When I got home from work tonight I found my three crazy does out. They had severely pruned several trees, trimmed the large weeds next to the barn down, pooped all over the barn, established the level at which I need to prune a larger tree and the queen doe got the oat bin open and ate a fair amount. Grrrr... The angelic nubian stayed in the pen and was the only one that got dinner tonight.

At any rate there is a question here and I hope some goat folks are up late, as I will most likely be up every two hours. The lead doe, Slinky doesn't look happy. Her stomach is large and there is no actual bloating, but her sides are hard. The other girls sides are soft. They all took right after the baking soda and are chewing their cuds. She is also breathing a little bit rapidly. She is still quite sassy. I watched and they all pooped except for Slinky. So I gave her a cup of oil, and then baking soda forced into her mouth to reinnoculate the rumen. I massaged her sides and she has access to all the baking soda she wants water and grass hay. They were all vaccinated with CDT the first of June.

Will the CDT vaccine still protect against enterotoxemia?

What is the absolute best goat gate latch on the face of the planet?

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@yahoo.com), October 16, 2001

Answers

Oh Doreen, I am so sorry about your goats. I really cannot help you with them, but you are reminding why I haven't kept goats for many years. My last one was a saanan named Angel but she sure wasn't. She could climb a six foot farm fence and knew how to get in my house.

-- Laura (LadybugWrangler@hotmail.com), October 16, 2001.

Thanks Laura....they can be a test, but I love them and they usually stay in their pens! One thing I asked specifically about was jumping- in both purchasing and breeding selection.

She is doing okay! I have been very lucky with my does and they have only goteen out three or four times in 4 years, they respect the electric fence and won't go past that even if it's off, but I think they are banging each other around and pop the latch on the gate to the stall. I might just put another latch on it below the existant one. I'm thinking one of those hasps that turns might do the trick.

I just wanted to put this here in case anyone else with goats ran into this. The hard sides were worrisome to me, but she now has cow poops and her eyes don't have that distended moon look to them, so with no grain for a three days I think she'll be just fine. This is one good argument for vaccinating your goats though. I hope to never encounter enterotoxemia as it sounds horrific.

Any gate latch ideas would be quite welcome!

-- (bisquit@here.com), October 16, 2001.

Well Doreen, the answer seems obvious to me........get all nubians!!! ;>) As far as gate latches, what works the very best for me is chains with the snaffle type hooks. Even the little girls who sit there and play with them have not been able to get those open.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), October 16, 2001.

Doreen

The CDT vaccine will normally protect them against entero, but is not 100% The vaccination is labeled "Toxoid" We always keep C&D "ANTITOXIN" on hand as well as Tetanus ANTITOXIN. The toxoid is a general preventive. The antitoxin is for emergency use when you suspect an actual case of enterotoxemia. Entero can kill quickly and is easily brought on by such overeating of grain, which causes a radical imbalance of bacteria in the rumen and allows the bad bugs to proliferate. I'm not an expert by any means, but would give a dose of the antitoxin immediately. It won't cause any harm if they are healthy, but can be the difference between life and death if they have entero. It is injected IM. For other treatments, go to www.goatworld.com/911 for help.

As for latches, we use the heavy duty sliding latches that have a hole for a padlock into which we clip a spring clip. That makes four operations they would have to do to open it: remove spring clip, lift latch, slide latch, open gate.

-- Skip in WA (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), October 16, 2001.

Thanks for the help! I'll have to get the antitoxin in stock. I was thinking that I had read something that indicated the vaccination wasn't 100% effective. She is doing all right now, but she won't be getting any grain for a few days.

Diane, you may be right! But I do love my crazy does, they just aren't as docile as Peaches. I really didn't know there was a big difference in temperment when I get my first doe...also she was much more mellow than her offspring.

Thanks for the latch suggestions!

-- Doreen (bisquit@here.com), October 17, 2001.

Hi, hope someone can help me. I don't have an answer, but a question. What is the CDT vaccine for? What does CDT stand for? I am a new pygmy goat owner, and will welcome all help and suggestions. Are their sides supposed to be round? How do I know if they've eaten too much? They have a whole pasture of grass, but don't seem to eat it much, but attack the hay when I bring it. Should I limit treats (carrots, celery)? These are adult males, ages 4 and 6 years. Thanks Penney

-- Penney Vachon (vachon@i2k.com), May 28, 2003.