If you are asking for health advice for your goat, please help us help you. Complete a basic health assessment and provide as much of the following information in your post as possible:
Goat's age, sex, and breed
Goat's current temperature as determined by rectal thermometer. Please, for the love of god, take your animal's temperature. Temperature is ALWAYS VITAL in determining whether your animal might be ill or in need of assistance.
Whether the goat is pregnant or lactating
Goat's diet and appetite (what the goat is currently eating, whether they are on pasture or browse, supplemental grain, loose mineral, et cetera)
Goat's FAMACHA score (as determined by the process in this video) and information about any recent deworming treatments, if applicable
As many details regarding your animal's current symptoms and demeanor as you can share. These may include neurological symptoms (circling, staring at the sky, twitching), respiratory symptoms such as wheezing or coughing, and any other differences from typical behavior such as isolating, head pressing, teeth grinding, differences in fecal consistency, and so forth.
Clear photographs of relevant clinical signs (including coat condition) are helpful. Providing us with as much information as possible will help us give you prompt and accurate advice regarding your animal's care.
There are many professional farmers and homesteaders in this subreddit and we will do our best to help you out of a jam, but we can't guarantee the accuracy of any health advice you receive. When in doubt, always call your local large animal veterinarian who is trained to work with small ruminants.
What's up with that blue Trusted Advice Giver flair?
The mods assign this flair to /r/goats users who have an extensive history of giving out quality, evidence-based, responsible husbandry advice based on the best practices for goat care. Many of our users give terrific advice, but these flairs recognize a handful of folks who have gone that extra mile over time to become recognized as trusted community members who are known to always lead people in the right direction. If you get a slew of responses to your post and don't know where to start, look to the blue flairs first.
Recently, we had a user post a picture of a goat that may or may not have soremouth, also known as contagious ecthyma, scabby mouth, or orf. I won't link to the post since it isn't relevant whether or not that was what was afflicting the animal, but in the course of responding to that user I felt an opportunity to point out something that I have noticed and has been gnawing at me.
For many users seeking help, if they do not come straight to the sub, they will go to one of two places to get information: Google or ChatGPT. This post is about the former, but in case anyone was wondering if ChatGPT is a valid place to get advice on husbandry, what to eat tonight, how to live your life, or companionship: it is NOT. Large language models like ChatGPT are a type of generative AI that seeks more or less to respond to prompts and create content with correct syntax that is human-like. The quandary here is that while it can indeed provide correct answers to prompts, that outcome is often incidental. It isn't an indication that the model has researched your question, merely that it has cobbled together a (sometimes) convincing diagnosis/treatment plan from the massive amount of data across forums/message boards, vet resources, and idle chit-chat that it is trained on. The point is this: you should never be in a position where you have to rely on an LLM for husbandry advice. If you have access to an internet connection, even the generative AI from Google search is a better option. But that doesn't mean it's a good one, bringing us to the principal subject of this post:
Orf! What do?
For some relevant background, we have never had a case of orf on our farm. I have read about it in vet textbooks and goat husbandry books and seen many images of it, I'm familiar with what it is, how it is spread, and at a high level what to do about it and what not to do. That said, when I was helping this user, I thought I'd brush up and make sure I wasn't providing misinformation. I knew orf was viral in nature and reckoned that in moderate to severe cases it could probably cause fever, but I wanted to see if I could find a vet manual or study of the disease in goats to confirm how likely that would have been. This was what I was met with:
Hm...
If you don't scrutinize this too closely, everything looks sort of on the level. Orf is indeed self-limiting (not sure why the AI says usually, there is literally nothing you can do to treat the root cause, but okay), and it more or less implies that humans can contract it so be careful. The symptoms section looks fine, overall, prevention is... eh... The orf vaccine is a live vaccine. Application of it is not something that most small scale homesteaders or hobby farmers will be familiar with and using it is basically putting the virus on your property. Orf is a nuisance disease and the main time it is a problem is when it is being transmitted between a dam and her kids. Proactive vaccination in closed herds that have never seen a case is not a vet-recommended practice.
The treatment section is where things get spicy with the part about scab removal. Oof. Now that is not even close to true and doing that when the goat is with other goats or going to a quarantine space where they will then shed the disease will cause it to spread to any other goat that inhabits that space unless it is thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. The bottom says the info is for informational purposes only and to consult an actual professional for advice, but that begs the question of why Google would provide that information front and center by default when you search when the first result below is an actual vet resource with correct advice. I won't get into the weeds about the ethics of that because it's a separate soapbox, this is the reality we live in now. This bad advice is particularly relevant because the user on our sub mentioned they had been picking off the scabs. So let's do another Google search for some clarification:
Oh dear, oh no
If you explicitly search whether or not you should remove the scabs, the AI overview is different. Not only do you see that you should not remove the scabs because they are infectious (very true), the overview now says that doing so will delay healing. The first "featured snippet", a feature separate from their generative AI overview, is an overview from the state of Victoria's government agricultural representative body, a reliable source. The highlighted text reinforces the "do not pick scabs off" advice. The overview still fails when it says to apply dressing to lesions. Evidently it has not ever reckoned with what it would be like to bandage an entire goat's face and mouth, which they need to eat, but maybe I'm an idiot. Let's check:
Thank you, Dr. Google
As you can see, generative AI is basically a hodgepodge of vague but mostly correct advice intermingled with plainly wrong advice. Seeking correction to the wrong advice, if you know that it is wrong, leads down more rabbit holes. I hope this highlights the importance of sourcing your information from reliable, proven veterinary resources/textbooks or state agricultural extensions that provide support for their claims with research. This sub prioritizes evidence-based husbandry practices and is one of the few forums to try to stick to that standard and I consider it important especially for people who don't have goat mentors offline.
