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Normal Values
by Lorrie Blackburn, DVM
It is as important to
notice your normal, healthy goats as it is to notice your sick
ones. Many articles are written about various diseases of goats
with signs and treatments being discussed thoroughly. But, how
can you tell if your goat is sick if you don’t know when it is
healthy?
| Rectal temperature |
102.5 – 104 °F (39.3 –
40 °C) |
| Pulse |
60 – 80 per minute |
| Respiration |
15 – 30 per minute |
| Puberty |
4 – 12 months |
| Estrous cycle |
18 – 23 days |
| Estrum |
12 – 36 hours |
| Gestation |
145 – 153 days |
A goat’s normal
temperature will vary between 102.5 – 104 °F. An individual may
tend to have a normal temperature at one end or the other, but
temperature readings within this range can be considered
normal. At the risk of offending most people reading this, I
should remind you that temperatures must be taken rectally;
goats will not hold thermometers under their tongues.
Pulse and respiration can
vary greatly depending on the goat’s nervous state when the
rates are taken. The respiratory rate can be easily taken by
watching the rib cage movement and counting the number of
breaths per minute. A highly excited animal will have a higher
rate than “normal”, so use a little common sense and allow for
variations with circumstances.
A pulse rate is more
difficult to take. It is easiest to take a heart rate (which
should be the same as the pulse rate) with a stethoscope and
count the number of beats per minute. You can also feel for
heartbeats by holding your fingers tightly over the area of the
heart near the bottom and front of the chest. With a little
practice, you can take an actual pulse rate by feeling for the
pulse on the inside of the rear leg up near the groin; you
probably need someone to show you just where to feel the first
time.
Puberty is the age at
which an animal becomes sexually mature. Remember that sexual,
physical and mental maturity are entirely different things.
Sexual maturity means that a doe is capable of becoming
pregnant, and that a buck is capable of impregnating a doe. The
normal range for goat puberty is 4 – 12 months, but bear in
mind that goats don’t read books or lists of normal values.
Does have become pregnant at two months of age, and it may have
been litter brothers that got them in that condition. The key
thing to learn from this normal value is not to believe printed
lists and to separate buck kids and adult bucks from doe kids
by two months of age.
A female goat is “in
season” (estrum) every 18 – 23 days. This interval between
seasons is the length of the estrous cycle. A doe is in estrum
for 12 – 36 hours and is receptive to a buck for breeding
during this time. She ovulates 24 – 36 hours after the
beginning of estrum. Some does have very quiet seasons and you
may not know they are in season if you don’t have a buck close
by to inform you.
Gestation, or pregnancy,
lasts 145 – 153 days, and is counted from the day of the
breeding to the day the kids are delivered. Kids born at 145 –
153 days are usually quite healthy and ready for life. Kids
born at 139 – 144 days of gestation will be immature and their
chances of survival diminished, and kids born prior to 139 days
are not likely to survive beyond a few hours.
By learning these normal
value ranges, by getting to know your own individual animals,
and by remembering that lists of normal values are only
guidelines, you will be one step ahead at recognizing illness
if it strikes your herd.
Excerpts from:
Kinne, Maxine, ed.
Pygmy Goats: Best of Memo
2
(1982-1987)
National Pygmy Goat Association: pp 122
This document is for
informational purposes only and is in no way intended to be a
substitute for medical consultation with a qualified veterinary
professional. The information provided through this document is
not meant to be used in the diagnosis or treatment of a health
problem or disease, nor should it be construed as such.
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