# Ill goats, foaming at the mouth...HELP



## BiGtImEfArMeRs4 (Oct 23, 2004)

We have 6 bucks in a pen, as soon our horse is leaving and we are running them in the horse pen and pasture. We also have milking goats. We homemake our feed and we give them bread. They started getting sores on their teats and on their lips. So, we thaught that it was the bread. We took the bread away. And then we thaught that it was bad oats, so we made new feed and fed them that feed. The sores are slowly starting to dry up now, but are still there. We have been spraying medicine and giving shots, and that is all helping. But then, in our buck pen, we had one that was getting sick so we gave him a shot. Then about 3-5 days later, he had A LOT of foam around his mouth so we gave him another shot. Now he still has a little foam coming out. Right beside there pen, we have a black nanny penned it, because she is mean to everything. She is normally scary. Well this morning when I fed her, she stood and left me pet her, and everything. She did'nt eat, and normally she loves to eat. So we watched her and she laid down in the sun coming through the window. She had her head down and has'nt moved. She too was foaming at the mouth. We have a vet coming on the 19 to do some goats hooves and to give us some medicine that we need for the goats. My question is, has anyone ever had any goats foam at the mouth? What should we do for them? What should we treat them? Please help. Also, anyone who ever had goats with sores, what did you guys give them? 
Thanks so much!!!
Heather


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## Mr. Dot (Oct 29, 2002)

I don't have an answer for you but have you tried Goat 911:

http://www.goatworld.com/911/911.html

I have used them several times and they usually answer pretty quickly. Hopefully someone knowledgeable here will chime in soon.


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## steff bugielski (Nov 10, 2003)

I don't know about foaming at the mouth, but the sores sound like sore mouth. A fairly common ailment. They are now carriers and the off spring will likely come down with the same at about 6-8 months.


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## BiGtImEfArMeRs4 (Oct 23, 2004)

steff bugielski said:


> I don't know about foaming at the mouth, but the sores sound like sore mouth. A fairly common ailment. They are now carriers and the off spring will likely come down with the same at about 6-8 months.


Well the milk goats are the only ones with it, and thye only started getting it now. The milk goats have it on their teats, not their mouths. THe one mother doesn't have any, but her kid does. Their kids are only 2 months. 

Thanks! I went to the other site too!
Thanks!
Heather


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## animal_kingdom (Mar 31, 2005)

_Heather, do the sores match up from the moms with sores on teats to the babies with sores on mouths?

My first reaction is goat pox. This is very contagious but does clear up with time. When the ground they are on is damp for a long period of time, the goats develop sores. Usually happens on the mom's udder as that lays against the ground with no protection. Then her little ones nurse and it gets transfered to their mouths.

They can pass this to eachother because the sores eventually rupture and the puss inside gets on another goat and then they get it. It isn't something that I ever considered a Huge deal but it can be treated and successfully. Took about 2 weeks for the pox to disappear from a couple of my goats. 

I started to observe the mom that had it on her udder and noticed that she would seek out a damp place to lay. I just penned her in a dry pen or took her out back depending on the weather.

Just my initial reaction on the sores anyway._


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## BiGtImEfArMeRs4 (Oct 23, 2004)

animal_kingdom said:


> _Heather, do the sores match up from the moms with sores on teats to the babies with sores on mouths?
> 
> My first reaction is goat pox. This is very contagious but does clear up with time. When the ground they are on is damp for a long period of time, the goats develop sores. Usually happens on the mom's udder as that lays against the ground with no protection. Then her little ones nurse and it gets transfered to their mouths.
> 
> ...


That would explain the does, but the kids are being weaned are are away from the mothers. I could understand it on the one little doe because she would stick her head out and drink every now and then, but there is no way that the bucks could get any milk. They were penned in to be weaned about 2 or so weeks before the goats even started developing these sores. Could the bucks have gotten it themselves? 
Thank you sooo much!
Heather


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## dale anne (Apr 28, 2004)

