Thank you so much for respponding to my "sick goat" request. I just checked her, she ate a bite of food and appeared to have more energy. I also checked her droppings, and there were several very large clumps of tan colored "nuggets" in addition to a fairly large bunch that weren't clumped, but looked like there was some liquid with them. Her food is "homemade" using organic grains in the same proportions as what waas on the bag of commercial feed. Also, how do you tell if there is a 'rumen' problem and what does that actually mean? Haven't noticed her chewing a cud today, but that's not unusual, I rarely see that. No other shots, no extreme exposure to elements, etc. We give her a mix of alfalfa and hay, and both appear to be ok. How can we prevent this from happening again, assuming it was an intestinal blockage---reminds me if when a colt we had years ago had colic. Can goats have 'colic' or colic-type problems? Thank you so much in advance for your help.

-- flora,linda,charlie (regalroy2000@yahoo.com), December 11, 2001

Answers

May want to run a fecal to be sure the wormer that you gave worked. It will also show if you have cocci. Clumpy stools could be just something she ate, cocci can have clumpy stools, pellets, constipation or the runs and the does can be off feed and lethargic. I would give her some Vit B and Probois. Also, make sure she is eating hay well before giving any grain as she needs the roughage to keep her stomach going. You can usually hear the stomach on the left hand side.

-- Leslie in Western WA (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), December 11, 2001.