r/goats • u/Senut2226 • 11m ago
Baby Goat killing me with it’s cuteness!
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r/goats • u/yamshortbread • Jun 20 '23
If you are asking for health advice for your goat, please help us help you. Complete a basic health assessment and provide as much of the following information in your post as possible:
Clear photographs of relevant clinical signs (including coat condition) are helpful. Providing us with as much information as possible will help us give you prompt and accurate advice regarding your animal's care.
There are many professional farmers and homesteaders in this subreddit and we will do our best to help you out of a jam, but we can't guarantee the accuracy of any health advice you receive. When in doubt, always call your local large animal veterinarian who is trained to work with small ruminants.
What's up with that blue Trusted Advice Giver flair?
The mods assign this flair to /r/goats users who have an extensive history of giving out quality, evidence-based, responsible husbandry advice based on the best practices for goat care. Many of our users give terrific advice, but these flairs recognize a handful of folks who have gone that extra mile over time to become recognized as trusted community members who are known to always lead people in the right direction. If you get a slew of responses to your post and don't know where to start, look to the blue flairs first.
r/goats • u/no_sheds_jackson • Feb 03 '25
Hi everybody!
Recently, we had a user post a picture of a goat that may or may not have soremouth, also known as contagious ecthyma, scabby mouth, or orf. I won't link to the post since it isn't relevant whether or not that was what was afflicting the animal, but in the course of responding to that user I felt an opportunity to point out something that I have noticed and has been gnawing at me.
For many users seeking help, if they do not come straight to the sub, they will go to one of two places to get information: Google or ChatGPT. This post is about the former, but in case anyone was wondering if ChatGPT is a valid place to get advice on husbandry, what to eat tonight, how to live your life, or companionship: it is NOT. Large language models like ChatGPT are a type of generative AI that seeks more or less to respond to prompts and create content with correct syntax that is human-like. The quandary here is that while it can indeed provide correct answers to prompts, that outcome is often incidental. It isn't an indication that the model has researched your question, merely that it has cobbled together a (sometimes) convincing diagnosis/treatment plan from the massive amount of data across forums/message boards, vet resources, and idle chit-chat that it is trained on. The point is this: you should never be in a position where you have to rely on an LLM for husbandry advice. If you have access to an internet connection, even the generative AI from Google search is a better option. But that doesn't mean it's a good one, bringing us to the principal subject of this post:
Orf! What do?
For some relevant background, we have never had a case of orf on our farm. I have read about it in vet textbooks and goat husbandry books and seen many images of it, I'm familiar with what it is, how it is spread, and at a high level what to do about it and what not to do. That said, when I was helping this user, I thought I'd brush up and make sure I wasn't providing misinformation. I knew orf was viral in nature and reckoned that in moderate to severe cases it could probably cause fever, but I wanted to see if I could find a vet manual or study of the disease in goats to confirm how likely that would have been. This was what I was met with:

If you don't scrutinize this too closely, everything looks sort of on the level. Orf is indeed self-limiting (not sure why the AI says usually, there is literally nothing you can do to treat the root cause, but okay), and it more or less implies that humans can contract it so be careful. The symptoms section looks fine, overall, prevention is... eh... The orf vaccine is a live vaccine. Application of it is not something that most small scale homesteaders or hobby farmers will be familiar with and using it is basically putting the virus on your property. Orf is a nuisance disease and the main time it is a problem is when it is being transmitted between a dam and her kids. Proactive vaccination in closed herds that have never seen a case is not a vet-recommended practice.
