The Bleu Siege of Doe Hill

One fine morning, the does of Noodleville milled about the pasture with not much to do.

Feeding time had come and gone, milking was finished… All the forage worthy yummies were long ago devoured & the grass was drying up making prospective pasture pastimes greatly diminished….

Until they spotted the hill… The hill was ever present, but just out of reach. No fence blocked their path, no obstacles to keep them at bay… They stared longingly at the hill but couldn’t venture out without the security of The Gal with Food Buckets…. Apparently The Gal with Food Buckets is endowed with magical powers that instantly vanquish the Boogie-men who reside in the imaginations of goats…

They milled about at the base of the hill…..Each secretly contemplating how they would reach the top and rule all of Noodleville Goatdom…

A Nubian named Rosie trekked up the hill without contemplation, simply walked on up and surveyed the land……. But to rule, one must have more than bulk. One must be brave and smart…… An alliance was formed. Tricks & Mocha- The Guild of Earless Wonders. Though they lack ears, those Lamanchas are clever. Rosie lost her throne as quickly as she claimed it, so fast in fact, there isn’t even a photo record of her brief rule.

 

Quite smug & cocky, this Guild of Earless Wonders. How easy it was to bully Rosie off Doe Hill. Jr does come and try to sneak by and are beaten back with ease….As they run off the latest threat to their rule, this pair ponders their magnificence and happily surveys their kingdom….. Those who are smug & cocky though must also be watchful…..

Places of great power attract those who are power hungry….Like sharks drawn to blood, the pull is inevitable. Quickly Tricks & Mocha find they must defend their throne again….

Bleuberry is Queen. Bleuberry doesn’t need allies. She doesn’t charge up the hill in a fury. She doesn’t try to sneak on by… Ears held high, she marches slowly, with purpose, clearly making her intent known.

 

 

The battle begins and with a few well placed hits too fast for the camera to capture, Tricks is stripped of her royal title….. Ordinarily, she’d quickly jump back into the fray, but Lamanchas suffer a great weakness…. Curiosity and the ability to be easily distracted…... As quickly as holding the hill caught her attention, she’s now meandered off to fuss at Jr. does over some leaves on the fence line…

 

Mocha grows bold. She is older than Tricks. Not as easily distracted on this day. Perhaps the extra Chaffhaye has fortified her and made her more daring than she usually is….. Or, perhaps she finds this royal seat comfy and isn’t ready to give it up to one lone Alpine who fancies herself a queen..

 

Mocha meets the would be usurper head on. Hair bristled, she does her very best to intimidate Bleuberry.

Bleu is an old hat at this game though. She’ll not be defeated by a mere first freshener with no ears. She hops happily in between attacks, sneaking in hard nips with her teeth and is ruthless with her rearing assaults.

The siege is over. All that’s left standing atop Doe Hill is Bleuberry, queen of the Noodleville Goats. Mocha turns away in defeat..

Graceful and beautiful she may be, but Bleuberry is not a regal, gracious winner. She flaunts her victory over those she deems inferior and mocks their short reigns.

 

Oh how she bask in the glory of her newest conquest.

Being queen is good. Ruling the milk room, having the choicest feeders, the nicest resting places and always being the first to get treats are just royal perks….. This victory at Doe Hill is just another conquest in a long list of conquest…

~The End~

 

Short video of Bleuberry enjoying her hill….. Right before I started recording, she was rolling, digging and swinging her head from side to side like she was dancing….And of course she stopped most everything once I hit record.

A Noodleville "How To": Copper Bolusing

I read many great blogs. I sit and read blogs more often than I post on my own…

Why?

Well, because most of them provide really useful info in an entertaining format… Throw in a healthy dose of life experiences/stories and I’m a happy reader.

My blog is mostly a place where I jot down various happenings in my life, but rarely do I post actual useable info.

Not sure how this is going to go, but I’m going to attempt to sporadically post useful “How To’s” in the future. Do note that I said sporadically…this gets me & my sporadic, hectic, unscheduled self off the hook for posting specifics at particular times.

So… Today’s “How To” is going to be about copper bolusing goats. In advance, I’ll forewarn y’all that this isn’t necessarily the gospel, it’s not the ONLY way to do things and I won’t be getting overly scientific on y’all.

