Independence Homestead

This fall our goat wether Storm fell ill with what we believe was a meningeal worm infection. We cannot confirm this was his illness as that would have required lab testing of his cerebrospinal fluid, but the situation and symptoms would indicate a meningeal worm infection. Today I’m sharing our experience in the hopes it may help you if you ever face a similar situation. Fall is the prime time for goats to be infected with this parasite, so be aware!

On a Saturday afternoon in October we had some visitors to the farm, so I released Storm from his pen to meet them. One of our lovely helpers, Krysti, noticed that Storm wasn’t walking normally; he was overpronating his back left leg We checked his hooves and trimmed them, making sure that nothing was wrong with his feet. Everything looked okay, and he had no sensitive spots on his leg or foot. On Sunday Storm joined us for a walk around the property, and while he was still overpronating, he was perfectly mobile.

On Wednesday we went to check on Storm again, and he had declined significantly. He was having a hard time lifting his back end off the ground and walking. In fact, we had to carry him to get him up to the garage for a health diagnostic. Thankfully he’s still small enough to be easily carried!

Whenever a goat is sick, our first procedure is to take its temperature. A low temperature often indicates rumen issues, a high temperature would mean infection. A goat’s normal temperature is 101-103F. Storm’s temperature was 99. So now we had two seemingly unrelated symptoms: weakness on the back end, and a low temperature. What to do?

Continued in Part 2 and Part 3….