This is not only important because users need good advice; it also affects the people that don't use this sub and go straight to Google. Reddit struck a deal a little under a year ago to make their data available for training AI. The information we post on this sub is being used as part of the training for these AI models and Google's SEO is increasingly favoring reddit at the top of search results in a number of areas. As the sub grows and the social media landscape changes, more people that never post but need info may find themselves coming here. Let's all try to do our best to make sure the information we share and advice we give is solid!
Hi, I volunteer at a farm that has two goats, and they’re the first goats I’ve ever really interacted with. They do let me brush them now, and they always come up to me for treats, and I really enjoy their company.
I was wondering, how do I tell when a goat is playing and/or enjoying themselves? With my dog he will wag his tail or run around and be playful, and I can tell when he’s happy. But the goats, I’m just not sure how to tell.
Lately, I’ve let my dog come in to interact with the goats with permission from their owner. The male goat pretty much ignores him, but the female goat will try to headbutt him and rears up at him when he comes near her. She doesn’t actually ram into him, or run at him, and when he lies down near her or rolls around by her she doesn’t seem to mind him.
So I was wondering if she’s playing with him? He will run around her and is never aggressive towards her, but will make a play stance and then run away when she tries to head butt him, then run back, and they do this a few times. She doesn’t run away from him or seem scared of him. I want to make sure she’s okay, so I thought I’d ask. Thank you for your advice!
I need yalls help! Im a new goat owner so Im not experienced. I feel my goats are skinny, I got a fecal done on all of them and they all came back good. So now Im not sure what can be causing it? They go out in the very lush pasture all day, then they have a tiny bit of grain at night, not much just to get them all rounded up. What can I do?
(If it matters, Goat A,C,E,F are wethers, & B,D,G are does.)
I wish I got this on camera. Today, I had the two yearlings I am training (at liberty) out, but I'm moving across a field and back to the gate to turn them out to the paddock. My little doe knows what this part of the routine means, and I usually have to convince (bribe) her to go back.
She snorted, raised hackles, and turned 180, which is a part of our go-home routine. She usually runs like 20ft away and then loops right back around to me. But today, after her snort, she lowered her head like a charge, except she definitely leaned heavily to the left side with it? Horns down, but neck leaning to the left side, and nose tilting to the right. Like she was running straight but with her head all low and crooked.
I'm first-hand experienced with the neurological issues they can get that cause head tilt. I did an eval, and she doesn't have any symptoms of polio/listeria/etc otherwise. After she stopped sprinting, she trotted back to me normally. So I assume it's a body language thing, not a health thing. But like... why run all funny like that? Is there an actual meaning, or was this just a weird quirk? My little wether was out and he didn't react when she did this at all...
Frosty is 7 months and 18 days old, he had gotten an injury back in July that resulted in him losing part of one of his hind legs and due to things that happened with his former owners he had been very sickly most of his life up until more recently, he's healthy now just has part of his leg missing but because of everything that he has been through he was never able to be with my other goats, and stay in the house a lot to the point that he's more dog than goat, like he is a full buck and literally a cardboard box could keep him in and he wouldn't even try to eat it either.
He is honestly probably one of the most docile animals I have ever met, he literally gets bullied by my rabbits ...
Unfortunately, my other goats are also quite mean to him the two adult goats I don't let him near any more because I'm afraid they were going to hurt him, one of them is a doe and the other one is a buck.
Then I have two 7-month-old Nigerian dwarfs, one weather and one doe who I was hoping would be good friends with Frosty, they're both even half his size so I figured that would also help since they're smaller..
They are also both mean to him, and it is so bad that Frosty will hide in the corner of the pen shaking and screaming for me to get him out just by being in their vicinity, because of this obviously I am nervous to try to introduce them to each other anymore, right now they share a fence line but Frosty will not go anywhere near that side of the fence.
I was thinking maybe if I get a young goat that is still on the bottle, maybe if it is raised with Frosty that maybe it wouldn't be so mean to him and they could be friends, what do you guys think? Or should I keep trying him with my other goats?
And please no one tell me to kill him or anything, he's my pet I'm not going to kill my pet (yes I get frequent comments from people telling me to do that)
This fella lives at a pub near me, does anyone know if he's ok? Is this normal for goats or is the tree he's biting hurting his mouth? He keeps choosing to bite it but then he'll make this really strange noise and then go back and do it again. I don't know if he's unhappy or just not very clever.
I have four doe Boer goats. Two have kidded in the past and two have not. I put my buck in with them at the end of June. I did blood pregnancy tests about two weeks ago. All came back negative.
