# Can a goat get hiccups and other assorted rookie stuff



## beccachow (Nov 8, 2008)

OK, I just got back from checking on Gracie. I sat in there with her, and she was more interested in cuddling to go to sleep than her bottle. But...ok, can a goat have hiccups? She seemed to be hiccupping. Cute if they do, worrisome if not. She has eaten a large majority of her "bedding." She looks pudgy, do they all look pudgy? Her rumen is not distended or anything.

And ****** is digging his ears with his feet. Mites? What do I use?

Thank you for your eternal patience with a rookie.

PS: I googled goat hiccups and found nothing. :shrug:


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## where I want to (Oct 28, 2008)

Can a goat get hiccups? I don't know but have never had it happen. My girls make hiccups sounds when they see something like a dog or person where they shouldn't be- sort of a group warning sound. They focus on an place and hiccup periodically. The rest of the goats do look it over to check it out so you might see a group all facing the same way making that noise.

More likely lice than mites I would think. I have never had mites but always have to keep the lice at bay.

The bedding thing is a little worrisome to me- you're sure she's not bloated at all? Eating a lot of something that they are not used to can be hard on the tummy. Especially if she's still a bottle baby.

Oh- I just read your other post about her bedding being hay- so OK>


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

Hawking up cud is sort of a hiccup sound. Watch to see if she's chewing after the noise.

If the ear looks clean, don't worry about it.

Otherwise, mineral oil works.


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## Chaty (Apr 4, 2008)

When mine start itching I worm mine with Ivermectin and it gets the lice and mites that htey might be carring. The hay bedding is fine as long as its not soiled or moldy. I bet she is sounding like she is hiccuping when she coughs up her cud. I use the paste wormer on babies and it gets rid of tapes and mites, and lice. Or you can get some Vet RX to put in the ears and that helps also.


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## AnnaS (Nov 29, 2003)

I haven't had any of my goats have hiccups that I know of. But anything with a diaphram could hiccup. I agree with the "burping" up a cud idea. It sounds like a small, squeaky hiccup. My house doeling started chewing her cud at 25 days old, so your 8 week old doeling certainly should be eating lots of hay and cudding. 

The vocalization where I want to mentions is a snort/blow warning. Deer also use this sound, with the same reaction where i want to describes. Goats will also respond with alarm and alertness to human or cat sneezing sounds. If they can't identify the scary thing, they will run back to a place of safety. The snort/blow can really come in handy when trying to get escaped goats back to the barn! You can also use a sneeze sound teach kids about dangerous things. 

Goats certainly can get mites or lice, but they also get an itch or a stray hair, just like people. I'd take a look in his ears before dosing with anything. 

One common body function that is totally different in goats is yawning. Goats do not normally yawn and goat yawning usually indicates pain or a fever. 

Oh, and another odd goat biological thing- some kids sleep with their eyes open during REM sleep. The lids will be apart, but the the eyeball jerkily flicks back and forth without reference to actual objects or movements. A goat may also cry softly when sleeping like this. It's pretty common in kids, and I've seen it in adult does in strange surroundings, like a fair.


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

My goats yawn. Looks like they are trying to unhinge their jaws, and they have their lips pulled back. You don't see it often, but it does happen. Funny looking gummy behavior.


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## PurpleMartineer (Apr 12, 2008)

I don't know about the hiccups, although it sounds fairly normal...I guess?
As far as earmites go you can mix ivermectin (injectable) with mineral oil 
(ratio 1:10), add a few drops to the affected ear--once a day for about a week.


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## beccachow (Nov 8, 2008)

That's funny, they must share yawning with horses. While horses yawn to indicate boredom, it is also a clue for pain.

I'll check ******'s ears out tomorrow, if they look dark or icky I'll treat, if not I'll leave them alone. You can imagine I'm a little gunshy right now...he was scratching at his ears and I'm like, "OMG! Meningeal Worms!!!" Poor things won't be able to trip without me freaking.

We gave Gracie a nice bedding of straw tonight with a big pile of hay. She is so small, all you could see was a tip of a nose, two eyes, and a set of ears. I'll try to get pics tomorrow.


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

Something I try to tell my new customers is, would what you are noticing be noticed in a large herd? For alot of areas lice and mites are so common place, treating the ears monthly at hoof trimming time with miticide and the goats and bedding with DE is common place also.
Oh and think it's time to ditch the signature? Vicki


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## Minelson (Oct 16, 2007)

Vicki McGaugh TX Nubians said:


> Oh and think it's time to ditch the signature? Vicki


I don't get it...:lookout:

I use DE in the bedding since I had a problem with barn mites last late winter/early spring...worked great


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## beccachow (Nov 8, 2008)

I had a tag line might have been offensive to some, and rather inaccurate, but it tickled my funny bone. But I value everyone's opinion and help too much to risk offending anyone, so it's gone.


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