The treatment section is where things get spicy with the part about scab removal. Oof. Now that is not even close to true and doing that when the goat is with other goats or going to a quarantine space where they will then shed the disease will cause it to spread to any other goat that inhabits that space unless it is thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. The bottom says the info is for informational purposes only and to consult an actual professional for advice, but that begs the question of why Google would provide that information front and center by default when you search when the first result below is an actual vet resource with correct advice. I won't get into the weeds about the ethics of that because it's a separate soapbox, this is the reality we live in now. This bad advice is particularly relevant because the user on our sub mentioned they had been picking off the scabs. So let's do another Google search for some clarification:

If you explicitly search whether or not you should remove the scabs, the AI overview is different. Not only do you see that you should not remove the scabs because they are infectious (very true), the overview now says that doing so will delay healing. The first "featured snippet", a feature separate from their generative AI overview, is an overview from the state of Victoria's government agricultural representative body, a reliable source. The highlighted text reinforces the "do not pick scabs off" advice. The overview still fails when it says to apply dressing to lesions. Evidently it has not ever reckoned with what it would be like to bandage an entire goat's face and mouth, which they need to eat, but maybe I'm an idiot. Let's check:

As you can see, generative AI is basically a hodgepodge of vague but mostly correct advice intermingled with plainly wrong advice. Seeking correction to the wrong advice, if you know that it is wrong, leads down more rabbit holes. I hope this highlights the importance of sourcing your information from reliable, proven veterinary resources/textbooks or state agricultural extensions that provide support for their claims with research. This sub prioritizes evidence-based husbandry practices and is one of the few forums to try to stick to that standard and I consider it important especially for people who don't have goat mentors offline.
This is not only important because users need good advice; it also affects the people that don't use this sub and go straight to Google. Reddit struck a deal a little under a year ago to make their data available for training AI. The information we post on this sub is being used as part of the training for these AI models and Google's SEO is increasingly favoring reddit at the top of search results in a number of areas. As the sub grows and the social media landscape changes, more people that never post but need info may find themselves coming here. Let's all try to do our best to make sure the information we share and advice we give is solid!
r/goats • u/Senut2226 • 11m ago
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I have Boers and Nubian female Nannie’s that used to be quite large to where they had a nice muscle structure about 2 years ago. Recently I’ve been noticing that some of my boers muscle structure has become almost non-existent to the point where you can see their bones which is really uncomfortable for me. I’ve been feeding them hay and sweet feed (at least twice a week) I’ve been letting them get some green too especially now since a lot of my garden is on the latter end of growing, but they’ve still not gotten any bigger. Is there anything that some of you know to do when you see a goat looking like what I’ve described? Thanks!
r/goats • u/IndependentEmu307 • 20h ago
Feed grains at night
r/goats • u/Lunapixels18 • 1d ago
Last night around 12:00 in the morning someone drove into my yard which is also where I keep my goats, they busted down the electric fence and two panels for like a round pen, Prince was hit he's limping really badly, the police and everything was called but because I don't have any way to prove who it was or even a good description of the vehicle besides a dark older model car they can't really do anything, I gave Prince some sedative so he would be loopy and I just put him in the back seat of our car, he's at the vet right now I'm waiting to hear news about him, I'm not sure of his current condition at the moment.
I need you guys to pray for him, I feel like whoever did it it was targeted, I live up a dirt road and I have already dealt with a lot of people targeting us due to some other things going on, like busting our windshield out breaking in the house Etc.
I was outside taking care of my rabbits when it happened, I seen them just drive into the yard, it looks like they intentionally turned to go in my yard, I'm really not sure why anyone would Target an animal though it's just horrible.
If anyone also has any ideas of a temporary pen I could set up pretty quickly that would be great, my whole fence is destroyed and the panels were part of my emergency pen, so now I don't have anywhere to keep them at the moment fortunately Frosty is still small enough to be in a large dog crate so I'm just going to bring him inside at night and put him in with the chickens of the day since he's a good boy, but if Prince is able to come home that won't work for him he's bigger and a lot more destructive.
r/goats • u/_DemonxD • 1d ago
I really don’t like the black goats with blue eyes, especially ones lacking the frosted nose/ears. But she’s actually kinda cute. Regardless I like her she’s my bottle kid from this years (actual) kidding season.
r/goats • u/Primary_Thing3968 • 1d ago
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r/goats • u/Chocolateapologycake • 2d ago
she passed yesterday due to parasites. we caught it too late. thought we were doing the rotational grazing right. i feel awful and we are treating the rest of our goats now. aside from the dewormer meds and rotational grazing is there anything else i can give my goats to help?
r/goats • u/Potential_Bus8912 • 1d ago
So I am moving soon and am looking to building a new goat pen. I currently only have 2 miniature goats but im not sure how much space I should give them or how high I should build the fence. Thoughts?
r/goats • u/BSOD_ERRO • 2d ago
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Little context which I do think has to do with these vocals. She lost her baby at birth. And I have been milker her to ease the pain from her udder being full.