Copper has been linked to fertility, parasite resistance, growth, resistance to disease, & general over all health. Most minerals do not provide adequate levels of copper to meet the needs of goats. Copper bolusing is a fantastic way to give a slow release copper supplement.

Copper deficiency can show itself in numerous ways. Also, blood samples are not a reliable way to check for copper levels in goats, the best way to check copper levels is by liver biopsy…Which can be performed during a necropsy (I personally don‘t know any vets willing to do it on a live goat, but it can be done). Handy for the goat owner to get a view on how things are going with their management… Not so handy for the goat having the necropsy.

So, here are a few outward signs of copper deficiency I can show you from my own goats (do keep in mind, these are not the only signs, just sharing a few from my herd).

Sabrina came to me looking a bit rough. Her diet had been a mineral block, heavy sweet feeds (covered in molasses, which is high in iron and high iron levels inhibit copper absorption), rationed alfalfa hay, unlimited grass hay and grazing/browse. If you look at her tail tip in this picture shortly after we brought her home you can see she has a “fish tail” with a bald tail tip and the remaining tail hair resembles a fish tail. Many goats will grow this hair back after proper mineral needs are met and maintained, some won’t. Sabrina’s has filled in some, though not fully so I’m still waiting to see if hers will fill in.
　


Sabrina 2011. Note the coarse coat & "fish tail"

Next up is this burnt, coppery colored hair tips. No, this is NOT sun bleaching and it was also present on the dark hairs of her legs. Her previous home had loads of trees and shade was plentiful, where as here in the desolate, dry land of Noodle, trees and natural shade are sparse. For a fair comparison, I snapped pictures of her hair almost exactly one year apart so you can look at the difference and can compare winter hair to winter hair (In her before pics which were taken January 2011, she was pregnant & due in 2 months, in her after pics, taken January 2012, she only has 21 days left before her due date). Here we have minimal shade and if anything she spent MORE time in the sun than at her previous home, yet there are no burnt colored hair tips now. Her bald tail tip has filled in some as well, though not fully. The texture of the hair is also greatly improved. A year ago it was course and brittle, now it’s soft and has a healthy shine to it.


Before Copper. January 2011 Brittle, coarse hair. Discoloration affected all dark hairs



After Copper. January 2012. Hair has no discoloration, it's sleek, smooth (and covered in hay bits)

I didn’t think about it at the time, but I should have taken pictures of her feet. Good grief they were awful!! Her previous home kept her feet trimmed every 2 months, but the overall condition of the hoof material was very poor..... Now her feet are pretty normal and don't require as much effort to trim properly, nor do they have the tendency to grow misshapen as they did when she first arrived..
Another sign of copper deficiency is a fading out of the coat, or what some folks call "ghosting". Bleuberry shows deficiency this way. She has no noticeable "fish tail" or burnt hair tips. I can't give you pictures of her as I shaved her down and don't have the "before" pics to share.... Just keep in mind, that even within one herd, animals can display deficiencies differently.

To make a copper bolus I rely on the info provided by Joyce Lazzaro at Saanendoah. Her site will give you all the scientific, technical info on her copper studies (plus show you the other signs of copper deficiency not shown here). Fantastic read, great pictures and any goat owner really should take the time to read her information.

First you’ll need to buy a bottle of Copasure. I buy mine from Jeffer’s Livestock. These are copper boluses made up for cattle so you’ll need to break them down into smaller doses for goats. The $40+ may seem steep, but a little goes a long way so this should last you quite a while. I'll have to double check, but we bolused my mom's 3 miniature does, my 2 Lamanchas, and the 2 Alpine does & I think we used 3-4 of the boluses total and we typically bolus every 4 months.

Copasure & a calf sized bolus

 Using a postal scale, you weigh out the appropriate dose of copper needed for your goat. Repackage the rods into smaller gel capsules. I place the lil' foam pad from the Copasure container on my scale, zero it out, then pour on the copper rods.

Copper Oxide rods inide a bolus

I buy the smaller gel capsules at the health food store, but recently noticed Jeffer's is now carrying them, as are several other online vendors. You can buy a variety of sizes but I personally prefer to package all my boluses in one size gel capsule & fill accordingly. I dose according to the data collected by Joyce Lazzaro which is 1 gram per 22lbs.

Next is the tricky part.


