# Malnourished Doe Help Needed ASAP



## RoustaboutGoatLover (Dec 14, 2012)

I have a doe at home who is raising twins. I'm sure it is *just a lack of food as she is always pushed out of the way by the others but her coat is looking thin and horrible; it almost looks like someone has singed some of it. Her skin is very dry and scaly as well as she is very very skinny.*
( I will post photo's later)

*I have other doe's of the same breed ( Feral ) who are holding twins and they are as healthy as they have ever been. Besides the fact that the others are bossing her around is there any other reason/reasons why her coat for example is looking so horrible etc.?
*
I have separated her and put one of my younger goats with her for company and we are getting a lot of food into her but we have had to take the kids off of her. I figured this would be alright as they are nearing 11 weeks old.

Any hints, tips.... anything to help! Please, she means a lot to me as I raised her since she was a day old.

Thankyou.:mecry::worried:


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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

Parasites and/or mineral deficiencies. I would definitely run a fecal and then worm appropriately, as well as make sure she has loose minerals available. She may need a bolus to get back on track. I recently picked up a very skinny pregnant doe but her coat was actually in decent shape and she's gaining weight already, so in her case I think it was just a matter of not being fed but it sounds like yours has more than that going on. However if the others don't let her eat you may need to separate her before she starves.


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## BrokenArrowRanch (Jun 6, 2013)

I agree with the above poster. I would have a fecal done first, and worm if needed. Then would give a copper bolus and possibly other vitamin and mineral supplements. What are you feeding her?


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## 7blessings (Jun 30, 2013)

The "singed" look of you does coat, sounds very similar to a malnourished doe in milk, I bought this past Summer. We wormed her since she hadn't ever been, and gave her 4gm copper bolus for goats. She is also a heavy producer as a FF, and had only been on pasture and a handful of alfalfa pellets once a day. Our poor Bela (a registered LaMancha/Alpine) was a walking skeleton...WAS being the operative word! 

Over the course of two weeks, we slowly added in a high percentage dairy goat grain/sweet feed, alfalfa pellets, beet pulp pellets, top dressed with Sweetlix Meatmaker loose minerals, Vitamin C powder and vegetable oil. We give her this mix twice a day on the milk stand.

She also has 24/access to Orchard/Clover/Grass hay and free choice Alfalfa Hay. We brush her every day. Her health and weigh gain was slow the first 2 months, but steadily climbed thereafter. She kidded in May of 2013, but I will not breed her again until the Fall of 2014, because I want her in 100% top condition. I don't want her body "playing catch-up" for years. We also gave her Vitamin B Complex and Selenium-Vitamin E.

With that said, she does eat a lot!! She is a huge girl, size wise. (Her sire is one of the biggest Lucky*Star Farm's bucks I've ever seen.) 

I understand the connection and bond, even though I haven't raised Bela since birth. She is everything delightful and perfect in a dairy goat, and we adore her puppy-like, passive personality, gentleness with all 7 of our children, ages 2 - 17 yrs, milks a gallon a day/perfect on the milk stand, and she is very quiet when in heat!! When you have such a wonderful doe, it is worth it to invest in their health and food regimen.


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

great advice already given.

my borrowed buck I got just over 2 weeks ago came to us skinny and has that same singed look and feel to his fur.

because he's not mine, i'm not willing to put a ton of money into him, but I am taking good care of him. currently we have loose minerals (he eats a lot of it), he gets about a cup of grain a day and alfalfa a day, and LOTS of browse. in 2 weeks, his fur is starting to look better and his rumen is finally starting to bulge out a bit (there was zero bulge when we first got him). he's the brown one, and that's a few days after I got him.

I think maybe with some extra food and extra TLC, your doe will get healthy again. the other two may have kept her away from the food, being the low goat on the totem pole.


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## RoustaboutGoatLover (Dec 14, 2012)

*Thankyou everyone for your advice.
*
*Broken Arrow Ranch-* When she was with the other does we gave then oaten chaff and a 'goat blend' which is pellets, grain, legumes ( i think) with molasses.
We still have her on that same feed but with more of the goat blend and eventually once we manage to find some, we will introduce some Livermol into her diet.

*nchen7* - That is exactly what her coat looks like. We have her with her kids and another goat for company now and we are feeding her separately with the food I said above. She is already looking more rotund in the stomach and is acting a lot more energetic.

if anybody has horses they may know if this product, it is commonly called Coppra Mix, which is a fattening agent given to race horses mostly. Do you think a little of this may help her?


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## nchen7 (Feb 25, 2013)

I'm not really sure what Copra is.... but put loose minerals out for her at all times. if she looks like that brown buck, then she's definitely deficient.


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## canyontrailgoats (Jan 4, 2014)

A little olive oil or wheat germ oil in her feed will help put some fat on her, and make her coat/skin healthier. Molasses is good for energy and has much needed iron.


