I just had my pregnant doe die from what the vet says was a calcium deficiency. She was close to kidding (maybe a week or two). For the last two weeks she had been walking slowly and like she had hip displacia.

The vet told me that when goats are close to lactating their body tells them to take calcium from the body to produce milk. The body then takes calcium from where ever it can. In this case it took the calcium from her bones which caused her to become weak in the back. The pressure of the fetus can cause paralysis of the spine. It told me that her feed and mineral supplements were fine and there was not anything we could have done differently.

Has anybody ever dealt with the problem before? This was her first pregnancy, she is a year old.

-- Carole Kington (kington@duo-county.com), February 19, 2002

Answers

Carole, I'm so sorry you lost your doe. I would be interested to know if the vet found out how many kids your doe was carrying. I have heard of this happening in yearlings who are carrying triplets. The drain on their young, still growing body is just too much.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), February 19, 2002.

I am also very sorry Carole. Some things for the future. If you are going to breed this young, along with kidding difficulties comes the very real chance of milk fever/ketosis and hypocalcemia. For me it is not worth the risk to my goats. Usually your first clue is her bowing in the front or rear legs. It takes a tremendous amount of everything for a doe to continue to grow and to grow infants inside her, especially if she has a predisposition to having a really good milk supply, be a very large doe herself, or multiples. Yes you can take some small goat who is going to milk a quart a day for her two kids, and other than perhaps having to help pull kids, nothing is going to happen to this doe, fed grass hay and horse and mule. But you can't do this when someone else has spent a great deal of time with genetics. It's like buying a really good milker from me and then when she kids call me complaining because half her udder is hard and hot, well.......................do you think that perhaps a doe who is predisposed to milking 3/4 gallon needs some milk taken out for awhile, instead of letting 1 kid nurse? Buy a kid from a breeder like me who has large goats, bring it back in disgust 7 months later because at 15 months old it only weighs 92 pounds, looking at the bill of sale she only gained 20 pounds in that 7 months, even unbred, when 7 month old kids in the other pen weigh 94 pounds, and 15 month old does are going to kid in April and are way over 100 pounds. Both things that have happened and sadly both the same guy.

Your vet isn't exactly correct in his information. First it starts with plenty of milk as a kid, to grow the big bones, and to store the calcium reserves. Then as an eating goat, calcium most be readably absorbable for growing and for storing in the blood and bones, so alfalfa, minerals and making sure your calcium to phosphurus is truly 2 to 1 even though you are mixing lots of things together. A change from alfalfa hay to grass hay at 100 days bred, is what we do here to get the girls rumen in shape, and also forces her to use the stored calcium in her blood and bones, this keeps my girls out of hypo- calcemia, though their is calcium in the grain and minerals, nothing like what is in alfalfa. Then when she kids, alfalfa is added back (pellets, chopped, or hay) for milk production.

The problem you had is the reason why when asked "How old should my goat be when I breed it" my answer is always "Breed her to kid when she is two" call me a snob, but it is like the question "can I breed my doe back to her father" if you have to ask these questions than you don't know enough about your bloodline, nutrition, or genetics to breed young or to in/linebreed. Would love to know if your doe was a swiss breed, very well known to need extra calcium, since they are so large framed and also such good milkers. Perhaps copy out the info on ketosis and hypo calcemia on saanendoah.com article by Sue Rieth, her feeding information is really excellent. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), February 19, 2002.

Sorry Carole, some lessons are so painful. :>( . I always feel so bad when people lose animals because they lack mentoring. I think it is what keeps me looking at the goat questions. I was one of the lucky ones who happened to stumble on to a wonderful mentor when I first got started. I hope that you will find someone near you that can help you in further animal selection and herd management. It is so worth the effort to find a herd that looks beautiful, healthy and well cared for. Their owner will usually be a great mentor.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), February 19, 2002.

Here is an article on MILK FEVER ------ HYPOCALCEMIA, http://goats.clemson.edu/Mar%20Newsleter.htm, explaining a possible physiological mechanism/basis for this condition. The link Sannendoah, saanendoah.com, looks like an excellent source of information on this and everything to do with goats.

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), February 19, 2002.

So sorry to hear of your lost. Here in the Pacific NW there has been an unusually high amount of milk fever this year around kidding time. We are thinking it is due to the drought and the phosophorus in the hay as the feed program is identical to years past with no problems. Luckily, I new from last year what was happening with one of my does and she was treated fast. Last year, my vet told me they couldn't get milk fever that close after kidding - I proceeded to go to a different vet. This year he didn't argue with me about it. It is nice to have a mentor, but unfortunately they don't always have the answers. Mine didn't think it could be milk fever last year either, but enough other people on NT said it was. Again, I am sorry for your loss. I have bred my Nubians to kid at a year with no problems, but have decided that I would like them to grow and will not breed them to kid until they are between 18 - 24 months of age.

-- Leslie in Western WA (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), February 19, 2002.

This is what I do when one of my goats are sheep have milk fever like you describe. I take Dextrose 50% and Calcium Gluconate and mix in a 10cc syringe-5cc each and give 10cc subcutaneous in about 6 different places.In about an hour or less you will see a difference if it is hypocalcemia.I got this from one of the sheep publications and it has worked for me.Some people may say that this is irritating to the skin but I have not seen this and when they have hypocalcemia they are going to die if you do not do anything. I follow this with a oral calcium prep for cattle.I lost one year a registered border leicester ewe with hypoglycemia and on autopsy she had 3 ewe lambs in her.That was 15 years ago and it still sickens me. Good luck in future sheep activities, Terry

-- Terry Lipe (elipe@fidnet.com), February 20, 2002.

umm, home remedy time

TUMS, contain calcium carbonate, the same thing thats added to regular goat feed, i give the preggers gals one a day(mine love the fruit flavored) in addition to thier pound of grain(split in half am/pm)

and remember , too much is as bad as too little

-- Beth Van Stiphout (willosnake@hotmail.com), February 20, 2002.