# Chronic clumpy poop



## MamaDee (May 10, 2006)

O.K.....so I have this 5 year old milking Nubian. We got her in mid June and she had clumpy poop when we got her. I know b/c it was all over the tarp in the back of my van from the ride home....yuck! Anyway...we gave her awhile to get used to her new home, but it didn't change. Had a fecal done which came out fine. 

Her poop never has changed. It does get a bit more cow pie-ish when we cut them all tree branches, weeds, etc. but it has never been nice berries. It's more like berries all in big clumps. We have had two fecals which were both fine.

Could she have some absorption problem? Should we treat her for worms anyway? Cocci? Both? Even though the fecals were o.k.?

I'm not sure what to do with her. She was very thin when we got her and she's put on a bit of weight, but not a ton. I'm sick of yucky poop in the barn. She is milking, though and doing fine with that. 

Any advice?

Dee


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## BlueHeronFarm (Feb 9, 2007)

If you've done your fecals and they look OK, I'd try not to worry. Some goats are more prone to this than others - and we try not to worry about anything firmer than pudding and only worry about cow plops if they last more than a couple days. (Sorry - graphic).


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

It may be that she had worm overload in her past and damaged her intestines, hence the non gaining and the clumpy poo. However as long as there are berries formed, I don't usually worry. Also, I've always noticed that my goats tend to get this kind of poo when on varying qualities of alfalfa hay, don't know if is pertinent info, lol.

You could up the fiber in her diet, too. that may help.


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

In the barn? in your milking area? Our goat knows to poo before she comes in.


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## susanne (Nov 4, 2004)

have you wormed her when she came? if not, i would do it now. breeding season is just around the corner or at some places already started. 
all you can see or not see in a fecal sample, are the eggs from the adult worms, but not the worms itself. so, your doe might be very wormy. 
another reason can be copper deficiency.
good milking does are not gaining weight in the middle of their lactation. also remember that after rain it is normal to see clumsy stool.

rose, my does don't poop or pee in the milk room either


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## dbarjacres (Feb 2, 2004)

I would deworm her anyway, just to make sure.

I have a lamancha doe that had chronic poop clumps for the first 8 months I had her, she also stayed in poor condition. I finally started feeding her Manna Pro Opti-Zyme daily and bolused her with copper (as it seemed she had some other copper deficiency symptoms - something I've never dealth with, but shipped her up to WI from MO), and w/in 2 weeks, she started gaining weight, shedding out sleek and has had consistent berries since - 3 months now!


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## MamaDee (May 10, 2006)

LOL! O.K., just for the record my doe isn't walking around free in the barn and milk area pooping out cow pies.  I guess I worded that wrong. The girls' pen is in the barn. The poop is all in the pen (straw bedding) and outside in their fenced pasture where it belongs. But I don't like having to step around it in the pen when I'm hanging out with them, brushing them, changing water, checing back ends for any signs of pregnancy or heat....(the latter being a terrible addiction I have). I wouldn't worry normally about poo that looks like that except that it has ALWAYS looked like that. I just want to make sure it's not an issue I can fix.

I will go ahead and de-worm her. I know her previous owner did have her on a worming schedule. I have never wormed her, though, since June. Our local coop has a tube of Ivermectin for horses. Can I somehow use that? Or in what form and how much should I use Ivermectin?

I'll look into the Manna pro stuff you talked about--and the cooper issue. Although she does have loose minerals available all the time. Thanks for the info. Glad your goat is doing better. Maybe I can figure out Ellie.

Dee


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## Caprice Acres (Mar 6, 2005)

You can use the horse paste... I can't remember what dosage it is, I think you double/triple the dose per lb and give that.


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## steff bugielski (Nov 10, 2003)

If it is like berries but stuck together that is good. My vet told me that when a goat gets the right amount of protien the berries will stick together. When the protien levels are too low the berries seperate. Too much protien and it starts to look like cow poop. It is a good way to tell how the goat needs to be adjusted, feed wise.