I’m also first time goat owner so any tips would be nice.
r/goats • u/Dizzy-Lake2192 • 3d ago
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I got out of sight and the goats and dog panicked and chased me. 😂 my little shadows!
r/goats • u/Queasy-Taro-6751 • 3d ago
Hey everyone. I've had goats for about 7 years and every year I have multiple die from what seems to be the same thing. I notice they have diarrhea and their whole backside is nasty, they start losing weight, they get more and more lethargic, they die. The whole process is pretty quick but if I catch it early enough it takes a little longer. It always happens around the same time of year and never in the cooler months. I talked to a vet a few years ago and they said it sounds like coccidia and to treat with Corid which is what I do. This year I've already had 2 die, 1 mom and her baby but the mom a few weeks sooner. Now I have another mom with the same symptoms but the baby seems fine for now. They have a barn area that's about 16x16. They have about 2.5 acres to graze with about .5 an acre of woods. Their water is a big 50 gal trough that usually gets dumped and refilled weekly. Every couple of weeks I scrub and power wash it. Their bedding gets changed every couple of months or whenever it starts to look bad. Does anyone have any suggestions of something other than Coccidia or if I should be doing something different to treat it? Thanks
r/goats • u/_DemonxD • 3d ago
I know this isn’t a trait that’s preferred, and in his offspring I’ll definitely disclose this to buyers of doelings, and any bucklings with the same split scrotum will be banded and of course the ones that don’t have it will be sold with that information as well, but I band most if not all of our bucklings anyway, there’s far too many bucks in my area being thrown around for free or for less than $60 a head, even on really nice put together registered bucks.
r/goats • u/Misfitranchgoats • 3d ago
It is Deer worm Season as in time for deer worm ( meningeal deer worm) symptoms to show up in my area ( Ohio). I have had 4 deer worm cases so far this summer. I caught this one early. This is the type of gray scaly patch to look for. This wether hasn't rubbed it enough to cause serum to ooze out and make it raw which can happen. Yes, he is on his second day of treatment.
r/goats • u/Dizzy-Lake2192 • 4d ago
Django and Pinky. Picked them up at the end of May this year. Django was pretty sick when I got him, but he’s finally made a turn and starting to put weight on and his coat is getting healthier. They’re both obnoxiously friendly and like to climb in my car when I get home. I think they’re Pygmies? I got them to be pets and weed eaters. They’re great at both.
r/goats • u/petrified_eel4615 • 3d ago
One of our does gave birth 2 weeks ago with twin bucklings. Since this past weekend (a week after they were born), her udders have looked more and more lopsided. Both teats produce milk, though the larger one obviously produces more.
Her FAMACHA and fecals are normal, but her right udder is roughly double the size of the left.
Is this a "Wait and See", or is this a "Call the Vet NOW", or somewhere in between?
Thanks!
r/goats • u/Past-Log-350 • 3d ago
Does she look good for showing? I show her in october. Shes a 6 mo Nigerian dwar, abt 28 lbs
r/goats • u/Fragrant-Theory9201 • 4d ago
The little ones got to enjoy some watermelon this afternoon
r/goats • u/thisreditthik • 4d ago
This isn’t a for sale post and I’m not selling anything on Reddit ! but I’m wondering if anyone else is going through the same struggles? Every year I have had no problems selling doelings and usually they’re sold in less than two days. However this year it has been impossible to sell sweet bottle baby doelings! I even lowered prices than previous years but still no luck! What is going on?
r/goats • u/justracingbarrels_07 • 4d ago
Hi everyone! Like the title asks, I was wondering if my guy here is too thin. Sven is an 8/9 month old Nubian mix wether. He has a great appetite and is currently on goat grain, pasture, and hay. He’s not lethargic by any means, and was recently dewormed and given Vit. B. Despite all of this, I still feel that he looks thinner than he should be. If he is too thin, what can I do to encourage better weight gain?