# am I not feeding enough



## precious (May 18, 2013)

I have a few does that are really sunken in the back part of spine. Not sure what it's called. They get alfalfa hay. Milking doe receives timothy pellets, goat tender, grain, BOSS daily when I milk her. I am trying to attach pictures Thanks


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

She looks shiny and healthy...That can also be a sign of Liver Fluke.


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## lottsagoats (Dec 10, 2012)

Or, like several of my higher producers, she is putting all her weight in the milk pail. If I "up" their feed, they "up" their milk production!


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## silveira_ranch (Jun 14, 2013)

My dairy does look like this too..they fatten up a bit when not lactating.


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

goathiker said:


> She looks shiny and healthy...That can also be a sign of Liver Fluke.


How can you tell if it is liver fluke? My doe in milk looks skinny like that too, but she also had a nice shiny coat.. Just curious. Are hook worms the cause of liver fluke?


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

You can tell because goats with Liver Fluke don't fill their rumen. It causes pain to have pressure on the liver. They don't go out and browse and come back fuller looking. They will also start getting dry hair down their spine as the liver becomes more damaged.

Liver Fluke is it's own parasite and they are moving around the nation much more then normal because of hay being shipped to all drought areas. The only things that will kill them is Ivomec Plus or Valbazen.


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

goathiker said:


> You can tell because goats with Liver Fluke don't fill their rumen. It causes pain to have pressure on the liver. They don't go out and browse and come back fuller looking. They will also start getting dry hair down their spine as the liver becomes more damaged.
> 
> Liver Fluke is it's own parasite and they are moving around the nation much more then normal because of hay being shipped to all drought areas. The only things that will kill them is Ivomec Plus or Valbazen.


Okay. Then I'm ruling out liver fluke on my doe then, because she comes back looking fuller, you can feel it too


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

janeen128 said:


> Okay. Then I'm ruling out liver fluke on my doe then, because she comes back looking fuller, you can feel it too


Thanks


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## ptgoats45 (Nov 28, 2011)

If you have slugs in your area, your goats can get liver flukes.


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## precious (May 18, 2013)

I did treat with valbazen 3 days ago. Her hair isn't dry that I can tell. Should I treat the valbazen again?


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

ptgoats45 said:


> If you have slugs in your area, your goats can get liver flukes.


We've got a ton of slugs Yuck! I will keep an eye out on all of them now that I know what to look for...


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

goathiker said:


> Liver Fluke is it's own parasite and they are moving around the nation much more then normal because of hay being shipped to all drought areas. The only things that will kill them is Ivomec Plus or Valbazen.


Are you sure about that? I'm using Rumatel dewormer; I've heard good things about it, so I was really hoping it'd be good for most worms. The active ingredient (as you probably already know ) is Morantel Tartrate. I'm not really worries about them having worms right now, but I wouldn't want this to be a problem in the future.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

It's not on the list of what it kills. Looks like mostly round worm types. Here http://www.elephantcare.org/Drugs/morantel.htm


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## Texaslass (May 15, 2013)

Hmmm... I guess I'll just have to be on the look out for liver fluke.Funny that they use it on elephants! I never thought about them having worms, lol.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

They use a lot of the same stuff on them. Elephant International has a huge drug database set up. Just in case you want to find out about anything else. http://www.elephantcare.org/drugdex.htm


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## ptgoats45 (Nov 28, 2011)

As far as I have heard what you worm with has to contain a flukecide (like clorsulon) to kill liver flukes. In Ivomec plus, the plus is the clorsulon which is why it is different from Ivomec, it is not advised to give Valbazen (which also contains a flukecide) and Ivomec plus to does less than 100 days bred as it can cause them to abort. After 100 days it is supposed to be safe, but if you don't need to give it I would wait until they kid then give it to them.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Just looks like a normal goat to me. Some of them just hold their guts low in their body cavity. If you were under feeding, you would see a more distinct bone around the hip area and the spine.


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