I have an ill doe and kid. They have been on pasture with the other goats and donkey. Have free choice hay goat pellets daily. Also one of those big goat feed tubs. Doe is 5 years old dairy type, her kid is 4 weeks old, 1/2 Boer. The does rear end is caked with black stool. Noticed it 2 days ago. The kid has normal stool. Penned them up yesterday. Doe has had only normal stool. Gave doe scour tablet, gave kid electolyte drench, she seems dehydrated,started them both on medicated feed. Both eating feed and hay well. The doe had no milk yesterday and her udder is very sot and small. This morning she has a small steam from one side and only drops from the other. She does not let the kid nurse. Do you think she will come back into milk and let the kid nurse enough so I don't have to bottle feed the kid? What could cause this? She is the only one of 16 head with these symptoms. I will be buying fresh goat milk to feed the kid. I really don't want to bottle feed for 2 more months. Any suggestions?

-- Terri Perry (teperry@stargate.net), March 15, 2001

Answers

So you penned her up away from the tub and now her stool is normal? Does the tub contain urea?

She also has mastitis if her udder is hot. I would say no that she will not come back into milk, and may never have a milk supply if you don't treat the mastitis. The black tar diarrhea is either from not enough roughage, hay pellets rarely have the fiber lenghth to keep the rumen working, the urea in the tub, or humoncous worms, which gives you the black diarrhea because it is actually the worms with the does blood in them. She is also dehydrated so no milk. Are her gums and eye rims nice and pink or grey? She probably needs a fecal and milk sample done to see what you are dealing with, though pretty much if she either wasn't pasture rotated the day she kidded or wormed, diarrhea at this time of lactation is almost always worms. Hot udder with no milk is nearly always masitis, though you usually see an unthrifty kid, because of drinking mastitic milk.

Feeding them the medicated feed and hay is probably going to dramatically help. Hay pellets and protein tubs are fine for does that are dry, barely pregnant or pets. But a doe in production, end of pregnancy and bucks in heavy use, can not maintain themselves on that sort of management, this time of year, with pasture/browse at a minimum. As your does kid, put them on this medicated grain and hay, perhaps morning and night, and letting them browse the pasture with the protein tubs and hay pellets between those times.

Protein tubs which contain urea have to be managed with some knowledge of carbohydrates and energy grains, otherwise overfed they can kill your goats very quickly. As heavy as they are in molassas they cause rumen acidosis. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), March 15, 2001.

Vicki, The tub does not contain urea. She has been on free choice hay, not hay pellets. Her udder is not hot.She is milking a little more this afternoon. All of the other goats are in prime condition, as she had been until the liquid stools started. I did a hemacult on the stool. No blood. She is eating and drinking well. Could all of the new green grass done this? When she improves more, I will worm again. Their pasture is 16 acres of excellent grass. They have cleaned the fence rows over the last 2 years, mainly greenbrier. Thanks for the advice.

-- Terri Perry (teperry@stargate.net), March 15, 2001.

Sorry your post says "hay goat pellets" and "sot udder", I thought you meant hot not soft! :) Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), March 15, 2001.