Acidosis in Goats: An Unexpected Case

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As a goat keeper, I’m well aware of the risks of bloat and acidosis in goats if they consume too much rich food. To prevent this, I always keep grain locked away and feed chickens outside the goat enclosure. So, I was surprised to find that one of my does, Coco, was suffering from severe indigestion even though she had no access to grain. She hadn’t escaped the enclosure, raided the feed bins, eaten another goat’s ration, or consumed too many treats. Coco only had access to pasture and hay.

Signs of Indigestion and Acidosis

I became concerned when I saw her resting alone in the barn while the other goats were out grazing. This was unusual behavior for her, as goats are sociable creatures and prefer to graze in a group. It soon became clear that she wasn’t eating or chewing the cud. Her droppings were soft and smooth, unlike the firm, dry pellets of a healthy goat.

The veterinarian suspected acidosis and prescribed an alkalizing buffer. This powder was mixed with two fluid ounces of water and used as a drench (given orally). Coco had to take it twice a day for at least the next four days. The mixture was thick and gritty, which made it difficult to expel from the drenching syringe and it often clogged the works. What’s more, Coco refused to swallow the stuff. On the first night, we only managed to administer half a dose after two attempts. After this, Coco, my partner, and I were all very stressed and tired.

Frothy Bloat and Scours

Then Coco began to scour and bloat. Her abdomen enlarged and bulged unusually on the top left side, feeling taut when tapped. Usually, this area is a dip in the flank (known as the paralumbar fossa) located above the rumen. I placed my ear on her left flank to listen for the rumble of normal rumen contractions. There should be one or two contractions per minute. After every two or three contractions, gas should be expelled orally, sometimes into the lungs and, at others, with an audible belch. Coco’s rumen wasn’t rumbling, nor was she burping.

After prolonged firm massage of her rumen, she burped, and the swelling subsided. But only temporarily. I had to repeat this massage every two hours to release the trapped rumen gas—even through the night. On every visit, there was a lot of liquid diarrhea to clean up. So, I called back the veterinarian first thing.

Buffer and Feed

The veterinarian lent me a larger drenching syringe and administered the dose herself. She admitted that the product was tricky to use but praised its effectiveness. She emphasized the importance of neutralizing the considerable dangers of acidosis. Although she also had difficulty, she managed to drench Coco with a full dose. Afterward, she administered sodium bicarbonate and a painkiller intravenously. We found that the larger syringe (70 ml) made drenching easier. Despite Coco’s protests, we were able to dose her twice daily in the following days.

The buffer included sodium bicarbonate and calcium carbonate to stabilize rumen pH, magnesium oxide to reduce acidity, casein and brewer’s yeast to provide a suitable medium to reactivate the microbiome, and thiamine to prevent goat polio.

As yet, the cause of Coco’s condition was a mystery, but we needed to identify the trigger. We knew that acidosis occurs when a goat eats too much non-structural carbohydrate (NSC): sugars and starch. But Coco couldn’t have accessed grain, crops, or garden vegetables. The only change in feed was some freshly harvested hay we had bought from a new supplier. Usually, the goats are still eating last year’s hay at this time. However, one new bale had broken open. As it appeared dry and non-fermented, I fed it to the goats. The veterinarian examined it and found it was richer and sweeter than the meadow grass hay that my goats typically eat. The other goats hadn’t been affected—only my eldest, ten-year-old Coco.

Fresh Sweet Hay

The rumen needs time to adjust to changes in plant richness. That’s why goats fed grass hay all winter may suffer from bloat and acidosis if they are turned out onto spring pastures without prior adaptation. It’s best to limit their initial grazing time unless they have been out at pasture before the spring growth. Goats must also be introduced gradually to legume pastures, fresh legume hay, and harvested crops. Our veterinarian said I could use my new hay in small doses during the winter, mixed with their meadow grass hay.

Home Remedy: Hay Tea

Our veterinarian also recommended a home remedy to help restore the microbiome of the rumen, which is depleted by acidosis. Hay tea is made by steeping fresh grass hay in hot (not boiling) water, allowing it to cool, and then serving it warm after removing the hay. Coco drank a lot of this, which also relieved her dehydration, so we made her a fresh batch daily until she recovered.

Drench Inhalation

Coco objected to being drenched, and her protests intensified each day. By the third day, she was wheezing and moaning pitifully after each dose. The veterinarian suspected that some of the drench had entered her nasal passages, but not to a serious degree. Drenching poses the danger of introducing fluid into the lungs, so tubing may be preferable if you are an experienced hand.

Comfort and Convalescence

Coco’s diarrhea cleared up after the second night, but she passed no droppings for another three days. She was now burping readily when I massaged her rumen, although not yet eating. During all this time, she isolated herself in the rearmost stall, up on a wooden platform, padded out with straw. I closed her in to prevent interference from the other goats, some of whom might have picked on her or ousted her from her comfort spot. As goats can suffer from isolation, the stalls have slatted walls to allow goats to see and communicate with one another.

On the evening of the third day, she nibbled a few dried nettles and some hazel and chestnut leaves (the veterinarian had recommended wild flowering and woody plants). The next morning, she emerged from her stall and greeted the other goats one by one, before returning to rest. In the afternoon, she ate raspberry leaves and nettles. In the cool of the evening, she perked up and rejoined the others outside to graze. That night, she tucked into last year’s grass hay.

The next day, she was grazing, burping, and her rumen was gurgling. The following day, she passed a few sticky, but well-formed, droppings. She appreciated her salt and mineral licks. By the seventh day, she was back to normal: eating, chewing cud, and producing plenty of well-formed droppings.

Hoof Trouble: Founder

A week later, I noticed that the walls of Coco’s front hooves were bowing outward, and one toe of each hoof was slightly swollen. Coco flinched when I touched the hoof wall. Upon examining the hooves, I noticed that the sole appeared white. These signs pointed toward founder, which can result from acidosis in goats. The veterinarian supplied intramuscular injections of an anti-inflammatory for the next three days. We also bathed her feet in cool water with magnesium sulfate to ease inflammation. Despite Coco’s reluctance, we persisted with the injections and footbaths. Within three days, the swelling reduced and the sole returned to its normal gray color. I trimmed the hooves to recover their shape and checked them the following week to ensure that they had completely healed.

Preventing Rumen Upsets and Ruminal Acidosis in Goats

To avoid acidosis in goats, we have learned to ensure that we buy the right hay for our particular goats’ needs. For our non-producing goats, that means sticking to native meadow hay rather than cultivated crops. A variety of grass and flowering plants is ideal. NSC-rich feed should be introduced gradually over four weeks by slowly increasing the quantity in each meal. Quantity must be limited and spread between three or more daily feeds. A goat’s diet should mainly consist of long-fiber roughage (grass hay, pasture, and woody browse) to maintain rumen health.

Technical Sources

• Smith, M. C. and Sherman, D. M. 2009. Goat Medicine, Second Edition. Wiley-Blackwell.
• Underwood, W.J. et al., 2015. Chapter 15 – Biology and Diseases of Ruminants (Sheep, Goats, and Cattle). In Laboratory Animal Medicine. American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine. Academic Press. 680–681. ()
• Estill, K. 2020. Rumen Disorders in Goats.
• VIVO Pathophysiology

Originally published in the Fall 2024 issue of Goat Journal and regularly vetted for accuracy.