# Goat bloat



## 4-Hgoats (Feb 6, 2010)

i know there has been a topic on this already, but i wantesd another one. My two goats just recently got bloated, and I don't understand why. I give them each a half cup of grain twice a day every day alon with hay. When i went out to check ion them around 3:00 they were both bloated and look like watermelons. I didn't see any hay missing either so I don't understand how they could have gotten bloated on just feed and whatever water they drank. I do not provide baking soda for them, so maybe that's all they need. I also cannot have them out in pasture, because we don't have one yet (were in the process of stringing wire on it) so I am wondering if lack of exercise is causing this .They have been bloated for no apparent reason before, so I'm not too worried about it, but i was wondering if there's anything I can do to relieve them. Do you think walking them around like you do for a horse with colic would work??


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## ryorkies (May 4, 2010)

I keep a dish of baking soda out. I am sure that would do the trick.
But as I have said before. I am new to goats. And am still learning myself. But I know baking soda is used to stop acid.


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## Rex (Nov 30, 2008)

Bloat is caused by the formation of tiny foamy air bubbles. It can be from a few different reasons. Diet change, lots of green weeds and grass or simply from over eating. GasX and some other gas relievers will cause the bubbles to pop and allow the gas to escape. Also many goat owners prescribe a quarter of a pint of mineral oil down the goats throat, baking soda, or pepto bismol. Massaging the rumen side of the goat may also help to break up the bubbles. I'm not sure whether walking helps them or makes them more miserable.


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## Bob Jones (Aug 21, 2009)

An old biscuit recipe calls for postash which is just a concentrated form of wood ash instead of baking soda . The goats like chewing burnt wood, probably for the same reason. 

When I first got them, I couldn't keep them out of the fire pit while camping. 

G'ma always gave burn't toast to me when I was sick. My mother always gave to me even when I wasn't sick. She just couldn't cook so well. We'd compliment her on the potato chips and ice cubes.

But then we were so poor we didn't have beef broth or chicken broth. We'd get hot dog broth.


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## 4-Hgoats (Feb 6, 2010)

I tried giving them baking soda, but only one would eat it. So I got out their old nipples and bottles and put some diluted pepto bismo in it. They took that down like it was candy or goats milk. Now thy seem to be fine but their still a little chubby. I think I own fat goats. I'm trying to cut down their grain to a 1/4 lb twice a day. They're about 4 months old. I also tried massaging their sides and they loved that, but it didn't seem to help with the bloat. When I put them on pasture for the first time I know theyre going to get bloated, due to eating everything in their path. Is there any way to help with that? They have had a CDT shot, but I'm going to give them another before I turn them loose in the pasture.


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## Huckleberry (Mar 12, 2010)

My little ober kid has been getting a lot of bloat over the last few weeks as well. We didn't make any sudden changed so I don't know what was causing it. He wouldn't eat the baking soda either, so I sprinkled it over his grain and he ate it all with no problem. Seemed to help. We gave him a CD&T and it may just be a coincidence, but his belly seems to fill out evenly on both sides now, rather than bloating out on the rumen side every time he gets full, as before.


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## Bob Jones (Aug 21, 2009)

Have you tried dropping the grain and feeding them just Timothy hay for a day or two?

It may help balance the bacteria better.


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