Ok, ok, I confess… I seem to be the only bolusing challenged person in the whole world!!!!!!!
I was instructed to use the smallest baling gun. I tried that. I got chomped up, spit out boluses. I found it too long, bulky, and thought it did a very poor job of holding the smaller bolus (even with peanut butter!). The goal here is to get the entire bolus swallowed WHOLE. Which means, using the baling gun, you hold open the mouth, put the baling gun as far back as possible…. I’m not talking just in the mouth. I mean over the back of the tongue and into the throat. Once in position you push the plunger and shoot the bolus, whole, down their throat.

I saw videos. I had helpful folks walk me through the process and give me 10,000 pointers. Yet, while all my goaty friends were swiftly, happily bolusing their goats, I was not. I tried empty horse dewormer tubes… Still a no go. I gave up, and went for an alternative method. Hiding the rods in treats. Sabrina would swallow an orange slice with a bolus in it with no problem. My miniature doe liked marshmallows. The rest? Not so much…they spit, chomped and basically did whatever possible to thwart me with every treat imaginable.

Sadistic lil critters!

Then I found my life saver in the form of a $3 piece of plastic. 

"Quick & Easy Pill Dispenser" with 2 goat sized boluses inside

This pill gun known as "The Quick & Easy Pill Dispenser" freaking rocks!!!!!

Granted, it’s not as long as a baling gun, so I have to hold their mouth open wide and get it back there but that’s no biggey. This lil pill gun can hold 2 goat sized boluses at once and fits easily in my hand. 

Pill dispenser with loaded with 2 goat boluses

Follow up with a treat while saying “Nummy, Nummy” and you’re all done! To ensure your pill gun is longer lived, I highly recommend wrapping the barrel in several layers of duct tape or electrical tape, otherwise goat teeth will damage it after several uses.
I say “Nummy, Nummy” in a "sing-song" voice while giving all oral meds to goats & children. I think it helps the process, my kids contradict me.

Now, a few things to keep in mind. In the front, goats only have bottom teeth, no top teeth, instead on top they have a hard “dental pad“. However, in the back they have both top and bottom teeth that are SHARP! Your dog’s molars have nothing on the molars of a goat and I promise you, you do not want to get your fingers caught!

Here is a handy picture showing you the anatomy of a goat’s mouth. You can see the lower incisors in the front, the gap, then the razor sharp molars in the back.
　

When bolusing, I straddle the goat, grab from the top and hold firmly in that toothless gap, careful to keep my fingers away from the chomping molars. Tilt the head back, push pill gun up over the tongue and as far back as I can get it, then push the plunger, close their mouth and shove a treat in!! With Bleuberry, I'm not tall enough to straddle her, so I lock her in the milkstand to bolus her. Easy Peasy! So easy in fact, that Clayton, my 8 year old, bolused Casper without a single problem….No spit out boluses, no chomped boluses, and no missing fingers.

Now, there is some debate on whether or not bolusing via treats is as reliable as the traditional baling gun (or pet pill gun) method, I‘m not getting into all that here. I did the treat method out of desperation, but in all honesty, I prefer the pill gun and giving full, un-chewed boluses. That way I KNOW without a doubt that they received their full dose.

Here is a nifty lil diagram illustrating how the bolus actually works:



How the bolus works. Photo courtesy of Joyce Lazzaro by way of Animax Vet

Now, do keep in mind that copper is just one part in the mineral equation. Depending on your area you may have other deficiencies to worry about. For my area, and my herd, I have best results copper bolusing every 3-4 months, and I also give Bo-Se which is an injectable Vitamin E/Selenium that you can obtain with a vet RX. In addition to this I feed a high quality LOOSE mineral.

Emphasis on LOOSE mineral, as in bagged and similar to coarse sand in texture. Yes, there are mineral blocks available, but have you ever been licked by a goat? If not, come over and I’ll set Sabrina on ya.

Goats have very smooth tongues like a dog does which make it a bit more difficult to get all they need simply by licking at the block. Mineral blocks are typically full of cheap salts, so the goat needs to consume more of the block in order to meet it’s mineral needs. Problem is, the goat is attracted to the mineral block because of the salt and they typically get their fill of salt before they've come close to consuming the necessary amount of minerals. So all in all, while it’s a convenient concept, to me, a mineral block is worthless.

