# bottle kid with bloody stool



## drafthorsechick (Oct 16, 2007)

Hi all,

I went to an Amish farm two days ago to have some chickens processed. This farm is also a goat dairy. As I was unloading the cage of roosters, a young boy walked around the corner of the barn holding a still wet buckling in either hand. Sadly due to the cost of milk replacer, many dairies in our area just knock the bucklings in the head rather than raise them up. Well me being me, I offered the kid $20 for the two bucklings and all the collostrum he could milk from the does. (Two different does, one buckling is an alpine, one is a lamancha.)

So my two little bottles babies are doing well--the alpine is eating like a HOG, and the lamancha is eating okay, if not with the enthusiasm of his adopted brother. Both passed their merconium just fine.

Today, however, I noticed that Nugget, the lamancha, (DH named him Hershey Nugget since he's dark brown) was very constipated and straining hard. He did finally pass his poo, but after that he was bloody from his rear. When I went to change the bedding in their crate (temps. have been down to the teens at night, so for now they are house goats) there was a pool of urine with 7-8 drops of blood in it--the blood is definitely NOT coming from the urine, it is from his rectum.

I called my vet, and he said to wait a day and see if the blood is just due to a tear in the rectum from straining, and if it continues to come and get some Albom (sp?) for coccidiousus (sp?). He also recommended that I vaccinate for CD&T in a couple days, then again in four weeks.

Does this sound right to everyone? I know that where goats are concerned you guys often know much more than the vets do, and I do NOT have a good track record with raising bottle babies. (Okay, I've only tried one, and he didn't make it, but that still means I have a 100% failure rate.) 

I am already ridiculously attached to Nugget and P.J., so want to do everything I can to make sure that they grow into big, fat, tame wethers that I end up feeding for the next 15 years or so.

Thanks for any suggestions you can provide, such as, do you agree with what my vet laid out? Should these boys be getting probiotics? If so, in what form? Once I know they are healthy, should they be out with my other kids who are being dam raised so they know how to grow up as goats? How cold can it be outside at night before they are okay?

Therese
worried goat mom


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## keren (Oct 26, 2008)

sounds like you have a good vet and are doing all the right things so far. 

coccidiosis is the usual cause of bloody stools, but generally when they are a bit older, and generally accompanying scours. that being said, I have experienced many atypical cases of cocci (oh such fun)

at this age the biggest thing to worry about is e coli but that will come with a scour. 

from what I read your boys are doing just fine. 

probiotics wont hurt your little guys

yes I would give them some outside time, but make sure the does dont hurt them


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## drafthorsechick (Oct 16, 2007)

Thanks for the first round of advice--but now I need more. These bottle babies are work! I'm doing four loads of laundry a day to keep them in a clean crate. Question number one is when can these little poop monsters go out in the barn? We're in Iowa, so whereas it's not crazy cold, it's still very early spring. We have a solid barn and I can bed them deep in straw.

Also one of the two bottle babies seems to be getting a little upper respitory thing going--he rattles a little and coughs every now and then. I have on hand: SMZs, Penicylan, and LA 200--would any of those work for this little guy? If not, what would be best to clear this up? I want to get it under control now so it doesn't become a bigger issue. 

Thanks so much!

Therese


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## whatknott (Feb 22, 2008)

I'm not sure about the bloody stool but tend to think it's from a tear from straining. You may want to dilute the formula just a little bit or else add a little of electrolytes to the milk. Since we bottlefeed almost all of our babies, I never use towels or rags for their crate. We use playpens (can you find one at a thrift store or ask around) - they're much easier to clean out and then you put newspapers down on the flooring. Yes, it could be awhile until they are ready for the barn. I was able to move a 6 week old ram lamb out last week when the snow started melting and it started to get near 50. But I still have two more lambs in the basement that aren't ready to be moved out.
I have two ram lambs on the bottle beause they were born at a livestock dealers - they "accidentally" butchered the ones' mother; and the other one was born but the mother died right after; yep, they told me that they normally just bop them on the head but thought maybe I might want them for our petting zoo. Well, if I don't take them, you know what they're going to do so of course I have to take them. I've heard some farmers are doing the same to bull calves but they usually just put them out in the pasture and let them die - that's why we're not really "farmers" I guess.

Sometimes they inhale the milk from the bottle and will wheez a little bit from that - but if you think there is some respiratory problem, I'd probably go for LA-200 to start and if no improvement in a couple of days, then switch to penicillin G.


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