# Normal body temperature of a goat?



## Coyote Night Acres (Dec 27, 2010)

What is normal for a goats body temperature? Today was a really nice day out and if you were doing a lot you could get to sweating a little bit, but not much at all and it was not a hot day by any means. Mysti my 2 year old doe that freshened 2-6-11 was panting. So I just chalked it up to her being black and standing in the sun or something. This evening after milking we put her back in the pasture and she was panting again, it's cooled off and getting dark out so I just felt like this was off. I took her temp and it's 104.7 is this high? or acceptable?


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Normal is 101-103.5*F.....If it's cooled off now outside, take her temp again, 104.7 is high. If her temp is no lower I would start her on an antibiotic.


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## Coyote Night Acres (Dec 27, 2010)

How long should I wait to recheck temp? I just got back in from doing it and came straight here to ask, so it has only been like 5 mins


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Check again in an hour...was the temp you got after she had been running or playing with another? I ask because sometimes a high temp is due to exertion.


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## Coyote Night Acres (Dec 27, 2010)

I'm not 100% sure on that as I just went out to milk. Pulled her out (she was waiting) she went to the stand ate all her feed as she was milked (milk looked fine udder feels fine no pain) then I pulled her off the stand and put her back out to the pen and grabbed another doe to milk. She was panting when I got done with the other one and since I had noticed it durring the day once It struck me odd. I watched her a bit and she continued to pant. She even panted while I was taking her temp.


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## Coyote Night Acres (Dec 27, 2010)

Okay, just got back in from checking her temp again 1 hour after the first reading it is 103.8 so what do you think? Is this acceptable temp? She is no longer panting now so do you think she just got overheated today? She does have thicker hair, but I haver her belly and flanks shaved for milking so I didn't think she would be too hot. I don't know though. Geesh do you hear me, worried my goat is over heating in February.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

It's good that her temp is down, I'd check her again in the morning and see if it's the same or lower...if it's normal range and not higher than it is now, I'd say she was over heated...Black goats seem to have a higher temp during the heat of the day... :wink: I have a few that always scare me when it's warmer than usual outside with panting and general "hot" look about them.


If her temp IS higher in the morning, if she were mine I would start her on PenG at 1cc per 20lbs for 5 days, followed by probiotics.


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## Goat Biology (Feb 23, 2011)

Normal animals should not increase their body temperatures when it is hot. They should be able to regulate their body temp. In addition, if it where a bacterial infections causing a fever you would see some other sign such as pain.

One thing that can cause a rise in body temperature especially in a cyclic manner is -- believe it or not -- overfeeding of concentrates. High concentrate diets will cause acidic conditions in the rumen and intestinal tract. In these condiitons gram negative bacteria in the rumen and intestines release an endotoxin called a lipopolysaccharide (LPS) within a given time after ingestion. This endotoxin in large amounts is what causes enterotoxemia or septic shock but also is pyrexic meaning that it can cause an increase in body temperature. Panting is another sign of a reaction to endotoxins which promote the inflammatory and allergic response. If you watch and monitor temps you may notice this happens within a given time after feeding.

I'm curious about the diet of this doe. What level of concentrate to roughage amounts she is getting? Given the symptoms I'd be careful to reduce the amount of concentrates, increase roughage and/or make sure she is getting free choice baking soda.

I'm currently developing an in depth article for the Goat Biology site on what happens when goats (ruminants) are fed a high concentrate diet. That's my main point in asking about her diet, not to criticize the diet.


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## Coyote Night Acres (Dec 27, 2010)

She did this the following day after I posted, again it was hot that day. She's black and has thick hair so I assumed it was the heat. Since then she has never done it again, but the weather cooled off after those two days so this does seem to be related to the outside temperatures. 

As to her diet she is fed an alfalfa grass mix hay we always try to keep hay in front of them 24/7 so they eat what they need. She is fed a milking ration on the milking stand twice a day, she only gets grain while on the milking stand and only what she can eat in the amount of time it takes to milk. The milker is Kent's milking pellets we add a handfull of calf manna pellets to the feed for increased milk production.


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