There are a variety of loose minerals on the market. Steer clear of “Sheep & Goat” minerals. Copper in high amounts is toxic to sheep, while studies have shown that goats need a good bit of it, so a mineral safe for sheep just isn't going to come close to meeting a goat’s copper needs. I prefer to buy dark, loose minerals…grey, brownish, earthy-toned ones. The red ones usually contain higher levels of iron and iron inhibits copper absorption. Add in that many of the red minerals have iffy amounts and sources of copper to begin with and it’s just not worth the money. My all time favorite mineral is Bluebonnet Techmaster Complete. Smells sooooo good, and has added kelp, yeast & probiotics.

Sadly, Techmaster is not available in all areas. Used it for many years before my local dealer closed up shop, so for a few years I used Cargill Right Now Onyx, a cattle mineral, and the goats did well on it. 

My loose mineral of choice. A 50lb bag last FOREVER.

To be truly scientific I have even tried a few for comparison.... And yes, by "tried", I mean I went on a taste testing spree.

I licked a mineral block, a salt block and tried a pinch of  both the Techmaster & the Cargill Right Now Onyx loose minerals. Salt block obviously was the saltiest. That mineral block was almost as salty as the pure salt block, with a hint of earthy undertones and my loose minerals were kinda gross (or should I say "very earthly"?)… I could taste a SLIGHT saltiness, but it was barely there… So given that controlled, uber scientific experiment, I have proven that my loose mineral of choice isn't chock full of cheap, filler salts.

True, I also read the labels as well, but the taste testing, IMO, made the whole thing more legit.

Also, a side note… Copper boluses are made of copper OXIDE. I see some folks grabbing bottles of copper SULFATE and just pouring who knows how much into their water troughs, and some who even have fed it via syringe. Do keep in mind that there is such a thing as “Too much of a good thing”. The copper OXIDE rods in the bolus dissolve slowly over a period of MONTHS in the digestive tract of the goat and when used properly, pose no risk of copper toxicity. The copper sulfate CAN be toxic and it is not a gradual release form of copper supplementation....

Anywho, just look how pretty Sabrina is now!

No coarse hair, no coat discoloration, no more hoof issues

.
Before her diet was heavily processed sweet feed in huge amounts (4 1/2+lbs of 16% sticky sweet feed per day), browse, a flake of alfalfa hay, mineral block and grass hay free choice. Here we switched it up a bit.

She now gets 17% protein, Standlee alfalfa pellets, good quality coastal & sudan hay, LOOSE minerals and her grain ration is a 12% protein mix of 2 parts whole oats, 1 part Purina Strategy Healthy Edge horse feed (lower protein, high forage content high fat/calcium feed) top dressed with black oil sunflower seeds or rice bran pellets…..When milking she consumes no more than 3lbs of grain per day (usually 1lb each milking) and last lactation she milked 14lbs at 2 weeks fresh. Plus she maintains great condition. So, in summary, she actually looks better on LESS feed.

The diet is made up of quality forage (alfalfa & hay), proper minerals and minimal grains. I find many folks will buy the poorest quality hay for goats, when in fact, I find my money better spent when I choose the best quality I can afford. Making the bulk of my herd’s diet alfalfa and quality hay enables me to have better production, better condition on a lot less of the concentrates (grain/pelleted rations) Not to mention the overall health of the herd is much, much better. Good forages make for a happy, healthy rumen. Proper minerals improve the overall health.

Sabrina's pregnant belly January 2012. Such a huge difference in overall condition when compared to last year. Kids due January 26th.

Many people think I’m nuts…after all they are “Just goats, they can eat anything” but the proof is in the pudding my friends! Which, BTW, not a clue how this got started, but goats do NOT eat anything, nor should it be considered ok to feed them food stuffs unsuitable for other livestock. They are actually picky eaters, preferring browse to grazing and if you watch them at the hay feeder they are constantly picking through it to find the best bite (which is why I feed alfalfa pellets.. They pick through the alfalfa hay, eat the leaves and waste a ton of stems..No waste with my alfalfa pellets). A horse will consume hay spilled on the ground and walked on, a goat won't unless that's the only thing available....

Anywho....usually the folks who think I'm nuts and advise me to use outdated methods of poor grass hay, lots of heavy sweet feeds and inadequate minerals are those with scraggly looking goats and they are the ones losing does to hypocalcemia every kidding season.