Howdy...first the sores sound like sore mouth and will clear up on it's own...yer whole heard may get it...and i hear it is contagious to humans...the good thing is once a goat gets it they cant get it again cause they build up an immunity to it..just make sure to check inside the mouths and make sure no airway obstruction are happening[big sores in mouth]..the foaming at mouth sounds to me might be foamy bloat!...this can kill yer goats...any change in feed can do this as well as the shots....when i give any shot at all what so ever i give 5 cc of So-be...this is a positive bacteria that grows in the goats ruman....you can try giving bloat treatment medication or can also try a lil cooking oil as it breaks up the foamy bubbles...foamy bloat is worse bloat for a goat to get..it's hard to cure,clear up...how ever ya want to put it...I have also heard that soft bread is no good for goats must be dried/stale bread...now i dont know if this is true but i wouldnt give any more fresh bread....you also said you changed the feed...you must change the feed slowly a lil at a time or can also cause bloat/diarehia....until someone like vicki can answer your questions[cause shes alot smarter about goats then i am...vickie is my goat guru lol] i would give lots of good hay,baking soda free choice,lots of good clean water and maybe a tsp of oil...also so-be if you have it...hope this helps dale anne


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## bergy5 (Nov 10, 2003)

I agree with Dale. The sores will go away. I would worry more about the foaming. Give baking soda now. We have one goat that would foam all the time with out baking soda.( My wife's pet or she would be gone )


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## dbarjacres (Feb 2, 2004)

Here's my experience with foaming mouths...Having meat type goats, we don't have baking soda/calcium carbonate out, as the meat goat forum/people are really against it. basically cause meat goats don't get near as much grain as dairy goats do. But I saw a bag at the feed mill this March and bought it to leave it out as many of you do. The day after I had this out, one of my fainter does looked rabid. I fought this for 5 days, dosing her with Probios every day. Then took the baking soda away and wallah, no more foam. I feed Purina Goat Feed, and did see on the bag that as long as your goat gets the amount recommended on the bag, and I was feeding quite a bit of grain at that time, as the does were late bred or nursing, that the calcium carbonate is built right into that brand. Maybe she was overdoing it. She went to her new home a couple weeks later and they haven't had any problems with her. hmmm....

About sores on the mouth too, I had a scare with that last week. my one yearling doe looked up at me and had a spot right on her upper lip, where the nose split is and right below that on the bottom too. I haven't bought new goats in 5 months and only have 5 here right now, so was completely confused and panicked. Well, we figured it out! We cut the grain on the girls at pasture now, cause they're a bit "fleshy". And they love their grain so much, they've been literally attacking the mineral molasses tub. We watched her eat out of it and sure enough she's got sores from how she scrapes her lips on it. Didn't look much like the sore mouth pics I found either, but just put two and two together - sores/mouth and freaked out.

Good luck!


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## BiGtImEfArMeRs4 (Oct 23, 2004)

Thanks! We took baking soda up to them last night. The black goat is doing a lot better now. Is there anything that we should do for the sores? For the foaming, just give them baking soda? 
Thanks again!
Heather


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## Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians (May 6, 2002)

Soremouth is simply one of those nusiance things that eventually everyone gets, like lice, ringworm etc., that goes away on it's own. It does infect your whole place as the scabs fall to the ground so new goats not already immune will also get it, but it's not a big deal. There is no goatpox in the USA. Thank the lord.

The foaming at the mouth is rumen acidosis. What meds and shots were you giving? Antibiotics kill good bacteria in the rumen, always give probiotics or kefir when giving antibiotics of any kind. A rumen without bacteria can't eat the grain you are feeding. Do you know Purina Goat Chow has 25% molassas by ton??? WOW! Now thats a ton of acid forming sweets, with very little nutrition that you are paying top dollar for. The goats would get alot more out of a simple dry mix of oats and corn. High protein can also cause acidosis. My girls get a dry mix grain on the milkstand morning and night in which I add black oil sunflower seeds to for their high fat content. I don't feed baking soda because any good cured grass hay has natural bicarb in it, which buffers the rumen. The diet should be hay or alfalfa pellets first and foremost, some coming from browse (not grazing) is of course ideal. Then deal with your calories, and yes bread does have calories to it, and we have put weight on a good many brokered does with day old bread, but don't keep anymore out for them than they can clean up and don't feed moldy anything, not even bread to goats. 

