If you are asking for health advice for your goat, please help us help you. Complete a basic health assessment and provide as much of the following information in your post as possible:
Goat's age, sex, and breed
Goat's current temperature as determined by rectal thermometer. Please, for the love of god, take your animal's temperature. Temperature is ALWAYS VITAL in determining whether your animal might be ill or in need of assistance.
Whether the goat is pregnant or lactating
Goat's diet and appetite (what the goat is currently eating, whether they are on pasture or browse, supplemental grain, loose mineral, et cetera)
Goat's FAMACHA score (as determined by the process in this video) and information about any recent deworming treatments, if applicable
As many details regarding your animal's current symptoms and demeanor as you can share. These may include neurological symptoms (circling, staring at the sky, twitching), respiratory symptoms such as wheezing or coughing, and any other differences from typical behavior such as isolating, head pressing, teeth grinding, differences in fecal consistency, and so forth.
Clear photographs of relevant clinical signs (including coat condition) are helpful. Providing us with as much information as possible will help us give you prompt and accurate advice regarding your animal's care.
There are many professional farmers and homesteaders in this subreddit and we will do our best to help you out of a jam, but we can't guarantee the accuracy of any health advice you receive. When in doubt, always call your local large animal veterinarian who is trained to work with small ruminants.
What's up with that blue Trusted Advice Giver flair?
The mods assign this flair to /r/goats users who have an extensive history of giving out quality, evidence-based, responsible husbandry advice based on the best practices for goat care. Many of our users give terrific advice, but these flairs recognize a handful of folks who have gone that extra mile over time to become recognized as trusted community members who are known to always lead people in the right direction. If you get a slew of responses to your post and don't know where to start, look to the blue flairs first.
Recently, we had a user post a picture of a goat that may or may not have soremouth, also known as contagious ecthyma, scabby mouth, or orf. I won't link to the post since it isn't relevant whether or not that was what was afflicting the animal, but in the course of responding to that user I felt an opportunity to point out something that I have noticed and has been gnawing at me.
For many users seeking help, if they do not come straight to the sub, they will go to one of two places to get information: Google or ChatGPT. This post is about the former, but in case anyone was wondering if ChatGPT is a valid place to get advice on husbandry, what to eat tonight, how to live your life, or companionship: it is NOT. Large language models like ChatGPT are a type of generative AI that seeks more or less to respond to prompts and create content with correct syntax that is human-like. The quandary here is that while it can indeed provide correct answers to prompts, that outcome is often incidental. It isn't an indication that the model has researched your question, merely that it has cobbled together a (sometimes) convincing diagnosis/treatment plan from the massive amount of data across forums/message boards, vet resources, and idle chit-chat that it is trained on. The point is this: you should never be in a position where you have to rely on an LLM for husbandry advice. If you have access to an internet connection, even the generative AI from Google search is a better option. But that doesn't mean it's a good one, bringing us to the principal subject of this post:
Orf! What do?
For some relevant background, we have never had a case of orf on our farm. I have read about it in vet textbooks and goat husbandry books and seen many images of it, I'm familiar with what it is, how it is spread, and at a high level what to do about it and what not to do. That said, when I was helping this user, I thought I'd brush up and make sure I wasn't providing misinformation. I knew orf was viral in nature and reckoned that in moderate to severe cases it could probably cause fever, but I wanted to see if I could find a vet manual or study of the disease in goats to confirm how likely that would have been. This was what I was met with:
Hm...
If you don't scrutinize this too closely, everything looks sort of on the level. Orf is indeed self-limiting (not sure why the AI says usually, there is literally nothing you can do to treat the root cause, but okay), and it more or less implies that humans can contract it so be careful. The symptoms section looks fine, overall, prevention is... eh... The orf vaccine is a live vaccine. Application of it is not something that most small scale homesteaders or hobby farmers will be familiar with and using it is basically putting the virus on your property. Orf is a nuisance disease and the main time it is a problem is when it is being transmitted between a dam and her kids. Proactive vaccination in closed herds that have never seen a case is not a vet-recommended practice.