No scraggly looking goats here, and my does receive enough calcium from their alfalfa that I’ve had no losses & no hypocalcemia. Providing proper minerals i.e- copper, has also allowed me to deworm less frequently as well.....

Of course, each person has their own methods. I didn’t invent this stuff folks. I’m blessed to be advised by those who have decades of first hand experience and have been willing to help me out. In turn, I’ve tweaked things to suit my herd’s needs and my budget and all in all, I’m a happy goat owner with healthy goats.

I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again. If you have goats, I strongly urge you to read Joyce Lazzaro's Copper Studies (think I've linked to it enough in this post? lol)..
.
There are some interesting pictures of animals suffering from extreme copper deficiency as well as more in depth info than the brief review I provided.

Good stuff!

I'm Swearing Off Milk!!



Sabrina's milk for a day. Jar on right is 1/2 gallon.

Yup, that’s right folks….. Me, the big milk drinker will be forgoing milk!
Ok, not forever, but at least until the end of January.

After drinking whole, store bought milk for ages, I have become horribly spoiled to fresh, raw, uber healthy, perfect goat’s milk. So have my munchkins…

If you recall our "Dramatic Dairy Dilemma" you originally wouldn’t have thought my kids would have become as attached as I am to our fresh, raw milk, but they have been 100% converted.

Sabrina, my sweet polled Alpine is due to kid January 26th. This means she needed be dried up prior to kidding….

Sabrina with her March twin doelings on an unexpected cold spring morning.

Drying up is a process. There are several opinions on the best way to do this. I’ll share mine, though I promise it’s not the only way to go about this..

Some may think it odd that I’ve been milking Sabrina through her pregnancy, but I’ll explain that.

Some will allow does long, extended dry periods thinking it best to “give them a nice break”. When in fact these long times off do the owner's thought process a lot of good, but not so much for the doe or the long term health of the udder.

Kind of like those owners who put hats on their dogs… Yes, the owner thinks it’s adorable and it’s keeping Fido’s ears warm, but poor Fido wants to eat the stupid hat, vomit it up on your nicest rug and scream at you that he has furred ears for a reason…

As long as the doe is in good condition & maintained well, there is no reason for them to have extended dry periods. When an udder sits dry for long periods it can be harboring mastitis causing bacteria that is not being flushed out of the udder by milking and since the doe is not being milked the owner is often unaware of any issues until the doe freshens again.

So, ideally we keep the girls milking for the first part of the pregnancy and then begin drying up for the last 1-2 months of pregnancy. Does do need to be dried up at least a month or so before kidding again so they can produce colostrum for the new kids.

Now for our drying up process….. Sabrina has always been a great producer… We always got AT LEAST a gallon per day, even though she raised one doeling who stayed with her 24/7 & nursed until she was almost 7 months old. One day, when she was about 2 weeks fresh, we pulled Sabrina’s kids for the day & bottle fed them so I could get an accurate weight on the milk produced in a day without the kids stealing it. That day we got a lil over 14lbs of milk! For reference, 8lbs of milk is roughly one gallon.

Sabrina's udder 8 hours full at 1 month fresh

So… since she has such a great “will to milk” and produced well, I decided a slow process for her drying up… For about a month when I milked I didn’t fully empty her out.. I’d leave about ¼ of the milk in the udder at each milking instead of emptying her. Then I had about 3 weeks of leaving about ½ of the milk each time… This told her body the demand for milk was down, so her production gradually went down as well.

Then we went to once a day milking.. This was a nice change as I only had to milk in the mornings and wasn’t tied down in the evenings to rush home and milk on time. I had only meant to do this for a little while, but ended up milking once a day for a lil over 5 weeks… Liked the combo of fresh milk & less chores.

At the actual time of drying up, I simply stopped milking. I hear folks saying they go out and relieve the udder every 5th day (or whatever schedule) but there is NO NEED to go out and relieve the udder UNLESS she is filling to capacity and is becoming painfully full or is risking leaking. If she reaches that point you need to empty out just enough to relieve the pressure and prevent leaking, but no more.

I see people going out and emptying a few squirts on a doe who is no where near to being uddered up and the only thing this does is prolong the process and tells her body to keep on milking.

Silly 'Brina begging for treats... Her favorite treat being Mountain Dew!

