# How serious is a goat that is sneezing?



## Linebacker (Sep 11, 2007)

Once again I will show my ignorance. I have a billy who sneezed two or three times (four at the most) in a three hour period yesterday afternoon while some cattlemen buddies and I were fencing. One of them said a sneeze (even a single sneeze) is a grim diagnosis for a goat!

If that is true, is there anything I can do?

thanks and please dont laugh, I am trying to learn.


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## Jim S. (Apr 22, 2004)

Mine would all be dead, were your pals correct.

A sneeze I think nothing of. A COUGH, now that gets my attention.


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## Linebacker (Sep 11, 2007)

Jim S. said:


> Mine would all be dead, were your pals correct.
> 
> ????? what would be dead? the goats


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## Jim S. (Apr 22, 2004)

LOL. Yeah, all my goats would be dead now if a few sneezes were "a grim diagnosis for a goat!"

I think yer pals were putting you on. I think it's kinda mean of them to not let you in on the joke, eventually, though.


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## topside1 (Sep 23, 2005)

Linebacker all my goats sneeze, I'm sure they are alergic to weeds....No worries


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## southerngurl (May 11, 2003)

I bet it's as serious as some dust in his nose.


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## Jim S. (Apr 22, 2004)

What's this about a goat's knees????

Oh... never mind...


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## lgslgs (May 30, 2005)

Our goats will sneeze as an alarm call to alert the rest of the herd to potential danger without making much noise.

I've been trying to recall whether they did this as much before we got a cow. I certainly didn't notice it as much. Either I just overlooked it before or they have adopted their version of the cow snort/huff as a form of communication.

The other day I was up a hill on the other side of the fence - a place where they don't expect to see people. The herd came bopping along and all of a sudden alerted and then 4 sneezes went off in a row - one from each of the four top ranking goats! It was really cool.

With one goat in the house right now, it is common for us to hear the herd let out a "we see you" sneeze when I take Buster out for his 4 am potty break. Usually it is just one of the goats (Clyde, the self appointed herd guard wether) who greets us with the night time sneeze.

If you've got a Billy, strangers, and fencing work going on I expect he was probably guard sneezing.

Lynda


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## Linebacker (Sep 11, 2007)

I dont think they meant it as a joke. Although you see a few herds of goats around here now. Most of us are only familiar with cattle and the old forklore and wives tales we all heard from bias cattle folk seem to take priority sometimes.

The joke is how much more fencing for goats cost. It may be cheaper to just turn them loose in the yard and feed them dollar bills.

Ive got the fever and the quest for knowledge.

Maybe Ill come up with other questions that should make ya'll smile too.


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## katiesgarden1 (Feb 18, 2005)

Hello, I am new to the goat raising also. Jim S you said that coughing would get your attention. Why coughing what can that mean? My doe coughs once in a while like shes got something in her throat and can't quite swallow, but then she quits. Also off the subject. Are you suppose to seperate the doe and the billie I only have one of each. Thanks Kathy


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## Steffiej (Jul 7, 2007)

My nigerians sneeze, and I've been told it's a warning noise. I've noticed they do it to each other if one gets too close when the other is eating, or if they think something is too close in their "space".


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## topside1 (Sep 23, 2005)

Kathy there is quite a difference between coughing and chronic coughing. Chronic coughing could be caused by lung worms and can easily be cured by using the appropriate wormer. If your doe is the proper age and weight why bother separating, they both need companionship. You may want to separate them during the day of kidding just to minimize stress on the doe....TJ


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## GSFarm (Aug 7, 2007)

A lot of these bucks are snorting and sneezing this time a year. It's nothing to worry about. 

I have one doe to, ever since I had her, snots all over when she sneezes, sometimes even on me!!


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## katiesgarden1 (Feb 18, 2005)

Thanks topside1, I think they are old enough, but paco the billy really corners snowflake the doe. she stands on top of the feeder for hay to try to get away. nature ya know. what kind of wormer would work on lung worms if that is what she might have? Thanks again


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## Cygnet (Sep 13, 2004)

I had one wether who sneezed, sniffled, snorted, and sounded like he was coughing up a lung in the morning. I had him tested for worms multiple times, multiple rounds of various antiobiotics, soaked his hay, etc. etc. ... finally figured out that on days when my asthma was bad, his cough was bad. This was absolutely consistent. We pretty much suffered together ... 

