I’d like to think that when Kevin was looking for a girl to settle down with, he secretly wished for one that was SUPER into goats and all.
I mean, sure, he was totally impressed by my late adulthood braces and my racquetball playing skills (even though I brought a tennis racket), but I just know he was hoping that one day his lover would want goats. And his life would be complete.
Let’s just start off this story with a disclaimer here that I totally take care of my animals. I buy them all sorts of food and give them water. So, yeah, let’s not have any comments about animal cruelty here. I mean, it’s not like I “gave” my goat diarrhea or anything.
The story begins like this…
After a false labor (or two), Luna finally gave birth to two totally adorbs twin baby goats. There were no complications, no issues with anything, just disoriented little slimy beings with big floppy ears. We decided on the names Pepper & Piper, and there was happiness on the farm once again, complete with a chicken clucking and a happy little smiley face sun.
You can watch all of our videos of Pepper & Piper here.
The Dirty Details
Everything seemed fine. Luna was taking care of her babies, and we were getting our daily dose of baby goat love. Then, all of the sudden….
DIARRHEA.
(Sorry folks, I tried to make that font bigger. It’s as big as it goes)
Wait, hold on…
There. That should do it.
I want you to close your eyes for a moment.
I want you to imagine something you love. Maybe it’s your favorite blanket, a TV show, or possibly your grandmother. Now imagine it covered in diarrhea. And imagine that the diarrhea doesn’t stop.
FUN FACT: Goats poop constantly even when they are doing regular poops. They’re totally pooping machines, and well, that’s just part of who they are. As a goat owner, you just can’t judge.
Have you ever seen the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory?
It was like that.
No, I’m not talking about the chocolate river. No, not the bubble burp ceiling.
I’m talking about the car. You know? The bubbly car that they ride in (even though they were like 10 steps from their destination) and all those bubbles are constantly squirting out, and no matter how much they scream and yell, freaking Willy doesn’t even care, he just keeps pushing the “Squirt ALL the bubbles” button? Remember?
Yep, our goat having diarrhea was JUST. LIKE. THAT.
But worse.
Because it was goat diarrhea. Not bubbles.
And there sure weren’t no chocolate at the end.
Lucky for us, the blessed event happened on our 13th Anniversary.
“Awwww, Luna, you shouldn’t have.”
“No, really. You shouldn’t have.”
Goat diarrhea isn’t a good sign. You see, with animals, it doesn’t take much diarrhea-goin’ before their health starts to really go south. Humans, pshh. They can go diarrhea forever and keep eating Taco Bell again and again and not die (probably). But not goats. No sirree.
So, we halted everything and quickly laid out a plan for what it could be. All goats do actually have a certain level of parasites & worms. It’s just part of what makes them special. Most of the time, their immune systems keep these parasites & worms in check. It’s when they undergo some sort of stressful situation, that the parasites & worms can take over their intestinal tract.
And, that’s pretty much what happened to Luna. We did some vitals, and everything looked good, but she was pretty lethargic and, you know, suffering from a case of the squirts. So we had to go the chemical treatment route and assume she had coccidiosis.
Honestly, I was pretty bummed. We keep our place clean, feed the animals a healthy organic diet, but sometimes, for some reason or another, your goat just isn’t as healthy or was more stressed out than you think. I’m thinking she was more stressed because this was her first time delivering. I mean, I was a basket case when I had my first, so I don’t blame her.
We started her on the medicine and within 24 hours, she was feeling fine and dandy, and the poop was becoming normal again.
But, Kevin & I, we’ll always remember the Anniversary we spent taking care of our goat. Diarrhea and all.
And those memories, well, they’re simply priceless.
This is the best. HAHA I loved it.
We recently got our 1st two goats and the male came down with cocci 🙁 Poor guy. So we treated with Corid and it went away. A few weeks later the diahhrea returned. Any suggestions?
Hi Amber,
This is common because after a few weeks, the cocci cycle over again in the digestive tract. The best thing you can do is treat again, then put in a different area for 1 week, then move to another the 2nd week, then another the 3rd week. This should keep him from re-infesting himself with the cocci eggs in his poop.
Oh, dear. I’m so sorry. Life has a very funny way of making moments like those so impossible at the time that you can do nothing but laugh, and unless you document away (good on you!) the “Did that really happen?” feeling kicks in.
I had a similar situation dog-sitting. The poor dear, Betty, was so anxious about Mom & Dad being out of town that she ate her tennis ball and then “painted” the inside of the house with her explosive diarrhea. Needless to say, Betty got a bath…and so did the house.
DaNelle,
Please forgive me, but laughter through tears is one of my favorite emotions, and this post had me laughing until I cried! (I’m sure you were just crying) I’m glad you, your man, and Luna lived through this traumatic event. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to wipe my eyes and blow my nose.
HAHA!!
