I just got a Nubian doeling who is still on the bottle.I am giving her 16 oz of milk replacer for calves and goats...3 x a day.She also eats hay,grass,and goat pellets. I figured the scours were caused by the stress of all the changes,as I just got her 5 days ago.

But,she's still got the scours.I've been giving her Kaopectate in her bottle,but it doesn't seem to help.What else can I give her???I'm very concerned as this has been going on for 5 days!!

-- Johna (in central TX) (marcnjohna@aol.com), April 04, 2002

Answers

How old is your doeling? Have you checked her temp? Is she acting normal other than the scours? What color are the scours, any smell? What was she eating prior to when you got her and how much? The scours may be caused by the replacer but could also be cocci or something else.

-- Leslie (sundaycreek@gnrac.net), April 04, 2002.

When you purchase new stock that is over 3 weeks old, you really need to immediatly worm them and put them on a cocci prevention. Any sulfa will work, what do they have at your feed store: Dimethox powder? Albon? Sulfaquinoxiline in a bottle? The real problem here is that we don't know if the scours are from disease or if they are from the milk replacer. If the milk replacer has soy on the label than stop using it. Use grocery store, vitamin D whole milk. You can later on at about 8 weeks, slowly start introducing the milk replacer again, and wean her out on it if you like, or keep her on the whole milk. Kaopectate will only stop her up if it is just scouring. Have you read the label on how much they actually want you to feed a goat? Purina's milk replacer wants you to feed about 1 cup 2 times a day! I have never gotten an answer from them on exactly what size goat could live with only this tiny amount! Certainly not a large dairy or Boer kid. This is why the kids will eat grain and hay so early, between the small amount they want you to feed and the scours, they are starving. Get on a cocci prevention, worm the kid, and switch out the milk replacer if it contains soy, or exactly mix it as the directions are on the bag and only feed the limited amount. You will have to give her calcium to grow in another form then, alfalfa, or perhaps a milk fed pellet like Calf Manna for calfs. Vaccinate also.

http://hv.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a.tcl?topic=Dairygoats

Here is a nice goat site for you to visit. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (Nubians) (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), April 04, 2002.

Add an ounce or two of acidophillis milk into the bottle. Its pasturized and then the benifical bacteria is returned, available at all major dairy cases. Discontinue when the stool changes color or hardens, yogurt works also just slower.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), April 04, 2002.

yeah , what vicki said , ..... darn it i hate when i get on here after you vicki!, how can i add my succinct advice when you already covered everything!

how old is she, if she is eating hay and grass, you may be giving her more milk than she needs, and what type of milk replacer, i know of none off hand that are for goats and cows....

-- Beth Van Stiphout (willosnake@hotmail.com), April 04, 2002.

OK,I guess I should've given more info.She's about 6 weeks old,and was bought at auction,so I'm not sure what she was on before we got her. The milk replacer is Milkmasters X-tra...no soy listed in the ingredients.

The vet suggested Sulfamethazine Sodium...3cc once a day for 3 days.I got it at the feed store under the brand name Sulmet.

Thanks for all the info,and anything else you can suggest.

-- Johna (in central TX) (marcnjohna@aol.com), April 04, 2002.

I just had the experience (again) of needing to put kids and a calf on replacer due to lack of enough milk. As has been the case before, both the kids and the calf had loose stools and smelled terrible. As soon as I was able to put them back on goat milk the problems disappeared. Medication of any sort was not the answer in our case. I have had this identical experience before, and avoid replacers when I can. I think I will try Vicki's recommendation next time, if I can remember - I'm getting old), buying milk from the store. It would be about the same price per gallon as the lamb milk replacer I use for the kids (mixed a little weaker than for lambs). I have had even worse luck with kid milk replacer, and don't even try it anymore.

-- Dianne Wood (woodgoat@pacifier.com), April 04, 2002.

Don't ask me why, but when I bottle feed a baby lamb I always put a dash of nutmeg in the milk so they will not get scours. I was taught this by a very old sheepard who said that is what the old timers gave their babies. It seems to work.

-- debbie (bwolcott@cwis.net), April 04, 2002.

You might want to ask Vicki if I am right because she is more knowledgable than I am but if the scours continue I have found that a dose of penicillan or la-200 will dry up the scours. The dosage on young kids I am not sure of but I am sure that la-200 will not hurt her even if just out of good measure. Everything that I buy from an auction gets a dose of la-200 and it is a miracle drug for goats especially. Brad

-- B.H (FIRE_RESCUE126@HOTMAIL.COM), April 04, 2002.

Antobiotics kill bacteria, all the bacretia INCLUDING THE BENIFICAL BACTERIA that is needed to digest food. The bacteria MUST BE REPLACED after useing antibiotics to promote good health.

-- mitch hearn (moopups@citlink.net), April 05, 2002.

When ever I start a sheep, cow or horse on anibiotics I also give them phobios(sp) it replaces the good bacteria as mitch metioned. You could give yougurt but this paste is wonderful and it also seems to jump start them into eating again. It lives (paste container) in the barn.

-- debbie (bwolcott@cwis.net), April 05, 2002.