Hi I am fourteen and have been keeping goats for almost a year. About eight months ago I got a baby pygmy goat, my one and only small goat. I am getting a little concerned because I noticed her skin was flaky. (She is black, and no, I am SURE it's not lice) I wormed all of my goats about two weeks ago and, and like I said, I've never had a problem with lice. Maybe it's just that she is losing her winter coat,(which is coming out in bunches) but I don't know. She seems a little on the thin side, so I feed her away from the other goats so that she gets a little more grain. I would really really appreciate any help you can get me! Thanks-Josie

-- Josie Oberg (j0oberg@hotmail.com), May 02, 2001

Answers

Most likely it is just from shedding. I had a Lamancha that had patches of hair falling out. She looks better now. Just shedding her winter coat & she got a little carried away. She also had very dry skin. Add some black oil sunflower seeds to her feed if you aren't already. The extra protein may help her gain some weight & may help her coat.

-- Wendy (weiskids@yahoo.com), May 02, 2001.

Hi Josie, what did you worm with and how much? Since pygmy's are little square cinder blocks usually, I would be concerened you describing her as too thin. What is in your grain mix and are you feeding her hay? Sounds like a really good idea to give her a chance to eat seperatly if she is the only small goat. Do you have any loose minerals out? In some parts of the country (here in Texas, the west coast etc.) mineral blocks simply don't give our goats enough minerals, especially copper. You might also want to see if there is any zinc either in your grain mix or your minerals. Just a few thoughts. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), May 02, 2001.

It sounds like your little goat is going through a normal shed. My does are both kind of flaky at the moment (looking, not acting), because they shed skin with the winter coat. If you live in a fairly cold climate, realize that pygmy goats get pretty thick winter coats. Your little goat may look thinner partly because she isn't so fluffy any more! Check her ribs and hips by hand and see if they feel too prominant. Some pygmies don't have that fireplug look, so you might not need to worry. Feeding her away from the other goats would be especially important if they seem to dominate her and keep her from the food. At a farm I used to work at we had a pygmy for awhile who ruled the flock. She was a little black fireplug, but no goat on the place bossed her around. We used to house her with a holstein-sized nubian wether because she could compete for food with him and no other goat could. You've probably spent plenty of time watching her, so you'll be best at judging if she's allowed to eat well enough.

-- Sheryl Adams (radams@sacoriver.net), May 05, 2001.

Two things come to mind ~ is she on a regular deworming schedule? Is she being pushed away from the feed by the other goats?

-- ~Rogo (rogo2020@yahoo.com), May 06, 2001.