[xanthe]

Hi I have just joined and would like some info about sore mouth in one of my goats.  It is not Orf or scabby mouth, she has had it about a fortnight.  It is just under her bottom lip and looks more like a canker than the scabs that Orf pictures show.  She is a Boer goat about two years lives with an angora for the past two years, have had no problems, they are not near any other sheep, cattle etc.  She is eating okay and looks fine apart from this canker looking sore, they are not even sores more like a line of crusty skin.

[countrywoman]

Not had this problem with goats but remember horse having similar-sounding trouble which turned out to  be caused by eating hogweed which has caustic sap.  My goats eat a little without showing any ill-effects but if one overdid it maybe it would show up?  There are other plants with sap that causes rashes/blisters in animals and humans (Euphorbias for a start) so might be worth checking you can identify whatever they have access to.
 
Goats seem to have a tolerance for lots of otherwise dangerous weeds/plants but I think a little taken in with a balance of other stuff is okay - whereas too much of any one thing could trigger a reaction.  Plus, just in case it is relevant, have you used a wood preservative within their area? Creosote causes blisters on humans...
 
 

[Lesley Silvester]

I may be way off beam but do you feed sugarbeet? Mine often seems to wear their food although, tbh, it's usually only for a short while.