I had a goat owner call today who told me that their 6 month old wethers had been puking up grain they had eaten earlier. Today was hoof trimming day and they put the guys in a milk stand to help hold them when they trimmed their feet and gave them grain or some type of goat chow to keep them calm. They were allowed to eat the goat chow the entire time they were in the stand, approx 10 minutes, and now are throwing it back up. This has been going on for about 6 hours. They said it wasn't frothy or foamy but was a runny mixture of grain and it spewed out when ever the goat would bring up its cud. The goats don't seem to be in any distress and seem to be trying to keep it all in while chewing and swallowing as much as they can. No bloating is visible.

I told them it sounded like they had eaten way too much grain and that it was probably expanding in the rumen faster than the goat could process it. I'm guessing it will work it self out before long and suggested cutting all feed until they are back to normal even if it took a day or two and to call the Vet if it continued into tomorrow.

The owner is monitoring this post and said any other help or ideas would be appreciated.

I'm probably late on this but any goat in this situation should immediately be treated with pepto bismol and baking soda. Even if the grain is expelled they are at risk for bloat and founder.

The owner called several days later to tell me that after some rounds of Pepto, a little GasX and a lot of worrying the goats seem to be fine and have suffered no long term problems. They wished to express their appreciation.

Good news.