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## Liese (Dec 12, 2005)

MamaDee, do you see her eating the mineral? When you put out fresh does she join in to eat? If not, perhaps you could dress her milking ration and I'd add kelp too - just a spoonful. You can often buy a small bag at a garden store to experiment with. I buy it in 50#'s - lasts about 1 year or better; I add it 1:3 to the mineral. Also being under condition she may be the lowest ranked and not getting as much hay, etc as the others. Perhaps you could give her more time after milking to eat, I'm presuming that you are milking each seperately. I can milk out a doe in about 5-10 min. but they get 15 min. to eat since some are slower eaters than others. 

Susanne, I don'tunderstand your post; if a goat has adult parasites how would you not see eggs in subsequent fecal testing? When I run fecals I'm looking for changes in numbers - in other words how do things look this month compared to last. We have been able to keep our dewormig to 2x/year for the entire herd/flock (21 sheep/11 goats). Next deworming time tho I'm going to do before and after tests just to see if the Ivermectin is still working as well as I think it is.


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## BlueHeronFarm (Feb 9, 2007)

Dee-- Just my opinion - but I wouldn't worm her again. There is no point in running fecals if you are not going to use them as your basis for worming. Worming when it is not needed only breeds resistance.

There are a lot of great studies on this - I am linking to one, FWIW.
http://www.uky.edu/Ag/AnimalSciences/goats/presentation/parasite pub AS-573-W.pdf


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## cmharris6002 (Jan 27, 2006)

She could have an acidic rumen. How much and what are you feeding her? 

At any rate, I'd start her on probios.

Christy


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## Rocky Fields (Jan 24, 2007)

Hey.

Not enough water could cause the problem...or diet.

RF


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## Oggie (May 29, 2003)

MamaDee,

May I get your permission to use this thread title as my new exclamation when things go terribly wrong?

Next time I slam my head into the front-end loader or drop a heavy piece of expensive electrical equipment on my foot, damaging both, I'd like to be able to yell, *"Oh! Chronic clumpy poop!"*


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## southerngurl (May 11, 2003)

> remember that after rain it is normal to see clumsy stool.


Or, if they break into the wine cabinet.


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## MamaDee (May 10, 2006)

I just checked our mineral supplement. It has no copper. It says right on the bag "free choice sheep and goat minerals...no need for any other supplement" It's supposed to have copper, isn't it?!!!

Chronic clumpy poop!!!!!

(yes, you can use that line at will) :baby04: 

Dee


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## Bearfootfarm (Jul 13, 2006)

MamaDee said:


> I just checked our mineral supplement. It has no copper. It says right on the bag "free choice *sheep* and goat minerals...no need for any other supplement" It's supposed to have copper, isn't it?!!!
> 
> Chronic clumpy poop!!!!!
> 
> ...


Sheep minerals have MUCH lower copper levels than goat minerals because copper is toxic to sheep


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## susanne (Nov 4, 2004)

Liese said:


> Susanne, I don'tunderstand your post; if a goat has adult parasites how would you not see eggs in subsequent fecal testing? When I run fecals I'm looking for changes in numbers - in other words how do things look this month compared to last. We have been able to keep our dewormig to 2x/year for the entire herd/flock (21 sheep/11 goats). Next deworming time tho I'm going to do before and after tests just to see if the Ivermectin is still working as well as I think it is.


you would only see eggs if the adults are laying eggs  in winter they don't lay eggs and i'm sure there are other situations where they don't reproduce.
very often in animals with diarrhea, you don't see the eggs in a fecal, but the blood sucking worms are still doing the damage.


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## Gailann Schrader (May 10, 2002)

I have an ancient Nubian doe of unknown origin that has cow poop and clumpy poop all the time. Her babies were tiny when they were born. I estimate her at 14+ years old. 

I'm thinking, like people, she's old enough that her guts just don't work right. 

)

Nothing like a geriatric Nubian with a MOO bellow...


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