Why would a whole herd of goats die?

[CN Spots]

My mother's neighbor had 6 goats and an old dog (it was in a pen). Last week a storm came through and lightning hit the oldest goat as it was standing under a tree. It dropped dead in it's shadow. The other five turned up dead over the next few days, all in different areas of the field along w/ their dog. The dog's pen is nowhere near the goats. According to the neighbor there were no wounds to the other 5 or the dog. The one that I saw looked like it died in excruciating pain head thrown back, mouth wide open and evidence of flailing around). She could not think of anyone who would want to harm them, or the dog. Honestly, they're goats. That's about as passive a farm animal there ever was. Could they have suffered some type of injury from the lightning strike that killed them days later? Food gone bad from moisture? Is there some type of goat flu going around? The neighborhood is rather concerned over this. Any ideas?

 

[gonefishie]

Re: Why would a whole herd of goats die?

Mass suicide. the leader died so they all followed?

All kidding aside, that's pretty weird. State board of health or somebody would be interested in doing an autopsy

 

[rbh]

Re: Why would a whole herd of goats die?

Just a thought, if the ground was wet, the lightning would have traveled through it as it dissapated, sort of a step potential thing.
It could have fried those little guy's insides, and no one would know.
My take on it anyways.

 

[Cofe]

Re: Why would a whole herd of goats die?

I would tend to agree with rbh. I have seen similar situations with cattle.

Only other thing it might be, is George Clooney is one of the neighbors.

 

[Fireman431]

Re: Why would a whole herd of goats die?

Possibly died from broken hearts? That's so sad...:redface:

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Why would a whole herd of goats die?

Weird indeed, but if they were electrocuted at the same time as the first dead goat, they would have died at the same time. There has to be some other explanation.

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: Why would a whole herd of goats die?

Are you sure it was lightening ? We here more and more about alien abductions and stuff.

 

[Autotech]

Re: Why would a whole herd of goats die?

CN
Your close enough to MSU Vet school (I Think) to call and ask for advice or suggestions. I have a nephew that works there his name is Matthew Raby as Vet Assistant. Maybe he can give you some thoughts. I will call him and tell him you might call. Or call the county extension office and the county agent is always a great help around down here. But then I've played golf with all of them here. Maybe the reason there so helpful.

 

[FBPirate95]

Re: Why would a whole herd of goats die?

I raised goats at one point in my life and after listening to some of the older goat herders in the mountains talk, goats can die from stress. I didn't really believe them, but one day my husky got loose and scared the begeezas out of one of my goats. She didn't lay a hand on the goat. About 4 days later the goat died. Could have been the stress from the event finally got em.

 

[mike243]

Re: Why would a whole herd of goats die?

goats can catch a lot of different bugs & required shots to stay healthy,my brotherinlaw raises boar (sp) goats & spends $ & time keeping them healthy,you might dig a little & see what some of them are,mike243

 

[j_martin]

Re: Why would a whole herd of goats die?

There must be a common poisoning source. Anti-freeze will cause death in a few days, with excruciating pain. I'd get at least one autopsied.

 

[CN Spots]

Re: Why would a whole herd of goats die?

Her's were kept more as lawnmowers than livestock so I doubt there was little if any meds/vaccines given to them. The Sheriff's Deputy that came out offered little help as to the cause. The Big-Dead-Animal-Burying-Department is supposed to come out and dig a hole to bury them in here shortly. If she doesn't have them looked at by a vet prior to their arrival, I guess we'll never know. I'll check w/ the folks today to see if they've heard anything else. Thanks.

 

[lowkee]

Re: Why would a whole herd of goats die?

Wow, a true blue mystery. The goats dying from stress I could see, but the dog.. how odd.

 

[SS MAYFLOAT]

Re: Why would a whole herd of goats die?

Hmmmm, I was watching a show the other night called Country Fried Stings. Its a group of people who help those with problems that the law enforcement can't seem to help.

On one of the last shows I watched, a guy contacted them about his black angus cattle were droping dead by the numbers. As this group searched around, they found the waste products of a disposed of meth lab in a small stream. Turns out that the cattle was getting poisioned buy the chemicals. With more searching, they found the culprits and had the local PD arrest them.

Just a thought to look around and see what it could be.

 

[JARED T]

Re: Why would a whole herd of goats die?

check the coolaid

 

[Flyvet]

Re: Why would a whole herd of goats die?

Lightening will not cause death after the initial hit from any reason that I can think of. I would look for other explanations, toxins or infectious disease, etc. I'm a vet but haven't worked on farm animals in many years though. The autopsy is a good suggestion if you want to know more unless they are decomposed or gone.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Why would a whole herd of goats die?

Sorry to do this, but I have to advise all of you to go to Dictionary.com and look up Lightning and Lightening. I think you will get a chuckle when you read what the HUGE difference is, and how misspelling the electrical discharge in this thread is sort of funny.

 

[CN Spots]

Re: Why would a whole herd of goats die?

Goats are 6 feet under. She requested no further investigation.

If it were me I'd have wanted answers. Heck, It wasn't me and I STILL want answers. The parent's dog may be at risk of... something.