# Shipping fever...what to look for



## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

There are so many things to look out for when bringing home new goats.
For those of us not quite comfortable in the goat medical world yet, like I am , knowing what the signs are and what to do. I thought we could make a thread on this topic.
What the signs are , what to do for each symptom , what can cause it , and so on...knowing what to do with any medical emergency is critical and to have the knowhow in our medical toolboxes is priceless IMO.


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

From what little I know about it having experienced only a short bout;
Goat will present snot nose & possibly the runs.
Anytime a goat is stressed, any worm load present will be manifested.
So, a check with the seller about last worming date is good info.
This is why I worm before sending out & give buyer heads up if they need to do second treatment.


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

The buck (at left here) I bought only had snotty nose. It was only an drive. I treated him with Vet Rx a couple of days.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

From what I have read, shipping fever usually does not manafest for 3-5 days after the goat has arrived at his new location...the get lethargic, off to themselves, fever, snotty nose runny eyes and sometimes a cough...
I too always worm and give probios before sending off to a new home..

you treat for it as you would pueunomia, since in essence that is what it is....antibioitcs..banamine, probios ect...


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## ThreeHavens (Oct 20, 2011)

Thankfully, I haven't yet had a goat come here and get sick, maybe because I hit them with probios and dewormer. :laugh: But I do really reccomend keeping a close eye on wormload during moving. The sniffles are fairly common. I like to keep Molly's Herbal Immune Support on hand. It really has helped with the sniffles here (Little Guy gets the sniffles after it rains). You also need to watch that they keep drinking plenty of water, perhaps add a bit of yummy juice to the water to keep them hidrated. Sometimes it helps to mix the old home's water with your water.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

I read somewhere that Bovi-Sera injection is a good thing to give to any new goats that are brought home , is this correct ?


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

Trickyroo said:


> There are so many things to look out for when bringing home new goats.
> For those of us not quite comfortable in the goat medical world yet, like I am , knowing what the signs are and what to do. I thought we could make a thread on this topic.
> What the signs are , what to do for each symptom , what can cause it , and so on...knowing what to do with any medical emergency is critical and to have the knowhow in our medical toolboxes is priceless IMO.


Shipping Fever is nothing more than pneumonia brought on by the stress of transporting compromising the immune system. Symptoms are usually dull eyes, isolation, not eating well, hunched back, possibly coughing, and just not looking "right". If not treated quickly, it progresses to being off feed, snotty nose, head hanging, labored breathing, coughing, flared nostrils, possibly heaving flanks, and probable death. The easiest way to prevent it is to dose all new animals with an antibiotic such as Nuflor, Baytril, or Draxxin. I don't like to give antibiotics "just in case", so I do a thorough check of any new animals 3 or 4 times a day for the first week.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

When getting ready to send off a goat to a new home..it is the responsability of the owner to make sure the goat is in top shape..utd on needed vaccines and wormer..
a booster of wormer and a dose of probios and B complex will certainly help with stress of the move in a healthy goat...an unhealthy goat should not be moved...


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

It really is not a matter of being healthy or unhealthy most of the time. Most owners do not ship sick animals, although some do. Shipping Fever usually presents in the case of animals being sent through a situation like the sale barn where they are subjected to continuous stress for for a long period of time. They start out healthy, but end up sick. Case in point - the last bunch of kids I sold were transported from my home to Wyoming to the sale barn in Fort Collins, Colorado. That trip was roughly 3 1/2 hours. The spent the day at the sale barn, and were purchased by someone who then loaded them with all the other goats he had bought that day and shipped them to Iowa. By the time it was all said and done, my kids had been subjected to continuous stress for probably 3 days. That is when Shipping Fever rears its ugly head.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

also depends on age...a young kid making a 4 hour trip in th eback of a pick up can be enough stress to enduce Shipping fever..but yes..even a healthy goat can fall victim..but has a better chance....


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

I found this topic doing a yahoo search. We are dealing with 'something' and it's very stressful not knowing exactly how I should be treating the goats. I am literately going crazy! 

Is shipping fever contagious? Does it rear it's ugly head without a fever? Can they fight it without antibiotics? Or keep passing it back and forth?


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

shipping fever is not contagious but silent pneumonia is...we had it go through out herd last summer...what kind of symptoms are you having?


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

We've had 7 of 11 young 4-H goats come down sick. Started 6/22, 3 days after a very stressful show - show was good, goats were relaxed, but got caught in a bad storm trying to leave that night, and goats did get wet as well, although we did our best to get them dry. It was a scary thunderstorm.

Started with some of them having a snotty nose, then it seems one at a time they start to scour for 1-2 days, and have a cough, but haven't noticed any fever.
The doe that was sick over the weekend seemed fine yesterday, but then yesterday a buck started feeling bad. Today that buck was feeling worse, so I got him started on PenG, and a wether in another pen started scouring, so we started him on PenG.

I haven't noticed any fever, and whatever it is has to be contagious. I've made a couple of posts on the forum about it, but the only thing I can think of is contagious virus.

I'm just confused now on how I should handle it. 1 doe hasn't been herself for a week, she looks scrawny and not her usual self, she is the only one that has been sick that hasn't scoured <yet>.


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

From everything that I have seen this year...Im a little more proactive then I prefer to be when it comes to medicating...meaning...I would start antibiotics..for ex: stopped by a ladies place who lost all her spring kids and two moms were down.....she was desperate...no fever....withdrawn...off feed..both looked rough...coats were bad...eyes were slight pale but not dangerously so...she had wormed them already with valbazen....it didn't seem to help...they looked sad...I started them on Nuflor and b complex, electrolytes and left enough Nuflor to followup treatment...that was about 2-3 PM...the next morning she texted to say both does were up and moving...screaming for food.... eating their hay and sucking down their electrolytes...sometimes we have to do what we were trained not to do...give antibiotics even without the normal signs of infection...go with your gut!


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks Cathy, that is great about the ladies goats improving!!

The buck is feeling better today, his poo isn't runny, but it's still very soft and wet dog poo kinda texture. He is eating hay, and more alert, so hopefully this routine is helping.
The wether that was scouring yesterday afternoon seems fine today, didn't notice any scouring or clumpy poo, and he was throwing a fit wanting his grain this afternoon, so fingers crossed.

I am planning to order Bovi Sera and dose everyone with that. I called around today hoping I could get lucky and find it locally, but nope  I'll wait until this weekend to order it since there is no mail on Saturday.


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