r/goats • u/Devildog206 • 1d ago
Help Request What could be the cause of this pimple/boil under my goats jaw
This would be the first time my animals have had this, would anyone happen to know the cause? It is a hard lump
11
u/Dawggone_dad 1d ago
Need to get a vet to check that for CL and that goat should be isolated until results are known.
10
u/Misfitranchgoats Trusted Advice Giver 1d ago
This looks like a spot where this goat got bit by something or poked by something. Not sure what area you are from so I am not going to guess what could have bit her. It also looks like this is healing up. But I guess it could be the start of something instead of the end of something going on under the skin.
So what you need to do at this time, is keep an eye on it. You already have a picture so you know about how big it is. Make a note on a calendar or in your phone and check on it every couple days to see if it is getting bigger or smaller.
If it gets smaller, and goes away that is great.
If it starts getting larger and fills up with crud, that it is probably an abscess. It could be a plain old abscess or it could be CL ( Caseous Lymphadenitis) which is very infectious and can cause problems in your herd. A lot of people cull goats that have CL. If you have access to a vet you can have the contents of the abscess tested to see if it is CL. So if this starts getting bigger and fills up and is an abscess you will want to isolate this goat before that abscess pops and infects the rest of the herd. You want to catch all the crud from the abscess when it pops and sanitize the area so other animals can't get infected as the pus from the abscess carries the infection. People can get CL so make sure you are wearing protection if this would happen to become an abscess.
You can read about how to handle goats with CL here
https://www.tennesseemeatgoats.com/articles2/caseouslymphade1.html
Also u/imacabboseman has used DMSO instead of Formalin to inject CL abscesses. DMSO is cheap and you can buy it on Amazon.
So you are going to get a lot of advice about telling you to cull the goat. Looks like this goat might be bred and pregnant. Lets hope it isn't an abscess. If it does develop into an abscess, you have options even if it would happen to be CL.
2
u/crypto_junkie2040 1d ago
I had something similar with my sheep, ended up going away by itself after a while. Not sure what it was
2
u/TheGalapagoats 1d ago
I’ve had goats develop lumps like this after botfly larvae have died and the wound closed prematurely.
21
u/teatsqueezer Trusted Advice Giver 1d ago
Pls investigate for CL - it’s highly contagious and incurable.