katlynd003
In the Brooder
I have a 3 week old alpine baby goat and he's been bloated all day I don't know the cause of it I'm really worried. What can I do to help him? He is bottle fed, been drinking calf milk formula
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Bottle babies will bloat if feed improperly. They are very sensitive to changes in volume and especially with a milk replacer in the ratio of the mix. Calf milk replacer isn't good for goats and can cause bloat. If you are going to feed a milk replacer you should feed one made for goats and follow directions. Making and changes slowly.
I will treat bloat with some baking soda mixed in water, about a 1/2 to 1 teaspoon in a cup, either feed it through the bottle or use a syringe to slowly squirt it in the mouth making sure it's swallowing and not inhaling it. Your goat should start to burp soon after. Get it moving around. You will need to find a goat milk replacer and follow the directions.
It depends on why he is bloated. Entero would be my first guess. How is he standing? Is he getting up and lying down? Grinding his teeth? Looking back at his belly? Does he seem constipated? Does the belly seem tight?Bottle babies will bloat if feed improperly. They are very sensitive to changes in volume and especially with a milk replacer in the ratio of the mix. Calf milk replacer isn't good for goats and can cause bloat. If you are going to feed a milk replacer you should feed one made for goats and follow directions. Making and changes slowly.
I will treat bloat with some baking soda mixed in water, about a 1/2 to 1 teaspoon in a cup, either feed it through the bottle or use a syringe to slowly squirt it in the mouth making sure it's swallowing and not inhaling it. Your goat should start to burp soon after. Get it moving around. You will need to find a goat milk replacer and follow the directions.
This is what I would do if he were my goat. First of all, I would give him a tablet of GasX. You can get it at any grocery or drug store. If it is simple bloat, the GasX will cause him to deflate promptly. The baking soda certainly can't hurt either. If it is entero, without the antitoxin it isn't going to make much difference what else you do. A dose of penicillin might help. Penicillin is effective against clostridium perfingens. Usually, entero kills very quickly, but sometimes you are lucky and the animal will have a slower form and this gives you some time to round up some antitoxin. Just from the picture it is hard to tell for sure if it is entero or not, but from the way he is standing I'm guessing it may not be.