[Daisys Mum]

Really pleased to hear that she is better

[Brucklay]

That's great - really glad to hear she's on the mend 

[goosepimple]

For those of you who could learn from this (as I have):
 
vet says that enterotox often happens when farmers don't introduce new foodstuffs gradually enough, just sudden change in diet can cause overeating / fermentation in the gut which produces massive gas stress, cattle sometimes need their stomachs pumped to get the problematic foodstuffs out. 
I had put out flaked maize for the goats and the sheep at lunch time - not a thing I do often but everyone seemed partic hungry the other day, hounding me for something so I put a bit out.  Our little goat must have helped herself a bit more than usual (perhaps liked the taste) and this resulted in the fermentation gas resulting in the problem.
 
If it is left too long it could become fatal so as Anke says, we were lucky.  Lesson learnt!

[wytsend]

Experienced goat keepers know how to change over feedstuffs................novices should allow up to 7-10days to switch from type of feed to another.   Always feed a lot of bulk such as readi grass, Just grass, mollichaff etc,  not many goats will readily eat Alfa A...it is Lucerne which can taste a little bitter.
Maize is not recommended on its own in any case.
When you buy new goats.......always get some of the feed the animal has been used to.....they are stressed at the change anyway so familiar feed is a comfort.

[Roxy]

My lot  love readigrass = its their favourite of all the chaffs etc.  I am always very careful, even if I have to change goat mix, if the shop has not got my usual sort.  I mix it with the usual feed until they are used to it.  Again, going into winter, I feed sugar beet, and introduce it gradually to the females.  I am a great believer in fibre, and bulk feeding, and always feed hay, even in summer  (although we have struggled for good hay this year as it was so wet last winter).

[Anke]

Actually enterotox is not always caused by too swift a change to new feed stuffs - I lost a 6-month old kid (vaccinated and all) to it last year, and there was no change in diet at all... he was dead in less than 24 hours. It was possibly caused by over-eating on green stuff, but again nothing out of the normal was offered and none of the others fell ill. (and I took him to the vet too, and he couldn't diagnose anything in particular, but gave him the usual AN, AI and VitB stuff anyway...)
 
Amanda - you have been lucky, but every goatkeeper - inexperienced or not - has kids that fall ill from time to time... Great to hear she is better.
 
PS.: My kids this year often leave the maize behind in their bowl, they have it in their mix...

[goosepimple]

Thanks, I'm assuming she ate too much maize but again, it is in the sheep crunch (they prefer to goat mix) and she usually avoids it and eats the wee bits    so don't know, looks like something fermented anyway she looked like an overinflated balloon poor thing.  Back to normal now though - all in the learning experience once again 

[shygirl]

This is what we lost a sheep to. Glad she recovered.