When I decided to dry Sabrina up, the 2 days before I only milked her out less than half way and on the 3rd day I didn’t milk.

Not only did I not milk, I did not put her on the milk stand or do anything that was even close to our milking routine. She still got a bit of grain, but in a feeder in the pen instead of on the stand.

This is because for some does the whole milking process tells her body to let down milk… Sabrina instantly let down the moment she jumped on the stand and since we were drying up, I didn’t want her having any of her “Let’s Milk!” signals.

I did check her udder daily and thankfully it all went smoothly… She never over filled or leaked and now she’s officially “dry”.

I tried an organic cow’s milk from the store… Ick. Tasted the same as the non organic stuff to tell the truth… Watery, seemed thin and was, as my daughter so eloquently put it: "Just Blah."

I went to the health food store and bought a non- homogenized, low heat pasteurized cow’s milk… Not being artificially & mechanically homogenized it at least had the cream on it still, but instead of this smooth cream that’s blended in perfectly with raw goat’s milk, this cream was a big thick chunk that I had to poke at with a spoon in order to let the milk flow through the jar. The actual milk is ok…tolerable, but not fabulous. It is better than the homogenized cow’s milk (both organic & non organic) that I tried, so that’s a plus… For a quick summary on how cow's milk is homogenized click *here*.

Goat’s milk is naturally homogenized and doesn’t have to be artificially & mechanically homogenized like cow’s milk does & it’s so rich, smooth, flavorful & creamy…. Well to be fair, cow's milk doesn't HAVE to be homogenized either, raw cow's milk left in it's natural state is pretty good, but big dairy business doesn't seem to agree with me on that one...

I miss my goat’s milk.
I’m getting a silent protest to the “store bought milk” (which my kids now say that as if it’s a dirty word)..

Before, Tator alone would drink at least a quart of goat’s milk a day… If given a choice of soda (rare), sweet tea, water or goat’s milk at dinner time, they always chose milk. Now they choose tea or water….They sometimes hold out hope, check the fridge for goat’s milk before choosing. I have had the same gallon of store bought milk in my fridge for almost 2 weeks now and less than 1/2 of it is gone…

Ok, I’m done whining (for now anyways)… At least the wait won’t be too awful long.

My mom’s miniature doe, Keys, is due any day now, and Tootsie, the miniature Alpine doe I sold to my mom (who is also Keys' full sister) is due at the end of December. So I’ll go to momma’s, look pitiful, and she’ll send me home with milk to hold me over until Sabrina kids at the end of January.

Not to mention, not only will I soon be back in fresh milk, but I’ll also have baby goats!

I’m stating this publicly so y’all can hold me to it…. No matter how freaking unbelievably cute Sabrina’s kids are, I AM NOT KEEPING ANY OF THEM. So if you see me hinting around or being swayed by the overwhelming cuteness, firmly tell me “No!!”....... I really want a daughter out of Tonka, and since I have to keep my numbers low I can only keep so many. So, this kidding season I’m only planning on retaining a Lamancha doe, no Alpines retained until next year.



See?!?! The urge to keep them is hard to fight!



It's even harder to say no with this munchkin around begging to keep them all!

Thankfully I already have a few folks interested in bottle babies, so my goal is to move them out as fast as possible so I don’t get attached.

In theory this all sounds fabulous… Let’s see how firm my will power is at the end of January....…

Blood, Bone & Bleuberry

Shayla & Bleuberry

As some may have noticed, I’ve been kind of absent from the whole blogging bit….. If you did not notice, do my ego a favor & pretend you noticed my lack of posting!

Been sick, busy and did I mention sick?? Started off with this nasty, deep to the bones ache & complete lack of energy…went away for a week…then came back with what I’m guessing is some upper respiratory junk…coughing, congestion, some fever, aches & snot.


Three weeks later and I’m still coughing like a life long smoker…. I’m way behind on almost everything & I think I’ve scared folks with my haggard, hacking self when I’ve been forced to venture out.

Despite all of that, here I sit, alternating typing and coughing…feeling quite pleased with my multitasking this evening. Going to do my best to catch up my blog….

ANYWHO, I’m obviously side tracking myself, so I’ll get on to the subject of the title..

