So, if you think your goats may have contracted pink eye, read on to discover a simple treatment you can administer on your own. Treat pink eye in goats at home to cure this contagious disease that can spread to the herd, even the babies.
Watching for Pink Eye in Goats
Goats, the stars of Hidden Heights Farm, remain close to our hearts. The silly faces they make and their quirky personalities continually entertain us year after year.
We raise goats for meat, preferring Pygmy, Kiko, and Spanish goats. They help keep the brush under control and provide milk. If you plan to raise goats, learn what you need to know before getting goats, what to feed goats and the goat must-haves for your farm.
Really, goats are relatively easy to raise and breed. So, whether you are birthing a goat or bottle feeding goats, knowing the possible health concerns that affect goats, like selenium deficiency in goats and pink eye, will help you know what to do on your journey.
What Is Pink Eye in Goats
Pink eye or infectious keratoconjunctivitis can infect goats, sheep, or other animals at any stage of life. It most commonly affects young goats. It is a bacterial infection that can easily spread to a whole herd of goats due to its contagious nature.
Pink eye in sheep and goats infects the eyelids, the whites of the eyes, and the membranes, causing redness, weepiness, gooeyness, and cloudiness. It irritates the goat and can cause pain and discomfort.
Pink eye in goats is a different bacterial infection than pink eye in cattle, caused by cattle moraxella bovis. Pink eye in sheep and goats commonly comes from the bacteria called chlamydia psittaci ovis and mycoplasma conjunctivae.
Can Goats Get Pink Eye From Hay
Sometimes goats can experience red, watery eyes with similar symptoms as keratoconjunctivitis. This non-infectious pink eye can occur when hay pieces or dust get blown into the goat’s eyes.
The symptoms are similar to pink eye, but just flushing out and cleaning the eye will help resolve this issue.
Symptoms of Pink Eye in Goats
Here are a few symptoms to watch for when monitoring your goat herd.
- Excessive Blinking – A goat affected by pink eye blinks a lot because of the discomfort and irritation.
- Sensitivity to Bright Sunlight – Bright light further irritates the pink eye.
- Tearing – The goat’s face may even look wet from watery tears dripping from its eye.
- Redness and Swelling – The eyelids and membranes of the eye become red and irritated.
- Cloudy Eyes – The whites of the eyes become cloudy. And even the cornea and iris can look milky.
- Blindness – Sometimes, pink eye in goats can cause temporary blindness. In severe cases, if pink eye is left untreated, the goat can go permanently blind.
- Ulcers – In severe cases, ulcers can develop in the eye.
- Death – Death can occur in very extreme cases when an animal is otherwise compromised. It may make the goat feel lethargic and unwilling to find food and water. Or the bacterial infection can spread to the brain.
Will Pink Eye in Goats Go Away on Its Own
Often, pink eye resolves on its own in one week to ten days in otherwise healthy animals. Treat pink eye to help speed up this process.
Proactive treatment can help lessen the spread of pink eye to the whole herd, and it can help prevent reinfection since acquired immunity isn’t a part of pink eye. Goats can contract the disease again.
Supplies Needed
- MicrocynAH Pink Eye Spray – This pink eye spray is not an antibiotic and can be found at your local feed store or online.
- An Extra Set of Hands – Administering the pink eye spray is much easier when one person holds the goat still and one person sprays the solution in the goat’s eye.
- Gloves – Wearing gloves and careful handwashing reduces the spread of pink eye. Certain bacteria strains can pass pink eye to people from animals. You may want to wear separate gloves for individual animals if treating more than one goat.
- Paper Towel – Use a paper towel or washcloth to clean the goat’s eye.
Treating Goats for Pink Eye
- Separate the affected animals from the rest of the herd to help reduce the spread of pink eye.
- Wear protective gloves.
- Clean around the eye with a paper towel. Gently remove any built-up discharge in the corners of the eye.
- Have one person hold the goat still while the other person sprays MicrocynAH Pink Eye Spray into the affected eye.
- Follow the recommendations on the spray bottle, which suggests flushing the goat’s eye 2 to 4 times a day.
- Once the goat’s symptoms disappear, return it to the herd.
Caring for our farm animals brings our family joy, especially caring for our livestock guardian dogs. Read how we handle introducing dogs to our goat herd, flea and tick prevention for dogs, how to prevent bloat in dogs, and how to build a jump gate for your livestock guardian dogs.
We are one big family here at Hidden Heights Farm!