I honestly think I had a goat with nothing worse than bad allergies!

He was fine from an athletic standpoint -- great pack goat. *shrug* And he died of something completely unrelated to his snotty nose.


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## chris30523 (Jun 11, 2005)

I have heard lots of stories from"cattlemen" none have had any bearing on my goats. Goats won't eat anything even tin cans. They sneeze or snort all the time. They are born looking for a way to kill themselves (this one might have some truth)  
My DH and his uncles are cattlemen (I even have a plate on the front of my truck that says "BEEF") They make fun of my goats all the time. Follow that Quest for knowledge and read any thing you can find .Don't take advice on goat from Cattlemen.Unless of course they also have goats.


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## lijj (Jul 7, 2005)

My goats sneeze when something frightens them... or when they think they are in danger (even if they really aren't). One sneezes, they all stick their heads up and ears up, stand still for a few minutes, the kids run in fright... It's humorous


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

From what I've seen the sneeze is an alert signal. I've done it when my goats were into something they shouldn't be and it makes them stop.


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## Linebacker (Sep 11, 2007)

Thanks Everyone,
I am relieved and very glad I asked, yesteday afternoon while just my son and myself were fencing and cleaning up not a single sneeze. Maybe their better judges of people than I am and just dont like my buddies! LOL
Thanks again,
Brad


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## topside1 (Sep 23, 2005)

Kathy, if snowflake is coughing a lot primarily after running, jumping or and type of physical activity then I would worm. These wormers are broad spectrum and will kill all types of worms. If you decide to worm your doe also do you buck and keep records for future reference....TJ

Brand Names:

Ivomec Injectable for Cattle & Swine 1% Sterile Solution (Merck) 
Double Impact Injectable for Cattle & Swine 1% Sterile Solution (Agrilabs) 
Drug Name:

ivermectin


Family: Avermectin 
Treatment & Control of: Lungworms, gastrointestinal roundworms, larvae, lice, mange mites & cattle grubs. External parasites. 
Goat dose: Oral 
1 ml per 50 pounds- given orally. 
Some people are now using 1cc per 34 lbs with good success. This is 3X the label dose. 
Milk withholding time: 
In the US: 36 days 
In the UK: 14 days 
My personal withholding time: 4 days 
Why is my personal withdraw so much shorter? Ivomec is used on humans in third world countries. The withdrawal times given on the package is set by the FDA after testing on cows (the use of Ivomec in goats is "extra label"- it has not been tested on goats) and it is said that after the regulated number of days there are no traces at all of drug left in the (cow) milk. You can see the in the UK, where the drug has been tested on goats, the withdrawal is shorter than in the US. Here on our farm, the milk I milk from our goats is consumed by only two people, me and my husband (both adults). I personally am not concerned about the very small traces of wormer that may be in the milk after four days, since I know the wormer is safe to use on humans anyway. This why my person withdrawal is four days. I drank this 4 day withdrawal milk for many years with no ill effect until I switch the using my Herbal Worm Formula. It is up to you to make your own choice about how long you decide to withhold the milk. 
Notes: 
This injectable wormer is not given by injection. It works much better if given orally. Measure the wormer with a syringe, but remove the needle before squirting the wormer into the goats mouth. Get it as far back as you can because it does not taste good and they will try to spit it out. 
This wormer does not kill tapeworms. If you actually see worms in the goats poops, use Valbazen or Safeguard. 
Safe for use in pregnant does.


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## Jim S. (Apr 22, 2004)

Linebacker, I have run my goats for 17 years using regular field fence. The cost is no more than it would be to put that fence up for cows. If you put a calculator to it, the cost for brand new field fencing (posts and all) is about the same as for a 5-strand barbed wire fence.

The difference in costs comes when you factor in that a cow will stay in a 3 strand barbed wire fence, while a goat won't. Thats what holds up a lot of farmers from getting into goats. They don't want the investment in upgrading fences.

On the "joke or not" theory, I have been a cattleman (cow/calf) and a goat man. There are plenty of old wives tales about both types of animals. They typically start from an unwillingness to actually observe the animals, then are perpetuated by repetition. I am so glad I came originally to cattle as a "city boy," so I was open to what was actually going on and could adopt many new practices that others thought were crazy because they were tied down mentally by "what daddy always done" or "what paw-paw said to do."