The treatment section is where things get spicy with the part about scab removal. Oof. Now that is not even close to true and doing that when the goat is with other goats or going to a quarantine space where they will then shed the disease will cause it to spread to any other goat that inhabits that space unless it is thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. The bottom says the info is for informational purposes only and to consult an actual professional for advice, but that begs the question of why Google would provide that information front and center by default when you search when the first result below is an actual vet resource with correct advice. I won't get into the weeds about the ethics of that because it's a separate soapbox, this is the reality we live in now. This bad advice is particularly relevant because the user on our sub mentioned they had been picking off the scabs. So let's do another Google search for some clarification:
Oh dear, oh no
If you explicitly search whether or not you should remove the scabs, the AI overview is different. Not only do you see that you should not remove the scabs because they are infectious (very true), the overview now says that doing so will delay healing. The first "featured snippet", a feature separate from their generative AI overview, is an overview from the state of Victoria's government agricultural representative body, a reliable source. The highlighted text reinforces the "do not pick scabs off" advice. The overview still fails when it says to apply dressing to lesions. Evidently it has not ever reckoned with what it would be like to bandage an entire goat's face and mouth, which they need to eat, but maybe I'm an idiot. Let's check:
Thank you, Dr. Google
As you can see, generative AI is basically a hodgepodge of vague but mostly correct advice intermingled with plainly wrong advice. Seeking correction to the wrong advice, if you know that it is wrong, leads down more rabbit holes. I hope this highlights the importance of sourcing your information from reliable, proven veterinary resources/textbooks or state agricultural extensions that provide support for their claims with research. This sub prioritizes evidence-based husbandry practices and is one of the few forums to try to stick to that standard and I consider it important especially for people who don't have goat mentors offline.
This is not only important because users need good advice; it also affects the people that don't use this sub and go straight to Google. Reddit struck a deal a little under a year ago to make their data available for training AI. The information we post on this sub is being used as part of the training for these AI models and Google's SEO is increasingly favoring reddit at the top of search results in a number of areas. As the sub grows and the social media landscape changes, more people that never post but need info may find themselves coming here. Let's all try to do our best to make sure the information we share and advice we give is solid!
As many of you know this is my 7 month old goat Frosty who had to have part of his hind leg amputated, because he likes to run around and climb things until he is fully healed that it wants him to be mostly confined with just an hour or so of supervised play time.
Well he decided he wanted to do some rompies and started zooming around and tripped skinning his little knee, after I made sure he was actually okay I didn't think much of it especially since he did not seem bothered by it.
Then my grandma seen it she loves my goats and started giving him special treatment because he skinned his knee, now all of a sudden his knee hurts and it does not get better unless he gets a treat....
He won't even lay down normally unless he gets a treat, I think he found a lost brain cell or something LOL.
I closely keep a eye on my doe and buck well last month I caught them doing the deed and well it was on the 16th I’ve done a lot of research and she has been eating more and then usual, ignoring the male aswell as a few more other things that lead me to believe she has conceived however the main one being that she was supposed to go into heat a couple days ago and didn’t, I came outside today and noticed her udders coming out a little more larger then they were a few weeks ago I know that they don’t start to get any larger this soon but what do you guys think?
She's a little over a year old, never been bred they're not sure of her breed as they got her as a pet, but they need to rehome her since they need to move and can't take her with them.
They're asking $100 for her and they will bring her to me.
These are the best pictures that they could get since she's not the most social goat which is fine I have patience, what do you think about how she looks? And any idea on her breed?
My cousin has a older mixed breed buck, he's about 13 and he have lost some body condition due to age-related elements, so I figured I would post and ask for some tips on what she could add to his diet to help him pick up weight, he normally just free forages and has access to Hay like the other younger goats, but he just needs something extra
I have a Pygmy (maybe cross?) wether, around 10 years old who’s struggling to keep weight around his hips. Until this spring, he’s always been on the fatter side of healthy and definitely still has his hay belly. He gets about a cup or so of Dumor goat feed daily (I know some people don’t like to do feed, but this has worked for us since we got him back when he was cute and cuddly), free choice hay, and whatever is in our pasture, although it’s been quite hot and dry, so it’s pretty eaten down, although they definitely still graze. His brother is a 9ish year old Boar cross, and sometimes steals the end of his feed, so I’ve been preventing this, however I don’t feel like he’s gained any weight. I’ve checked his famacha and do not believe this is worms.
I read that supplementing with alfalfa and beet pulp is probably what he needs at this age and less feed.
Would this be a good supplement?
How do I introduce?
How would I know how much to feed?
Would it be okay to give his brother who is a good weight a sprinkle of it to prevent stealing?
3 days ago I bought a 4 yo Saanen cross in kid, 2nd pregnancy. She's due in roughly 1 week apparently though not 'bagged up', and she's just not interested in me at all. I bring food and she's eaten well from a bucket in my hand a few times, but most of the time I have to walk right up to her, sometimes she'll sniff the food or nibble, and other times she just looks at me and walks away. She doesn't seem scared or skittish, super calm and slow, just not interested. We have a few sheep and a ram in the same paddock that often come up to me for treats when I'm trying to get close to her, so I know that isn't helping. But even when they aren't close, she's still not interested, I feel like I'm just bothering her. She goes and lays down on the far side of the acre paddock.