The foaming will go away as you build the bacteria back up in their rumen, the acidity will go away when you take away the offending diet. You should be feeding the best hay you can find, if there isn't good hay than feed alfalfa pellets...then grain for only a reason, growing out fast growing kids, in the last 50 days of pregnancy, nursing or milking, or gaining weight back in heavily used bucks. Grain for goats for other than the above reasons is not needed, wasteful, and unhealthy for the goats. The best grain mix for your goats is always and oat based dry grainmix, add a good loose mineral out 24/7 and you have it licked. Vicki


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## BiGtImEfArMeRs4 (Oct 23, 2004)

Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians said:


> Soremouth is simply one of those nusiance things that eventually everyone gets, like lice, ringworm etc., that goes away on it's own. It does infect your whole place as the scabs fall to the ground so new goats not already immune will also get it, but it's not a big deal. There is no goatpox in the USA. Thank the lord.
> 
> The foaming at the mouth is rumen acidosis. What meds and shots were you giving? Antibiotics kill good bacteria in the rumen, always give probiotics or kefir when giving antibiotics of any kind. A rumen without bacteria can't eat the grain you are feeding. Do you know Purina Goat Chow has 25% molassas by ton??? WOW! Now thats a ton of acid forming sweets, with very little nutrition that you are paying top dollar for. The goats would get alot more out of a simple dry mix of oats and corn. High protein can also cause acidosis. My girls get a dry mix grain on the milkstand morning and night in which I add black oil sunflower seeds to for their high fat content. I don't feed baking soda because any good cured grass hay has natural bicarb in it, which buffers the rumen. The diet should be hay or alfalfa pellets first and foremost, some coming from browse (not grazing) is of course ideal. Then deal with your calories, and yes bread does have calories to it, and we have put weight on a good many brokered does with day old bread, but don't keep anymore out for them than they can clean up and don't feed moldy anything, not even bread to goats.
> 
> The foaming will go away as you build the bacteria back up in their rumen, the acidity will go away when you take away the offending diet. You should be feeding the best hay you can find, if there isn't good hay than feed alfalfa pellets...then grain for only a reason, growing out fast growing kids, in the last 50 days of pregnancy, nursing or milking, or gaining weight back in heavily used bucks. Grain for goats for other than the above reasons is not needed, wasteful, and unhealthy for the goats. The best grain mix for your goats is always and oat based dry grainmix, add a good loose mineral out 24/7 and you have it licked. Vicki



Hey everyone! Thank you all so much for all of your replies and helpful information! All of the goats are now over the foaming at the mouth. Thank Heavens! Today we had the vet in to do some of our goats who had foundered hooves and to look at the sores. Well the sores are actually warts. Whoo, that's a relief! 
Thanks again to everyone who replied!
Heather


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## tnborn (Mar 18, 2005)

dale anne said:


> Howdy...first the sores sound like sore mouth and will clear up on it's own...yer whole heard may get it...and i hear it is contagious to humans...the good thing is once a goat gets it they cant get it again cause they build up an immunity to it..just make sure to check inside the mouths and make sure no airway obstruction are happening[big sores in mouth]..the foaming at mouth sounds to me might be foamy bloat!...this can kill yer goats...any change in feed can do this as well as the shots....when i give any shot at all what so ever i give 5 cc of So-be...this is a positive bacteria that grows in the goats ruman....you can try giving bloat treatment medication or can also try a lil cooking oil as it breaks up the foamy bubbles...foamy bloat is worse bloat for a goat to get..it's hard to cure,clear up...how ever ya want to put it...I have also heard that soft bread is no good for goats must be dried/stale bread...now i dont know if this is true but i wouldnt give any more fresh bread....you also said you changed the feed...you must change the feed slowly a lil at a time or can also cause bloat/diarehia....until someone like vicki can answer your questions[cause shes alot smarter about goats then i am...vickie is my goat guru lol] i would give lots of good hay,baking soda free choice,lots of good clean water and maybe a tsp of oil...also so-be if you have it...hope this helps dale anne


Hey Dale Anne,
How does a goat get foaming bloat?I think maybe that is what my 3kids last year had. They foamed at the mouth and then lost weight and went stiff within a few days of foaming. I tried to pm you. Is this foaming bloat contagious to the herd? What is so-be. I am not familiar with that. Can you tell me more about it and what it does?
tnborn


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