What to do if a goat does not eat or drink after lambing and treatment methods
If the goat after lambing does not eat or drink anything, it means that she is sick. It is necessary to find out the cause of the disease and start treatment. Usually, problems with appetite occur if animals have a fever due to an infectious infection or they are given rough and poor-quality feed. After lambing, the goat will need some time to recover. During this period, animals need to be fed with high-quality feed, and in case of infection, antibiotics can be injected.
Causes and treatments
After lambing, the goat becomes very weak, because during childbirth it loses a lot of strength. The presence of a person during this physiological process is desirable. As soon as the kids are born, even before the afterbirth comes out (it comes out 1-1.5 hours after the offspring appears), the goat needs to be milked. There is not a minute to lose, otherwise, due to the accumulated milk, the female may have problems with the udder.
Mastitis
False mastitis may develop in the goat immediately after lambing. The animal's udder swells, nipples coarse, milk outflow is difficult. The goat does not eat hay well, refuses its favorite treats, does not want to drink. This is not a disease, but a typical udder edema. The condition of the animal can be improved with the help of diuretics or herbs (chamomile, nettle, parsley, black currant leaves), dill (from the seed) sweetened decoction and regular expression of milk. In this case, you cannot massage the udder, otherwise the goat will develop real mastitis.
If the problem is ignored, the disease will develop rapidly. Mastitis is a disease of the udder in which it becomes hard and lumps inside. The reason is that the ducts that carry milk are clogged. If the goat is kept on a dirty bedding, then due to the weakened immunity after childbirth, an infection can join the mastitis. In this case, you will need antibiotic treatment ("Bicillin", "Streptomycin", "Mastiet Forte").
First of all, when mastitis is detected, you need to lubricate the udder with novocaine ointment, and after anesthesia, do a light massage. Ichthyol ointment gives a good anti-inflammatory effect. It is advisable not to feed the goat before giving birth with foods that stimulate increased milk production.
Endometritis
After lambing with complications (trauma, delayed afterbirth), when bacteria enter the uterus, the goat may develop endometritis.This is an inflammatory process, in which the animal's temperature slightly rises, a cloudy gray exudate with an admixture of blood and an unpleasant odor is released from the genitals. The disease develops 2-5 days after delivery. The animal refuses to eat and drink, it loses milk, it often gets into a position for urination, bends its back. After a few days, it becomes noticeable how the goat sick with endometritis has lost weight.
Dirt, high humidity in the barn can provoke the disease. To reduce the likelihood of endometritis, proper feeding of the animal, constant walks in the fresh air, and mandatory abundant drinking help. The room where the childbirth will take place should be clean, dry and warm. Before lambing, the goat should be given carrots, spruce branches, pharmacy vitamins and minerals, and immunostimulants.
An animal with endometritis must be treated. The uterus is washed with a warm solution of potassium permanganate or furacilin. For washing, you can use 3% "Ichthyol". Tricillin powder or Septimetrin capsules are injected intrauterinely. In severe cases (with sepsis), antibiotic injections, camphor serum according to Kadykov, as well as sulfanilamide and nitrofuran drugs are prescribed. To improve the contraction of the uterus, give "Oxytocin" or "Pituitrin".
Atony of the proventriculus
After giving birth, a weakened female may have digestive problems. The problem is aggravated by poor in vitamins, but rich in fiber feed (straw, pilaf), as well as feeding with grain mixtures. In sick goats, appetite decreases, the movement of food through the stomach slows down. In animals, belching may disappear.
If the goats are given a lot of water and legumes, bloating may occur due to difficulty passing gas.
Hellebore tincture helps to improve gastric motility. With hypotension, a 5% sodium chloride solution is prescribed. Motor function is improved by the infusion of wormwood or gentian root, cabbage brine, a solution of pharmaceutical lactic acid. A weak solution of acetic acid (20 ml of 9% vinegar per 2 liters of water) with sugar (30 g) helps to improve fermentation in the stomach. When the abdomen is bloated, you need to raise the goat's head and stick out your tongue with your hand until belching appears, and then insert a rubber hose into the esophagus to drain the gases.
Ketosis
Goats can develop ketosis after lambing in winter. This disease is the result of improper feeding. Ketosis occurs when there is an excess of cereal mixtures and leguminous hay (alfalfa) in the diet. The disease is diagnosed, first of all, by the acetone smell of urine.
You can prevent and even cure the disease if you give the female sweetened water, as well as sweet food (carrots, pumpkin, Jerusalem artichoke, sugar beet).
Coniferous and spruce branches, cereal hay, and high-quality silage save from ketosis. For the treatment of this disease, "Catosal" is used. If nothing is done, the disease will go into a chronic stage and can lead to the death of the animal.
Milk fever
After giving birth, the goat sometimes has a decrease in life processes. The animal can be depressed or, conversely, agitated. In sick females, appetite disappears, trembling or twitching of the muscles of the body and limbs is noticeable. The body temperature decreases, the amount of milk decreases, the stomach swells. The sick animal is given water sweetened with sugar to drink, 10% glucose solution and 10% calcium chloride solution, as well as "Cordiamine" or "Caffeine-sodium benzoate" are prescribed intravenously. Females who give birth should receive vitamin D and calcium-rich feed (legumes).
Preventive measures
Goats after lambing get sick due to improper feeding or keeping in unfavorable conditions. Usually females are covered in autumn. Pregnancy (5 months) occurs in winter and early spring. During this period, the percentage of vitamins and nutrients in the harvested feed (in hay, vegetables) is sharply reduced.
During pregnancy, females should be given spruce branches, finely chopped carrots, Jerusalem artichoke, pumpkin, pharmacy vitamins, minerals, and premixes. Goats should not overeat or starve. Keep pregnant animals in a clean, dry and warm environment.
Starting from 3 months of pregnancy, the goat needs to be started, that is, stop milking. During this period, all nutrients should go to the development of the fetus, and not to milk. It is advisable to feed a pregnant goat with sweetened water (30 g per 2-3 liters of water). Cereal mixtures are given to animals in a minimum amount. Instead of wheat, you can feed the females with wheat bran.
Recommendations
Refusal to eat and lack of appetite is a symptom of some kind of disease. True, immediately after lambing, the goat may eat poorly, since during this period it experiences pain after eating. After a few hours, the female's vital functions should return to normal.
A lambing goat should be given sweetened water and milk should be expressed. Cabbage brine or talker improves appetite (20 g of vodka, 2 liters of water, 30 g of sugar, 10 g of yeast). To improve belching, boil hay with boiling water and give the goat a warm tincture. Feeding a small amount of oats helps to restore strength. Sometimes the goat refuses to eat because of worms. After giving birth, it is advisable to give the female antiparasitic drugs.