In the midst of the worse part of my sick I was in rough shape…. Just making it out to the pens to feed was a struggle so I altered my milking schedule so I wouldn’t be due at the barn until 10am or so…

One lovely morning I finally manage to wobble out to the barn, milk Sabrina, fed the milk to the chickens (too tired & gross to be my typical uber sterile self) & was about to go toss myself in bed when half way to the house it dawned on me that Bleuberry, one of my Alpine does who never, EVER misses so much as a scrap of hay, did not greet me (read mob me) at the gate.

I stood there on the porch in the remains of my Nyquil induced fog & considered chalking it up to the ever constant antics concocted by goats to drive you insane, but thought better of it and went back out… I swear the walk to the barn felt like 2 miles…..

I cussed Bleuberry the whole entire walk, just knowing that as soon as I got out there, she’d be bounding around, smug with satisfaction of making me put out extra effort on her behalf.

Well, I do admit, profanity was the first bit out of my mouth when I saw her….. She stood in the back corner of the barn, leaning on the wall, head hanging and her entire body shaking violently. …Pools of blood were visible on the floor and she had a nasty leg cut…




Cut after 1st cleaning. It extends down & around another few inches under the bloody area shown



Cut was on her rear leg, about 7 inches long, straight down the front…cut so bad the bone itself was visible and even had a gouge on the bone!! Looked like someone took a potato peeler to her leg in an attempt to leave nothing behind but bone! The cut was shaped like a shallow backwards “C” with flesh from the top & sides puddled in the center instead of firmly attached in their proper places….I couldn’t get the lower half of the cut to show in the pictures, so you’ll just have to use your imagination on that…..

Ran in to get supplies, washed with Triodine 7 & tried to put the flesh back in place, but it just kept sliding down the leg making this grotesque lil puddle…

Stitches were definitely needed, and I would have happily stitched her up, but the wound must have occurred late in the night or very early in the morning as the flesh had already shrunken… Despite my best efforts I couldn’t cover the entire area with the missing flesh as it had shrunk so much…

In the midst of this I realize I’ve made unnecessary trouble for myself….. Something as simple as a CD/T Toxoid Vaccine would have saved me a mad dash into town…Typically I’m very good about giving the vaccine, and the booster 21 days later every year (booster is essential to seal immunity)…This year, I didn’t get around to it…So not only did I have the drama of this nasty wound, I had tetanus to worry about too!

Ran into town (40 minutes away) and got the much needed Tetanus Antitoxin….something every goat owner should have on hand for emergencies as it provides instant, short term protection against tetanus… So my goat friends who read this, go NOW, make sure you have the antitoxin on hand, and better yet, make sure your CD/T’s are current!!

Before leaving I cleaned it as best as possible, locked her up alone and gave her a nice shot of Banamine to help ease the pain…..Banamine is another essential for your goat medicine cabinet. It eases pain, reduces inflammation/fever and in really sick goats, it can ease their suffering enough to allow them to eat, thus keeping that ever important rumen functioning properly.

Came home, got the Tetanus Antitoxin in her and then sat with a new dilemma… I’m sick and wobbly…Bleuberry is a big girl…taped at 165lbs and she’s in pain. I have no help…

I drag my big metal milk stand through two gates and into the lil pen I have her in, then lift her, one half at a time to get her on the stand…then get crushed against the wall in her attempt to get away while I was trying to hold her head in the head gate and lock it.

I confess….in the middle of this struggle, I contemplated goat BBQ…only for a split second, but I seriously didn’t feel up to this.

Washed her as she alternated between panicked shaking and frenzied fighting. I had to pull the piled flesh back and flush it as it was a real nasty mess….This chore earned me a kick to the shoulder and one square in the chest which knocked the wind right out of me…. As I laid flat on my back in the dirt, goat manure and other unknowns gasping for air I once again thought of goat BBQ….. But I had to remind myself that Bleu is such a sweetie (generally) and my best quality Alpine so she could not become BBQ, no matter how bad, at that very moment, I wished I wasn’t dealing with this mess…..