Oh dear, that sounds like such fun! We just got two bred Nigerian Dwarf does, and this is our first experience with goats which is why I originally came across your informative site. Will you share what medicine you ended up giving your doe? The breeder we got our ladies from noticed some scabbing on the ankles of one doe, so I’m guessing we should definitely treat our does with some kind of dewormer. We have been dusting them with DE and sprinkle a little on their food as well daily, but I want to make sure our first birthing experience is successful. Thanks!
I gave her a combination of Albon & Corid to knock it out:)
This was the funniest blog I’ve ever read,a real LOL belly laugh 🙂 I’m sure it was not a pleasant experience for you love birds or the goat but the way you blogged about it was hilarious! I have been enjoying the updates about Luna’s birth progress. Give those two new babies a kiss for me and an at-a-girl for Luna.
Haha Thanks!
Oh goodness! I hate to say this, but this was hilarious! Oh, the life we choose to lead! Our Totes had her first kid, Spartacus, exactly one week ago. However, I didn’t know about deworming just prior to kidding – and now I’m scared. Yep. Bracing myself (But all’s been good so far!). Thank you, though, for the prior warning! I think I will give that a try when Magotes kids (hopefully in about 1 1/2 months!
Thanks DaNelle! 🙂
OMG!! I just almost lost my coffee all over my laptop. I mean, I’m sorry about it being your anniversary and all, but your retelling of it…. impossible not to laugh hysterically! I only have a dog, who happens to look like a wolf, but I have many an urban homesteading ambition. So far my husband of 26+ years has been able to keep my ambitions at bay, but poor man has had to deal with my biting off way more than I can chew, many a time, when it comes to home remodeling projects. Like the time he came home to find a huge roll of carpeting on the swale between our sidewalk and street when we still lived in Miami. He came home to find that while he was at work, the 4 kids and I had moved all of the living room and dining room furniture, including at least 4 bookshelves, computer/school desk, and pulled up the carpeting I could not take for one more minute. We had everything put back before he got home. Sadly, the linoleum tile under the carpet, was not much better than the carpet, but I tell you, I couldn’t take it one more minute. Home schooling at it’s best! Or the time he came home to our home in Lawrenceville, GA, to almost be hit by the falling debris from our 2nd story bathroom window. He yelled out, “What’s going on?” I stuck my head out and said, “Oh, I’m just tearing out the shower.” He’s thinking to himself. Sure, why not, she decided we needed a new shower, so of course, I should watch out for half walls of tile flying out of the bathroom window as I’m walking up my front walk. NOT!! I so enjoy your posts Danelle. They are priceless!
My kids really enjoyed your goat videos. I just love your stories. One day you and your husband will look back and laugh about how you spent celebrating your anniversary. Thanks for the great info on your site.
Thank you so much for this article! I am in the goat lover in the family, and it did nothing to sway me from planning on getting goats this year (though of course, also being mindful of their health.)
Happy Anniversary! Despite this, I hope you managed to enjoy it! I I really enjoy reading all of your posts. Thanks so much!
Tracy
I just love your stories! I still think of the, Littlest Goat, and smile. This story made me laugh :).
I don’t remember which holidays they were, but we’ve had one anniversary (I think) that we had to put a goat down because she developed CL (and we learned never to buy a sale barn goat) and we had another one deliver unexpectedly – like bred 3 months before they actually thought she was bred unexpectedly – on another holiday type day. And there’s always the goat that picks the busiest day of the week when you have company coming over to decide that “Today’s the day!” to deliver. Goodness. We just finished deliveries today – 4 does, 10 kids. Boy that was a fun week. And I totally laughed at the first part because I’m pretty sure my husband had no idea what kind of crazy he was getting into when he married me. I was the city girl. But now we have goats, pigs, a cow, and chickens. If it were up to him, we’d have a cat. But he secretly loves it 😉
Haha, I love this! You have 10 little kids running around now?! Holy cow! Love it!
We had an anniversary like that. It wasn’t a goat it was a kid… a human kid. I walked in with flowers and searched the house to find my wife trying to clean our child up in the tub. I asked what I could do. She said (and I quote), “You could clean the wall.”
‘Nuff said.
Haha, oh man, the life of parents!
Oh, that was the best. I mean, the best blog entry. Certainly not the best thing ever to happen to someone on their wedding anniversary.
Haha, yeah, definitely not the best anniversary gift:)
Awww… thanks you for including all the *juicy* details! LAWL! (omgoat… I just quoted my 13-y-o :/)
I have read about, and will be applying the wisdom of, deworming Mama goat right after delivery. Apparently birth causes an uprising of gutbugs – like Mama isn’t already busy healing and feeding.
I used Land of Havilah’s Parasite Cleanse on my herd and it worked wonderfully! A noticable difference in all of them a week later…pregnant, milking, bucks, youngins, wethers… and I have a YEAR’s worth of doses (one dose a week, plus enough for ‘boost deworming’ at season changes) for my seven minis & pygmys for $20. A year. I can use it on my chix, dogs, cats, husband, and children, too.
Just sayin’ 😀
We definitely learned our lesson! I was so busy worrying about the labor I forgot to deworm beforehand:)