People who have goats - we need some help

[Bluerocket]

Do you have goats?

We have 2 wether boys around 3 years old- nigerian dwarf goats and they are twins (full brothers). One is a palomino like color and the other is a black pinto. They have very different hair coats - the black one has always had a very silky coat and the palomino one has always had a coarse coat. They are stalled together sharing water, hay but have separate feed buckets. They are tied up at meals so they each eat only their own "grain".

The palomino one is Sage the black pinto is Pepper.

We live in North Central KY. We have had pretty durn cold weather most of the winter. The last weekend of February was in the low teens at night and 20's - 30's during the day. The week following -- (this past week) - mid week I think - the weather suddenly turned WARM. 50's then 60's and 70's on Friday and Saturday.

Friday I came home from work finding that Sage had "blown his coat" - he let loose all the undercoat/winter hair all over his body - and a good bit of the regular coat along his back and down his hind legs - he has not finished shedding it out - but you could pull it out by the handfulls - by just rubbing your hand along it. He has BARE SKIN in many places - dry skin - a bit scaly - and he has been intermitently rubbing against anything he finds. Pepper also rubs against anything he can find (stall doors, gates the fence etc..)

He does NOT have lice - I know what they look like - have experienced them with our minis in the past - and he does not have those.

Pepper - did none of this - he still looks like he has all winter. Has the full winter coat.

I would think that if Sage had mange or ringworm that both of the goats would have it.

They are fed the same diet - but I think Sage eats more of the baking soda. They get beet pulp, a little BOSS, goat pellets a little cracked corn - an occasional horse apple treat or peppermint treat - and alfalfa/timothy cubes and orchard grass hay. They have access free choice to the horse trace mineral blocks (the red ones) and the arm & hammer baking soda. Today I found a goat mineral/salt block at my local Tractor Supply (just started carrying those) so have added that to his diet - but we got that after he blew his coat.

He was last dewormed in December with Ivermectin - I dewormed them again on Saturday (after the blown coat).

Any ideas of what could be the cause? I am trying to find a goat vet in our area. Have not previously had any problems with the goats.

Right now I am using a topical sulphur based lotion on him that is good for skin problems -- he seems to like it - and especially enjoys my "rubbing it in".

My horse vet does not "do goats" - if I can find a vet I will take him to see him. Will search this week.

In the mean time - am open to suggestions.

Thanks for your help and input.

JJay

 

[Indian*R*A*I*N*Dance]

I just wanted to say that my Nubian doe is doing the same thing, shedding her undercoat. It was in the high 50's for the past 3 days here.

 

[twilightranch]

Most of my goats get very itchy when they are shedding as well I would give him a bath if possible. If he has raw spots it sounds like he may have lice but if you already checked I guess not.

 

[tnovak]

My Ruby Duby is shedding her undercoat now....not massively, it's just starting.

 

[Julie_in_PA]

I've raised and bred and sold goats for a few years now.

Anyway, you said his skin is flaky ... is it a whitish flaky ?? That's a good sign of ringworm for goats - their skin is a flaky white. If you get or have an anti fungal spray that would work. Just spray his flaky/bald areas every day until the condition heals completely. there's actually alot of goat owners dealing with weird shedding right now ... it could be the weather, but as I said, if it's a white flaky look, it's a good possibility it's ringworm. I have a pygmy goat right now with ringworm. I've been applying some antifungal spray to her daily and her hair has been growing back in and she's looking much better.

 

[Bluerocket]

Thanks to all for the comments.

We found a vet that would treat goats - not a whole lot of experience with them but some.

The vet did a fecal check (no worms!) - helped us remove the looonnngg scur that was about to cut into his head -- and checked the hair coat for parasites (lice and ringworm) etc.. Also gave them their annual shots - we go back in 6 weeks for the booster.

Diagnosis - not sure what is going on. Speculation - possibly bacteria or ringworm. Good chance that it is a reaction to a previous illness in early January when the goat may have had a fever (never too temp - treated for lack of appetite and possible bloat or sour stomach -- if I had known about this vet we would have visited her for ideas then - after 2 weeks he was back to normal - long story not for here and now).

Treatment - bathe in medicated shampoo - like betadine or Novalson -- give SMZ-tmp 2x a day for 10 days - may continue with the sulphur based lotion i was putting on him as he is itching less and the hair coat looks like it is growing back in.

No adult lice - did not see the little eggs either. No signs of ringworm - but it could have been that.

Going back in 6 weeks for booster shots and check up.

Other goat (Pepper the black/white) got comparison check out and shots as well.

Thanks again.

JJay

 

[REO]

Hi JJay!

I hope your goats are ok!

 

[ForMyACDs]

I wanted to add.....with wethers you are probably not going to want to grain them.....especially since they are small-breed goats. Not only do wethers gain weight quickly but an improperly balanced diet can lead to urinary calculi and you do NOT want to deal with that!! Generally, goats that are not in the middle of breeding season, heavily bred, or milking heavily have very little need for grain. We had nubians (LARGE nubians) and the only time our bucks needed grain was when they were breeding. Any other time they had grass hay available at all times and a good mineral block. The does that were not 100+ days bred or milking were also kept plump and happy on grass hay and minerals. In fact they were so healthy that their coats shone!!

The rough hair coat could also be a sign of copper deficiency as coarse, brittle or "sunburned" hair is the first sign of a copper issue. Do you have minerals available to these guys (loose minerals work best for goats)? If there is a deficiency then the goat would also be more susceptible to parasites too.

Getting a vet that will treat goats is tough and getting a vet that actually KNOWS what he/she is doing is nearly impossible for most people. The biggest issue is that they worm with either the wrong wormers or with amounts that don't come anywhere near killing the worms (it's surprising how much wormer it takes for goats....their dosage rates are awfully high).