I'm looking for natural remedies for scours in goat kids. I've used strong black tea with charcoal with good results. Any other suggestions for future reference?

-- Judy Bowman (bowman61@altavista.com), March 28, 2000

Answers

Judy,I too have heard that charcol is good .Give them electrolytes 1- 2 times a day .I also have heard yogurt helps,pepto even imodium.Good luck,they can be tough.

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), March 28, 2000.

Sorry to jump in, and I hope that I don't offend anyone ... but you should never give a goat, or other ruminant, immodium. Other ideas sound fine, and I don't have any "natural" suggestions for you. I know I use milk of magnesia with good success in our goats. This knowledge comes from my education and career as a reg. vet tech.

-- Marci (daleb@kent.net), March 28, 2000.

I glad you said something noone even a vet never said anything about imodium.Do you know what the reason is? I always want to up my knowledge. I've used it with good success with dogs .Thanks for making me aware.

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), March 28, 2000.

Hi, Slippery Elm is excellent for any mammal with diarrhea. You can put it in the bottle. Also, always cut back on the milk. I've used slippery elm, warm water and raw honey in a bottle for a kid with scours with good results. Good luck, Chris

-- Chris Allen (cfallen00@hotmail.com), March 28, 2000.

I know a lot of goat scours are caused by cocidiosis; if they get past the acute stage, a lot of the kids just don't get to be their full size. I wonder if ginger would help settle their tummies? Take a stool sample to the vet, tho, and make sure it is not cocidiosis. It is nasty stuff, and the animal will need to be kept warm and dry, and you may have to resort to medical stuff. I wonder if anyone has tried Colloidial silver for treating bacterial/viral scours in goats. We made our own generator, and I think it has helped us humans get over "bugs" faster.

-- Leann Banta (thelionandlamb@hotmail.com), March 28, 2000.

Remember that diahrrea is a symptom, not a disease. You need to not only treat for the diahrrea that will cause depleation of calories, electolites and fluid, but treat the cause of the diahrrea. Simple scours from to much milk or milk replacer is easily treated with the above remedies. Coccidia, E-coli and bacterial scours will kill your animal if not treated. And in the case of cocci, you should try and prevent it, not wait until you have outbreaks then treat. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), March 28, 2000.

About the immoduim thing. What the drug is intended to do is stop the peristaltic contractions of the smooth muscles. In other words, the rythmic squeezing of the gut that moves things along... and it does just that, which in turn, gives the desired result in many species ( human etc) of slowing down diarrhea. In ruminants however, any stopping or slowing of the intestinal tract quickly backs things up, and leaves them at high risk of bloat. Our goal in ruminants is to stop the diarrhea by incuraging the intestines to pull more moisture out of the stool, or increasing the stool bulk, rather than slowing the guts, at risk of stopping them. Hope this helps.

-- Marci (daleb@kent.net), March 28, 2000.

Judy, I just happened today to be reading about this in "Raising Milk Goats.........." & their elctrolyte formula is: 1 gal warm water, 2 tsp. table salt, 1 tsp. baking soda, 8 Tbsp. honey, white corn syrup or crystilline dextrose. Never use cane sugar. This can be administered with a syringe or stomach tube if the kid is too weak to nurse. Give 1 to 2 Cups per 10 lbs. body weight per day until the scours clears up. Dont't feed milk during this period. Another home remedy provided by a vet: 1C buttermilk, 1 raw egg, 1 tsp. cocoa, 1/4tsp. baking soda. Hope this is helpful.

-- Brenda Reise (d+breise@northcom.net), March 29, 2000.

We've had excellent results using liquid oxygen. Just a few drops in their bottle and within a few hours the scours are gone. We use it at the very first sign. As Vicki said, be sure it's not cocci. We always seem to have a little tummy trouble if we use milk replacer. Liquid oxygen is available from Happy Hovel (advertisement in Countryside) or Arobic Life Industries (1-800-798-0707). It's about $12.00 for 30ml or $18.00 for 70ml. This stuff will do the trick if you, as in humans, get food poisioning or other stomach ailments involving diarrhea/cramps. Arobic Life Industries will send you a brochure telling you all the things it's good for. I wouldn't be caught without it.

-- Yesteryear Cottage (oberg @watervalley.net), March 30, 2000.

On another thread someone recommended activated charcol .I tried it with me last night .We've had a stomach bug going through the house for 2 weeks now .Guess what it worked !I'll try it again.

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), March 31, 2000.

Judy, this will sound a little simple but take the kid off of the milk/milk replacer, feed etc., just give them an electrolyte solution. You have some good formulas already. offer good hay [green,fresh, no dust or mold], and free choice water. Do not give them any milk until the scours are gone. As previously mentioned this could be a bacterial infection, and you might need to give corid or antibiotics if the diarhea does not stop with simple remedies. karen

-- Karen Mauk (dairygoatmama@hotmail.com), April 04, 2000.

You would never want to take a babies only calories and fat away from them. Electrolites have no food value, and are only used to replace the vitimin, mineral and water loss in an animal with diarrhea. If you were to take a kid who is not eating hay or grain off of milk, for even 24 hours, this kid would, though it wouldn't be dehydrated because of the electolyte solution, would be starving for calories, shivering and eating up further fat reserves. This taking away of the milk or milk replacer, or even worse diluting it with more water is a very old way of thinking. Diluting milk or replacer changes the structure of the fat, causing diarrhea. Continue to feed your milk as you normally would, adding extra bottles inbetween that can boost his water, vitimin, and mineral intake. Vicki McGaugh

-- Vicki McGaugh (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), April 04, 2000.

Vicki is right! Never take there milk away they will starve to death .Scours are tough , and not all make it .Good luck.

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), April 04, 2000.

Yes, Vicki is correct about keeping them on milk or replacer. A doeling I just purchased (13 days old) developed scours. She came from a very nice farm that was clean and she appeared to be healthy. At first I thought it was probably the change from milk to replacer, but the scours got worse. I tried the above remedies to no avail. Took her to OhioState Vet Hospital and they checked for Coccidia and sure enough, even at 13 days old, this was the problem. They treated her with Albon and antibiotics and told me NOT to take her off her regular milk or replacer...that electrolytes can be used as supplimental feedings but not as substitutes, that way of treating is out dated and ineffective. At that young age, they need the nutrients. Anyhow, my little new doeling has recovered nicely, but still has soft stools. From now on, I will automatically treat any young stock I purchase for coccidia immediately, regardless of age, instead of following the usual regime of waiting till they are 3 or 4 weeks old. I think the stress of moving can increase coccida levels in very young goats.

-- Jim Roberts (jroberts1@cas.org), April 05, 2000.