Kathy, just like humans, an occasional cough is no biggie, clears the throat, etc. If the coughs are noticeable by their frequency, I grow concerned. If accompanied by a nasal discharge during coughing, my concern is heightened. Normal throat clearing is NOT accompanied by nasal discharge. A cough can be dust, worms, internal CL abcesses, or a bacterial infection right on up to pneumonia. Any cough beyong the occasional throat-clearing that appears to me to be affecting more than a single goat is cause for concern. Herd coughing is a definitive marker for a contagious agent.

I've used LA200 to get rid of infections on individual goats, but the best thing I ever tried to finally rid the entire herd of cough was to put Sulmet/aureomycin powder (labeled for swine and poultry) in the drinking water and make that their only source of water. Clears it in 10 days.

In my experience, goats that are well-kept, have plenty of space to browse, and are discouraged from loafing in barns together and gathering together too tightly at watering holes or shady spots will cough rarely if at all. Ideally, any herd will have at least 2-3 feet of space between each goat when browsing, loafing or sleeping. That's about the distance they'd keep in nature.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

Jim,

What concentration of Sulmet did you use in the water supply?


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## simplyflow (Sep 19, 2007)

I couldn't agree more about the benefits of learning goats from a "city boy" or in my case "city girl" perspective. My husband grew up on a farm and his dad is definitely stuck in his ways and knows "everything" about anything farm. He always teased me because everything farm related that I said started with "I read..." and never believed anything I said. Once I started ignoring his "good advice" and started doing as I researched my goats got healthier and my chickens started laying more. My husband now asks MY advice for anything homestead and tells me that whatever my father-in-law says...don't do that! B

By the way, my father-in-law occasionally asks my opinion too.

Heather


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## Jim S. (Apr 22, 2004)

fishhead said:


> Jim,
> 
> What concentration of Sulmet did you use in the water supply?


I just went by the labeled swine dose, which is 4 ounces per 102 gallons of water. My tank is 50 gallons, so I halved the dose. It was not just Sulmet, but Sulmet/aureomycin both. I'd leave it in the tank for 5 days, topping off as needed, then clean and put in a fresh batch for aother 5 days. Then you ought to be done.

You MUST restrict their water to just the medicated tank, cuz they would rather drink anything else but that, if given the option.

You can also make a stronger solution and treat individuals, but it is so easy to treat the whole herd and be done that I went that way. Other folks will say that's antibiotics abuse (cuz they already have here), so do what you think is best. I was getting desperate to eradicate the bug, as individual LA200 treatments were not doing the job. This got the whole herd straight.

Straight Sulmet is cheaper than the combo drugs, and I have no reason to believe it would not work. In fact, I just used straight Sulmet to correct cough in a new-bought buck. It was gone in the first 3 days, and we are just working through the required 10-day period now.

Unlike shots, this seems to have had no effect on the rumen. The young goats actually grew faster with it in the water, which is partly why they medicate all commercial chicken house water as a matter of course. Not saying that's right, just that it is done.


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## Jim S. (Apr 22, 2004)

simplyflow said:


> I couldn't agree more about the benefits of learning goats from a "city boy" or in my case "city girl" perspective. My husband grew up on a farm and his dad is definitely stuck in his ways and knows "everything" about anything farm. He always teased me because everything farm related that I said started with "I read..." and never believed anything I said. Once I started ignoring his "good advice" and started doing as I researched my goats got healthier and my chickens started laying more. My husband now asks MY advice for anything homestead and tells me that whatever my father-in-law says...don't do that! B
> 
> By the way, my father-in-law occasionally asks my opinion too.
> 
> Heather


I find that the route to getting longtime farmers to ask my opinion is by having healthy, robust, shiny and productive animals. They really get interested if you show them you did it cheap. Cheap is not necessarily bad; it has been really good for my goats, once I left behind the conventional wisdom about what they "had to have." 

Over the years I have gotten a lot of compliments on my stock. I wish I had the acreage to go bigtime, because I know I can run a combo cow-calf/goat operation cheap and yet have them nice. To me, that's the challenge of farming: Nice stock as cheap as you can do it. Others have other goals, but those are mine.


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