I’m not sure which one of us was more scared at the end me or her… It was just a normal feeding time. They get a small handful of pellets at night only because the smallest one needs the extra nutrition and there’s no way to feed her without giving the other two a little something.
I stay pretty close to them while they’re eating to keep the big two from pushing the little one out of her bucket. I was feeding the other animals and watching them and noticed Lizzie dad started shaking her head. As I watched her she started flinging it more frantically but was not crying. She is a very vocal goat so this made me realize something was wrong.
I ran over and scooped her up into my arm-luckily she only weighs 20 pounds at this point. I put her head along my left arm and thumped her sides with my right hand while tipping her facing downwards. I then slung my arm toward the ground hoping to dislodge whatever she was choking on. The 2nd time I did it a huge wad of powdered powdered pellets and slime flew out of her mouth.
She started yelling bloody murder and freaking out despite my attempts to calm her down so I ended up setting her on the ground. She staggered a distance away and stood there pitifully yelling sounding like she had a very hoarse throat. From the way she was swaying on her feet it was clear that she was close to having passed out.
About 5 minutes later later she decided that she wanted the rest of her dinner and slowly approached me approached me to get more pellets. I only gave her a little bit because I figured her throat would be sore after all that.
But 20 minutes later she was more active and ran for the hay feeder although she was not still her normal hyper self. I’m hoping everything’s OK but I’ll feel better after some time has passed. Managed to scare the heck out of both of us. I’ve had to do the sling method to clear the throat of a choking duck before but this is the 1st time I’ve ever had to do it on something that big. I’m thankful she’s small enough I could pick her up.
Update: I watched her closely the next few days and she appeared to have no ill effects. I asked my vet about it and he said if she’s not coughing or running a fever, she’s good. Next up, finding a way to slow her down from eating huge mouthfuls.