High Reaches Valerie had been sick with a case of worms. I dewormed her. The next morning, I went into the barn to hear her giving that plaintive cry saying she was dying. I had a lost cud emergency.
What Happened?
Dewormers, more commonly called wormers, are poisons. The label lists the kinds of worms the poison kills.
Poison does not read labels. It kills whatever it can. Poor Valerie’s rumen bacteria were killed. A lost cud means a dead rumen and kills a goat.
Rumen Bacteria
A very young kid will eat dirt along with chewing on everything it finds. It is not teething. These things have bacteria on them and this goes down into the developing rumen.
A rumen is the first compartment of the four part stomach of a ruminant. All the hastily chomped leaves, grass etc. goes into this big place. Only bacteria can break down the cellulose of plant walls to release the nutrition.
Once the plant matter is mixed with the bacteria, a goat regurgitates a mouthful and chews it thoroughly before swallowing it into the next stomach compartment for digestion. This mouthful is called a cud. Relaxing goats lie around or stand around chewing their cuds.
Lost Cud Emergency
When the bacteria in the rumen die out in an adult goat, dirt is not on the menu. If no bacteria remain, the goat does not eat and starves to death. Even if the goat does eat, the food does not digest.
Valerie’s only hope was if I could get bacteria back into her rumen. Time was running out for her.
Rumen Bacteria Sources
There are commercial remedies. As this rarely happens, I don’t have them here at home as they would sit on the shelves for years. On a weekend, I can’t go into town to get them because the feed stores are closed.
My first remedy is yoghurt. Wormer does cause a bit of a problem this way in some of my goats, even if dosages are carefully followed. Usually a dose of yoghurt solves the problem.
I mix about two tablespoons of yoghurt with enough milk to liquify it. A big dosing syringe works well for drenching the goat.
Valerie improved slightly. Yoghurt wasn’t enough. My next remedy is challenging. I steal a cud from a healthy goat hoping my fingers don’t get crunched by molars.
The stolen cud is mixed with water. The water is given as a drench. I let the cud sit in water in a warm place for a second dose.
Valerie is now on the road to recovery.