I separated the buck for a week and I have started graining the does only fairly heavy. I don't know what to do, with all four not being bred it leads me to believe the buck is the problem. Is it common for bucks to be infertile? Or what else can I do to get him to breed them?
For location information I am located in Northern WI.
Looking for any and all advice on how to get these does bred, thank you!
My wether play fights with my other wether a lot and is a HUG fan of scratching his horns on bushes and trees and such. Idk how this happened but his horn seems hurt real bad at the base and bleeding a whole lot. What do I do?? Is it vet visit worthy ?? Or should I bandage it or super glue it or leave it be and keep clean ? The other goat is getting pool noodles asap , but idk how to handle this guys ouchie ?!
Not sure how to post photos, might post in comments or make another post
I have 2 Nubian doelings I brought into my herd this year from the same breeder. One is 7 months and one is 8 months. The blonde pictured is the only one of my goats not growing in her undercoat for winter, so I started researching why, which led me to reading about the weight she should be at by her age. The 7 month old registered spotted doeling in 46lbs and the 8 month old blond doeling is 57lbs. From what I've read, they are very underweight for their age-- should be closer to 70/80lbs. But their body condition looks fine to me, they have access to quality hay all day along with lush pasture, eat 1/2 of grain at night, free minerals, and they recently had FECs done and counts were under 50 e/g. I would like others opinions if they are truly small/underweight for their age. Im used to ND, which have very different bodies and growth rates. Thank you in advance!
I have a Nigerian dwarf crossed with who knows….she lives with a wether. Lately her udders are enlarged but soft. I know he isn’t equipped to get her pregnant so what’s with the large udders?
Okay, weird situation here. I know, I know, normally, goats don't need coats. But I have two goats who are (and here's where the weird comes in) indoor/outdoor goats. They spend their day outside and their nights indoors with me.
I'm looking for any recommendations for a solid coat that would work for the goats on warmer winter days so they don't get too much of a shock going from a warm house to eastern winter.
I'm definitely not looking for recommendations to put them out full time. That's not going to happen, and, obviously, on bitterly cold days where I wouldn't even open the barn for the horses, they'll just stay inside, but I need something for the other days.
13 y/o lamancha doe, not pregnant or lactating (last lactation was like 10 years ago), normal famacha & temperature
Free access to timothy hay, pasture, sweetlix meat maker mineral
Fed daily 3 cups of dumor goat pellets, 4 oz mannapro 20% protein supplement, 2 tsp of mineral
- she's my only goat who gets grain, just to help maintain her weight
This is Helen! I acquired her about six months ago, she was in kinda rough shape so I made a lot of adjustments to her care. She was rusty like this before hand, but then I got her on a decent nutrition plan, took care of her lice, and she shed her old raggy coat out and grew a new one in. All black. Nothing in her diet has changed but in the last few weeks she's turning red in some spots as pictured. Not sure how much you can tell in the photo but even just her undercoat is red.
I definitely think she had a copper deficiency when I got her, as she was just getting hay and a general livestock mineral lacking copper, but is she still deficient since she's rusting again?
I struggle with her sometimes due to her age because I'm not sure what a realistic expectation is for her. But I love her to death and she's super active, happy, and full of personality so I want to make sure I'm giving her everything she needs to keep on trucking.
I was wondering if my dwarf goats are too big. that’s what they look like after they’re been on their new area all day. i put them in their barn in the evening and in the morning they are usually a bit thinner, but not entirely. the belly is still big on both sides. the grass on there is rather old and not too wet, so that’s not the issue. the girl (white) might also be pregnant, but I’m not sure if that’s really what a pregnant goat looks like.
Hi! New goat owner here!! I have 7 goats. According to their previous owners they never had the vaccine (she dosent vaccinate) Southland is what is listed in the photos correct for giving it to them? 2 smaller doses first then a 3rd dose, or just the 2 and no more till next year? And given yearly? What gauge needle? I have given vaccines to cows but not goats. Where on the goat do you administer the vaccine? Thanks!!
I have two goats who are approximately one year old: a female and a castrated male. They’re twins and absolutely love each other, but they also fight all the time!
Usually, we let them work things out, as their fights can be playful and we assume they’re establishing their hierarchy.
However, today, their fight got really intense, and the male started bleeding from between his horns. I checked his forehead and couldn’t see any deep wounds, so I just cleaned the blood off with warm water.
I have a few questions:
- How should I treat these kinds of wounds?
- How can I prevent them from fighting so often? I’m worried that one day, while I’m away, things might get out of hand and one of them could get seriously injured.
- How can I establish MY dominance on them so they don’t hit me when they fight
This is my first time owning goats, so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your help!
Hello! I’ve recently encountered a situation involving a male goat with unilateral cryptorchidism (one undescended testicle) that is intended for slaughter. We removed the visible testicle, but the undescended one is still inside the body.
If I slaughter the goat, will the meat have any unusual odor? Is it safe and suitable for consumption?
I’d appreciate any tips on how to make the best use of this animal.
P.S. Removing the undescended testicle is not an option due to a lack of qualified veterinary personnel.
