Yesterday evening, when we went to shut the goat's door for the night, we noticed that Benjamin was acting strangely. He wasn't running around or chasing us out the door. We looked closer and saw that his poor belly was really distended. The poor boy had bloat. Being goat kid owners for all of one week, we called our neighbors who also have Nubians and asked for help.
Long story short (because I'm about to fall asleep...), Caleb and I stayed in with him until 11pm last night, came back at 2am, and again at 6am. We did a lot of massaging his belly and getting him to move around and work out the gas. And, we played a lot of "I Spy" to occupy ourselves. And prayed...hard.
When we came back at 2am, Benjamin seemed a little more chipper, but now Buckwheat was acting strangely. Sure enough, he was also experiencing some bloat. We did the same for him and went back to bed, hoping for the best.
By 6am, Benjamin was not distended anymore and Buckwheat was looking better. Neither of them would eat their morning bottle, so we were still concerned, but hopeful.
By noon today, they were both acting much, much better. Both of them took a bottle at 2pm (at their normal feeding time), which I added yogurt to.
They both have some diarrhea tonight, but it seems to be tapering off as well. We are still praying hard for the little guys. They aren't quite out of the woods yet.
Raising goats is like raising kids. Except the nighttime vigils are in the barn.
1 comment:
For sheep bloat, we mix 1/2 water with 1/2 cup cooking oil. Add 2 Tbsp. baking soda and mix well. Use a syringe (without the needle) to force this down their throats. For a young animal probably 1/4 of this mixture is sufficient. For a larger animal, 1/2 cup to 1 cup is ideal. Don't know why it wouldn't work with goats, too.
Hope your goats are feeling better now... Did you switch their feed?
Post a Comment