Is this goiter

[Rod Dumbreck]

One of our yearlings has a baggy looking jaw, is this goiter and what to do about it. None of the others seem to be affected, they are indoors on hay.

 

[sheepdogtrail]

Goiter should be further back at the tail end of the jaw. To me that looks like hypoproteinaemia. Liver flukes and Haemonchosis would be suspect. Also copper (both low and high levels), Johnes and other mineral imbalances.

 

[Rod Dumbreck]

Goiter should be further back at the tail end of the jaw. To me that looks like hypoproteinaemia. Liver flukes and Haemonchosis would be suspect. Also copper (both low and high levels), Johnes and other mineral imbalances.

Thanks for the reply, Ill do a fecal tomorrow as somewhere easy to start, we don't treat for fluke because we send all our steers through the local abattoir and haven't seen any signs in the livers, but that applies to the past and this could be different.

 

[Rod Dumbreck]

Goiter should be further back at the tail end of the jaw. To me that looks like hypoproteinaemia. Liver flukes and Haemonchosis would be suspect. Also copper (both low and high levels), Johnes and other mineral imbalances.

I did a flotation and sedimentation and found nothing with either, so still scratching my head. Animal looks well, turnout coming soon (hopefully) and don't know whether its a good idea to let him go up the hill.

 

[sheepdogtrail]

While the animal is relatively calm, have a look at its lower eyelid on either eye. If pale, I would suspect hypoproteinaemia. Eyelids should be bright red. I will also mention that in regards to Haemonchosis it is possible to have a clean fecal while at the same time the animal has a gut full of those blood suckers. It depends on timing and the infection stage of the worm. The float could look different in a couple of days.

In any case, you are doing all the right things.