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## anawhitfield (Jun 9, 2013)

Great advice (above) to separate her, check for parasites and all the feeding advice, plus B Complex. My vet once told me they cannot overdose on BComplex because their metabolism is so high that they will pass anything they don't absorb. 
I had almost an identical situation last spring. One morning I found her stiff, legs up in the air and eyes glazed over but when I went to remove her she jumped up and started walking around. I immediately separated her, started a strong dose of deworming and vitamins and began bottle feeding the babies to spare her. In addition to all her problems she also had orf which is not a life threatening condition for her but being that the sores were on her teats she didn't let her kids nurse so we ended up losing both of them even with the bottle feeding. She made a full recovery. Here are the before and after pictures.
Good luck and I hope she improves soon.


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## RoustaboutGoatLover (Dec 14, 2012)

Thankyou again. I will be sure to try *the loose minerals and some olive oil, with a little molasses in/with her food.*


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## RoustaboutGoatLover (Dec 14, 2012)

She is improving!! Thankyou everyone for your much appreciated advice!!!:wahoo:


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

Glad she is improving, it take much longer to put weight back on a goat then them loosing it, go slow and steady, Something I found works for my older doe who tends to get flaky skin and drops weight on a dime...I mix wheat germ, ground Flax seed and coconut oil..I feed her a tablespoon or so once or twice daily..I buy flax that has been cold mill for best benefits...its also great for stiffness in the older goats..


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## janeen128 (Dec 31, 2012)

anawhitfield said:


> Great advice (above) to separate her, check for parasites and all the feeding advice, plus B Complex. My vet once told me they cannot overdose on BComplex because their metabolism is so high that they will pass anything they don't absorb.
> I had almost an identical situation last spring. One morning I found her stiff, legs up in the air and eyes glazed over but when I went to remove her she jumped up and started walking around. I immediately separated her, started a strong dose of deworming and vitamins and began bottle feeding the babies to spare her. In addition to all her problems she also had orf which is not a life threatening condition for her but being that the sores were on her teats she didn't let her kids nurse so we ended up losing both of them even with the bottle feeding. She made a full recovery. Here are the before and after pictures.
> Good luck and I hope she improves soon.


Is that really the same goat? Wow!


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## anawhitfield (Jun 9, 2013)

yes, ma'am that's her and I am SO proud of her !!!! 
Her name is Patches and her story was SO heartbreaking. When I bought her she was just full of worms, her hooves were in terrible shape, she was skin and bones and the others would push her around and she would just fall down and unable to get back up. But I didn't know any better so i bought her anyway. I didn't spend much $$ on her but I did spend A LOT of tender love & care and time with her. She didn't know me and didn't trust me but just didn't have the energy to fight me so like it or not, she learned to love me 
I often show off the before-and-after pictures of her because I am so proud of her improvement and because it goes to prove that being kind and loving to your animals goes a loooooong way.


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

Glad to hear she is improving! Good work  Would it be possible to run a fecal on her? (Just in case  )


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## RoustaboutGoatLover (Dec 14, 2012)

Scottyhorse- Fecals here tend to cost over $300. She is improving at an incredible rate, but if, for some reason, her health does decline once again, I may run a fecal sample.


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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

WHAT?? It's more like $20 for me! WTH are they testing for?


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

RoustaboutGoatLover said:


> Scottyhorse- Fecals here tend to cost over $300. She is improving at an incredible rate, but if, for some reason, her health does decline once again, I may run a fecal sample.


:hammer::dazed::shocked::shock: I can get them done here for about $15!! Would it be possible to learn to do your own fecals, or have another goat-person do one for you? If you can learn to do them now, I know you are younger, that'll be a totally invaluable skill to have later on in life!


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## RoustaboutGoatLover (Dec 14, 2012)

Yeah, they are expensive. I'm not sure what they test for as I have never had to do one before, but as I said, she is doing incredibly well with some TLC.


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

Sounds like she is on the right track  Pics of the lady in question are needed


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

I agree, would love to see pictures!


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## happybleats (Sep 12, 2010)

YIKeS!! $300 FOR A FECAL... all they do is look under a microscope to count eggs and the solution is cheap..!! wow..mine cost $12 ..But Im learning to do my own..even at $12 they can add up if you do a lot...but ifyou have to shoot in the dark, use a good broad spectrum wormer..cover more bases..Ivomec plus and valbazen are good choices: ) 
I too would love to see pics....it is amazing how a little TLC can make a huge difference!!


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## RoustaboutGoatLover (Dec 14, 2012)

I will have to get some decent pics and show you.


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

I agree with Cathy.


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## RoustaboutGoatLover (Dec 14, 2012)

I would post some photos now but she has like 2 inches of cashmere fuzz on her right now! I'll wait till summer again when her coat is all slick and smooth!


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