# HELP FAST possible Fescue toxicity!



## fuzzygoats (Jan 18, 2014)

Lost favorite doe and her baby with probable fescue toxicity.. I thought she would never have her baby, when she finally went into labor, it was unusual and stopped.. Had to pull baby and he was wedged in her pelvis, he was dead and absolutely huge! I have an even smaller doe bred about the same time, overdue and don't want to lie them both! Don't have vets heat that really want to work on goats. Is she doomed? What am I to do? Please help


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Is she just simply over due? I wouldn't be overly concerned if its not by much. I had a doe last year kid on day 160 and was fine. What is making you think think this is fescue??? This summer parent cows ate fescue and they just played down and died not long after stating it. If you think she just ate it then active charcoal and I would probably do a CDT anti. From what we have seen and learned its a fast acting heart breaking weed. They never suffered it was like they went to sleep and never woke up. Now I know this sounds heartless but if this doe goes down and nothing you can do for her I would have a sharp knife ready to save those kids. If you can stomach it you need to be fast if you want to save the kids. I'm not going to go into nasty details on how to unless you want me to.


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## fuzzygoats (Jan 18, 2014)

Everything I am reading on it says it can cause prolonged pregnancies in goats and abnormalities. This kid was 13" tall from foot to shoulder (curled up) and at least 16" long from head to tail, easily twice the size of any of the others born from my herd. His feet were larger than normal for his legs and very advanced large teeth. I understand it can cause increased core body temperature in goats which I am sure can cause a multitude of other problems


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Might of just been a big kid. We have a couple every year. Its not easy on the doe to say at least. 14-16 lbs single buck kids.


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## fuzzygoats (Jan 18, 2014)

This doe was maybe 45-50 pounds and it was her first. Her mother has had 4 babies, 3-4 pounds and very healthy.. This is normal size for this herd. I am just concerned for the other doe because she is maybe 25 pounds and has been "ready" since early December. The one I lost was "ready to go" late Nov to early Dec. Fully bagged up, vulva very swollen relaxed..


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

What breed are your goats? 25 pounds is awful small fir being bred....

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## fuzzygoats (Jan 18, 2014)

She is 2 yrs old and the buck is not much bigger. Surprisingly they are boer x Kiko cross but the only really big guy is the oldest male. (Separate pastures)


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

Do you know the breedibg date for sure? It is common for them to "look" ready even tho they are not. That is extremely small for a boer/kiko cross. I would get a vet involved and possibly take babies by c-section. I would guess your does are just way too small to have been bred. Scary and dangerous situation. 

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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Are you sure on the weights? Thats is creditably small for that breed combo at that age. They would be over 100 lbs at least. I dont know the kiko breed but a boer at 2 years of age would normally be over 150 lbs if not closer to 180 lbs.

If you are right on the weights, they should not of been bred as they sound to be severely stunted. You might need to get a vet who knows goats to check em.


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

fuzzygoats said:


> This doe was maybe 45-50 pounds and it was her first. Her mother has had 4 babies, 3-4 pounds and very healthy.. This is normal size for this herd. I am just concerned for the other doe because she is maybe 25 pounds and has been "ready" since early December. The one I lost was "ready to go" late Nov to early Dec. Fully bagged up, vulva very swollen relaxed..


That weight can't be right. I have several Boer/Kiko crosses and they are around 150 lbs at 2 years old. My Kiko/dairy crosses are 95 lbs at a year old.


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## fuzzygoats (Jan 18, 2014)

We have our senior breeder at easily 200 (and boer Kiko is our best guess, we know they are boer cross) I say Kiko because of his build and horn structure. Only one of his kids have ever hit the 150 mark and he was close to that at just over a year. All others have been unusually smal.


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## fuzzygoats (Jan 18, 2014)

They also have cashmere coats, but that wouldn't have anything to do with a fescue problem!


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

If you are positive on those weights...your goats have something going on that is causing them to stunt. I don't know what you are feeding or what your worming program is, but you really need to stop breeding until you get this under control. I don't have much experience with Cocci, but from what I've seen on this site, that could indeed be your problem. GET A FECAL (never thought I'd be the one saying that!) AND....never breed this little one again if she does indeed live thru this one. 

I would suspect it's not a fescue issue but a size issue that caused the loss. You NEED a vet to look at that little bitty one....I would seriously consider a c-section NOW whether she is full term or not or you are going to lose her. The problem with breeding a severely stunted goat is that the stunting has nothing to do with genetics. So....you breed a stunted goat back to their original breed and you still have the large genetics creating a full size baby in a stunted animal. Does that make sense? 25 pounds is too small to breed even for a mini breed like Nigerian Dwarf! Let alone back to a full size genetics!

Going back and reading your earlier posts you say you don't have a vet that wants to work with goats. You NEED to get a vet for this little one NOW...you have to find a vet that is willing to work with you.


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## fuzzygoats (Jan 18, 2014)

Thanks for all the comments. We will figure this out.


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

Please keep us updated....


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