly loose droppings, soft, but not runny. All of them are bounding around and eating drinking fine. I'm thinking Coccidiosis? Anything else that it might be? Again, how do I remedy this?

Three, (phew, getting tired now) two of the same kids have a couple of very small scabs on one eyebrow. Not open, or pussy but they are there. There is nothing on them anywhere else, legs, mouth etc. Orf? Ringworm? Remedy!?

Gosh, what a load to pile on one request. Anything anyone can offer as advice is really appreciated! Also, now that I have brand spanking new home-bred kids can I hear what other peoples vaccinations schedules look like. I have two sets and both mums were vaccinated for Clostridia at 4 weeks prior to kidding however both kidded earlier than expected. The home bred kids are a different bunch to the four mentioned above, but they have all come from the same farm.

Looking forward to hearing the responses on this one!

McR

[wytsend]

Think you had better give me a ring .... probably have got the answers for you.

Having a number of enquiries right now for stock.... we need to decide what you want from me.

01647 231456

[little blue]

answer 1 - ours do this!  persist with your milking, as the udder is eased off, the kids often decide to drink from it anyway.

answer 2 - more questions!  Do they have plenty of hay?  what else are they eating?  Is it a particular colour, or very smelly?

answer 3 - not sure ... are they disbudded, or growing horns?  could just be that they have scratched/rubbed if its itchy, or knocked themselves.

good luck with them all anyway

[Brucklay]

1 - several case of that this year from twins - milked a bit (not easy with grumpy pygmy) now all sorted, once they need more milk

2 - same as little blue

3 - sound like me - first thinking the worst but more likely to be kid play fighting

Hope alls well soon

[Anke]

Re Cocci - if the droppings are NOT dark/black/possibly bloody it is unlikely to be cocci, but I would get them to the vet anyway. A quick acting antibiotic may sort them out. The problem with kids is once they are off milk it may be quite a struggle to get them back on. If it is just a dietary scour, a day or so with Lectade (vet will supply) will sort them out.

Also kids, even more so than lambs are just wild - so scrapes/bruises etc are part of goat raising. each of my disbudded kids will at least once have a bloody head in the first four weeks, as they have knocked off the scabs from the disbudding.... a quick spray with Plaster Tar spray will dry it off and they are fine.

Also keep easing the nanny's unused side out, or if you want the milk from her post-kids suckling - start stripping her out at the end of each day, and/or remove the kids at night time, take some off for the am milking, then strip out again at night. Or bottle the kids and completely milk the nanny - easiest for her to get used to you milking her, her not keeping it back for her kids and keeps the udder in shape too.

[jaykay]

My kids were drinking from the same side to start with and Ellie's udder was all out of shape. It seems to have resolved itself now without me doing much (stripped a bit the first couple of days) and the kids have sorted themselves out too!

Scours - with lambs sometimes just lots of milk causes this. Haven't had it in kids so hope Wytsend has more sensible advice.

Scabs and scrapes - yeh, probably just playing 

PS where are all the photos of these cute kids 

[McRennet]

Oh folks, thank you! I love these responses, they make me feel normal!

Have milked mum out a bit more tonight, but boy, was she cantankerous (that's a big word for me) about the whole thing! Will perservere.
As for the kids I believe it to be a mild case of Coccidiosis and they need worming anyway so am giving them Baycox and Panacur tomorrow.  They are no longer on milk, were weaned about a week ago hence they are hungry little buggers at the mo. they have plenty of super-duper hay and always fresh water. Currently on ad-lib hard feed too.
As for the wee scabs, I'm going to observe them and see what they do. At the moment, the scabs aren't doing much and given the amount of kisses and cuddles I have been giving them, I don't appear to have orf or ringworm!
I do have the vet coming out next Thursday to do a herd health check. Luckily he is actually interested in goats which is good!

Also constructing a climbing frame for the kids tomorrow out of logs, boy, do I know how to spend a bank holiday! Grenching kids, worming, splinters.....!

Keep them coming folks!

X McR X

[McRennet]

Oh and as for photos, being a new mum I have of course got ridiculous amounts of them! Can you remind me how to reduce the size of the photo?

McR

[little blue]

As for the kids I believe it to be a mild case of Coccidiosis and they need worming anyway so am giving them Baycox and Panacur tomorrow.  They are no longer on milk, were weaned about a week ago hence they are hungry little buggers at the mo. they have plenty of super-duper hay and always fresh water. Currently on ad-lib hard feed too.

Ad-lib hard food??  thats probably why they're scouring!
too rich, they're only little!

ok, I'm hardly experienced... just 4 kids in 2 years, but the only one who scoured was the one who began on hard food almost as soon as he was born!! the twins (now 5 weeks) are more into hay, straw, grass and have never had any probs.

[ballingall]

I take it the goat is a dairy breed? If she only has 2 kids, and has a lot of milk are the kids taking enough milk from her? You may need to milk her one a day to empty her udder fully in order to prevent mastitis. Doesn't sound like she has it just now- just lots of milk, and that she doesn't like being milked much!

Cocci can cuase loose droppings- you can get medication from the vet or from a good supplies shop (it is expensive stuff- but worth it). Cocci scour we have always found to be quite pale, and often a bit slimey (not pleasant!). I wouldn't give ad lib hard feed to kids as little blue says- a little amount is fine for them plus grass and hay until it is cold in the winter or if they are being kept in due to rain/bad weather.

How old are the kids if they are weaned?

[McRennet]

Gosh I have got you all worried!

They are having one 250 gram scoop of hard feed between 4 of them per/day. They don't seem over bothered by it, just a nibble here and there, mostly like the hay and playing.
They are currently in whilst we renovate part of the barn for them.
Because they are rescue (ish) cases I don't know their DOB but the lightest weighs 9kg and the heaviest is 15-16kg.

McR