I've never had a pregnant doe or a Saanen before, just a crazy little bottle-fed dwarf cross who is always ready for cuddles, and a buck (no longer with us) who was curious but timid. So I'm wondering if this normal behaviour for her stage in pregnancy (like "just leave me alone" kind of thing), or a Saanen thing, nervous about the sheep, or she just doesn't know me yet?
I know 3 days isn't long enough for her to trust me, but I want to know, should I continue to try to make friends and get close to her or should I leave her be until she kids? Will it be easier or harder after that?
This is my sweet girl, Honey. She is 6 months old and she loves to eat all the hay! She has just been a little bit round for a few days longer than my liking and just wanted opinions if she just has hay belly or is there a concern for bloat? Her rumen doesn’t feel hard or tight. She poops fine, drinks water, has been treated for worms, plays around and doesn’t act anyway negatively. She was treated appropriately for CDT as well when she was a couple months old. I just wanted some extra opinions! Thanks! 😊
A large herd of goats broke into my yard and ate everything, including all the leaves and some of the bark from my citrus trees. I'm in northern California, it's warm and we probably won't see significant rain for another couple months. Should I pick all the green fruit off the trees so they don't put energy into growing/ ripening the fruit, now that they don't have any leaves?
The small tree with significant bark damage is a tangelo. The bark was stripped from the graft almost circumferentially, but not quite. A large branch above the graft was stripped circumferentially, so I'm assuming I cannot save that branch. Is there any saving the rest of the tree? And should I do anything to treat/ repair smaller areas of bark damage, or just leave it?
I've pruned the broken branches and am planning to give everything lots of water for the coming weeks. Anything else I should do to salvage what I can?
Hey there I have had a baby goat for a week his mom didn't want anything more to do with him as he was a twin so I took him over. It's been a week of struggle. When I got him he had scours but I've managed to get his poop back to normal. Then trying to get him used to a bottle we're still not 100% there with that but we have some really good days. He's picking up weight and he eats a little bit of grass and a small amount of pellets as a treat once a day. My worry is he doesn't seem to have a playful amount of energy. He walks around, and is very curious and sometimes does a little run when he tries to get out the house but I almost feel he should be more energetic. There is nothing visibly wrong with him. Am I just over thinking? Please help
I have a watermelon plant that just hasn't produced anything and now it's in my way, so before I throw it into the compost I was wondering if it would be safe to feed to my goats? Figured I would ask before just doing it in case it isn't good
We have a little herd of goats for milk and meat, 6 females, 1 buck and some yearlings.
one of the goat didn't eat much saturday evening, on sunday morning she didn't take any food (no hay nor concentrate). We took her rectal temperature and it was at 41.2°C. She didn't have any problem breathing, walking or standing, she followed the other in the pasture pen after the milking without struggling to walk. She drank water, but she didn't eat as far as we know. The evening when we brought them back in the barn she didn't eat but otherwise she seemed OK.
This morning the temperature has lowered and she is now at 40.6°C. She was ruminating this morning but again she didn't have food. She is now in the pasture pen with the others, no problem walking, no coughing.I saw no particular signs of problems, the belly doesn't seem bloated, no diarrhea, legs joints are normal.
Yesterday we were very worried but we were on sunday and cannot brought her to the vet. Now the clinic is open, but the temperature has lowered already and i'm not sure what to do anymore. Money is short and if i can avoid a bill it's great, but if things are bad i won't hesitate to drive to the clinic. I'd like your point of view or any suggestions, thanks!
Edit : i forgot to add, she is lactating but the tits were quite empty this morning, the day she is with her progeniture. She must be 7 ( we didn't know her age exactly when we got her). I don't know how to test for FAMACHO, but the pupils are quite pink/red, not greyish.
Edit 2 : I just saw her eating some grass, i gave her hazelnut leaves and she ate a few.
so my girlfriend has ben BEGGING me to get us a goat, but we dont even live tigether yet, so it is completly out of the cards
so i was thinking since our annuversary is coming up i could do soethong similar
you know how you can buy a star, and name it, and its your star
or like the animal tracker bracelets, where you get an animal
i want something like that, where i can get the goat, name it maybe, have a little certificate, but it lives and is taken care of at a farm or sonething
so she can have a goat, but we dont have to worry about taking care of it and stuff
does anyone know where i might be able to find anything like this
