Well now I can be funny about Dottie Belle's near death experience. But she was so pitiful looking, that I was sure she was going to die. Saturday afternoon when I got back from Kennedy's birthday party, Dottie Belle was just standing in the back of the goat yard acting like she could not move. Her stance was very strange. As she made her way to the fence, she walked like she was blind; stumbling over things. And now I know she really was blind. I've already written how impossible it was to get her to a vet on Sunday.
Feeding grain causes a common metabolic disorder characterized by neuro-muscular alterations of goats that are thiamine deficient. I said, "They love it so much." When I had visited 2 goats farms, the owners were feeding them grain. Dr. Powers said "It is too rich for them." I said, "But they think they are rich goats." He said, "They are going to be dead rich goats. God made goats to eat grass (hay), twigs and briars. You can put just a very small amount of sweet grain in the palm of your hand and they can eat it rarely as a treat." At 6 pm, yesterday, I let the girls out of their yard and they were running around as if Dottie Belle had not been so close to death. She is not blind anymore.
Sorry girls.
Thank you so much for this post. I didn't know! I usually raise Nubians and this is my first year with Nigerian Dwarfs. They are not good hay eaters and I probably feed too much grain also. Can't we just supplement? I do feed goat pellets. I will look at the label and do some research. Thanks again for the heads-up.
ReplyDeleteI am going to link to this on my blog for other goat-raising friends.
ReplyDeleteMore goat people should read this post... I'm glad I gather info on stuff then do my own thing. I'm new to goat & have 2 young girls... they freak out when I walk into the barnyard to feed the other animals their grain... they do so love it... its like candy to them. But I only let them for a nibble then I let them munch all day long down in the barnyard, lots of vines, grass, leaves, twigs for them to munch, they are happy girls :)
ReplyDeleteEven though this is too funny- I want to point out a serious note, we humans do the same thing to our bodies. The PD focus at our school this year is to be healthier and reduce teacher absenteeism which will help us inform our students and fight childhood obesity. The dietitian said that if it doesn't grow, swim, or fly then it is poison to our bodies. So- our mission, as a faculty, is to get back to nature and feed our bodies what it needs to function at its full capacity not what the propaganda has convinced our minds that we want. However- after not eating or breaking today- leaving school at five- I grabbed Taco bell and M&Ms, so I failed to fulfill my mission today! :-( Tomorrow is a new day, and I pray that I will do better.
ReplyDeleteBless her heart. Glad she is better.
ReplyDelete