Natural support for Goats who eat chicken feed

erikawinterton
erikawinterton Posts: 98 ✭✭✭
edited November 2020 in Goats & Sheep

hello there! I wanted to share my successful approach to a scary situation! Please note there isn't much here that is based in science or good practice. I just experimented, and can't say that if you attempt this the results will be duplicated.

Be sure to use common scense, your intuition, and go to a vet when necessary!

So the situation...

My three month old doeling broke into my chicken coop and ate alot of my chicken feed. She was bloated and miserable.

I felt sure she wouldn't make it, especially with a bulging rumen and stomach that looked like digestive bloat.

I am a new goat ownder so I didn't have a tube feeder, antibiotics, or anything.

So I decided to act quick, and try something radical and natural.

I let her lick some baking soda free choice, twice about an hour apart.

Then I let her drink a 1/2 cup of olive oil. (I had hoped this would be sort of like an oil slick and make the food move through faster, similar to mineral oil).

The result...

She had squirting poo for a day, acted lithargic and wilted. Then was better within two days. Her system must have worked it all out!

Some things to know too, She was a bottle baby, which helped reintroduce good gut flora back into her rumen (crucial to digestion). She also had minerals and clean water available at all times.

I am not saying this is an end all solution, just something that helped in my situation!

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