A very stressed out Bleu resting after our doctoring ordeal


I got it done though….. Once flushed well, I sprayed down with Vetericyn VF (GREAT stuff BTW) and then packed EMT Gel under the flesh, pulled the flesh back in place as best I could then coated the rest in EMT Gel…. Applied a non stick gauze coated in EMT Gel….. Took 4 gauzes before I finally got one on her that she didn’t kick off…Then taped it down and wrapped in pretty pink Vet wrap…. Let me tell ya, trying to get the wrap on properly, without disturbing the gauze underneath, with one hand was quite the adventure, but when all was said and done I was THRILLED…




Bleuberry rockin' her new bandage


Yes, I am woman, hear me roar! I triumphed over goat, blood, ick and sick.

Banamine was such a huge help…. Once it kicked in she finally started nibbling her hay, where as before she wouldn’t even touch grain. We topped this off by stabbing her with a shot of Biomycin (antibiotic) & Bo-Se (to help boost her immune system).

We went through the cleaning, redressing, shot of Biomycin & Banamine in the evenings and eventually when she saw me coming with my “Bag O’ Tortures” she tried to stay as far away as possible… Poor gal. Future dressings were much less dramatic, thanks to my helpful hubby…He’s a great assistant.

Bleuberry warily watching as I approach with my "Bog O' Tortures"

Now, she’s barely got a limp and I’m beyond pleased with the looks of the wound. I swear by EMT Gel… I’ve used it on dogs, horses, sore, raw hocks on bunnies and now Blueberry…kind of pricey, but worth every single penny!!! Here is a picture of the wound now….No signs of infection, no swelling, and the white you see is where it’s healing over the exposed bone where I didn’t have enough flesh left to pull over it. That white bit looks like it’s a slimey coating or something, but it’s actually got the texture of firm skin….The flesh puddle (like my sophisticated medical terminology?) is firmly attached, and the open areas on the outside of the wound are getting noticeably smaller with each redressing (which we redo every 4-6 days now)..




Bleu's healing leg 13 days after injury

Front view of Bleu's healing leg



Just keeping it wrapped now to protect it from the awful plague of flies we’ve been dealing with here lately and once there is no longer an open area, I’ll leave it unwrapped...below is the most recent shot of her leg & I'm so thrilled with the progress... Once it's time to change this bandage I think I'm going to leave it unwrapped.




Looking good!

 I don’t even think it’s going to scar as bad as I originally thought.

The Newest Earless Wonders of Noodleville

Not too long ago I posted a blog about being trapped in my barn and as an after thought tossed in info and pictures about my sweet Lamancha boy, "Tonka".

Yes, I know his earlessness is repulsive to some. My husband swears he's the ugliest thing on 4 legs.

I happen to disagree. I think he's simply adorable. He has the sweetest, goofiest disposition and is such a clown.

I had plans to add a doe for him...as mentioned in my recent "Hay Fairy" blog post, it would be such a shame for Tonka to be the only earless goat, and a virgin to boot! Can you just imagine how much hell he'd catch from the other boys?

That intention of adding a doe turned into adding TWO does (got a 2 for 1 deal that I simply could not pass up).

So, please meet my newest girls, Casper & Comanche. They are half sisters, same sire, different dams...Casper is a March 2011 baby, Comanche an April 2011 baby.

                                                  Aren't they just adorable?!?!

Both girl's have been dam raised and are a little bit timid, but I'm confident that a lil time and treats will have them won over.

Comanche, the youngest, is the bravest and was the first to approach us. She is an American Lamancha and though the pictures don't show it well, she's very dainty looking and has the prettiest dished face and big eyes. I have a feeling she's going to become the kids favorite thanks to her brave disposition.

Comanche



Casper


Casper is the older of the two and isn't as easily swayed as her sister.

Last night she wanted nothing more than to stay far away, but this morning she did come stand beside me and nose me a bit so she'll come around in time.....They haven't been with me for even an entire day yet, so the shyness and bewilderment of their new surroundings will pass as they settle in.

Casper is a PB Lamncha and is very well grown for her age (taller than my Alpine kid who is the same age).


Casper & Comanche




Casper chowing down on alfalfa pellets


I'm really excited to have these girls and am looking forward to amazingly adorable Lamancha babies late Spring.

Not to mention, that will, give me two more girls to milk..

Lamanchas, on average have nice level lactations and produce very rich, creamy milk.. They are only slightly behind the butterfat production of the average Nubian, and in general they produce more butterfat than my Alpines.

Not to mention I've noticed my Lamancha tolerates this horrible West Texas heat far better than my Alpines do, so I think Lamanchas are a perfect match for us.

Comanche enjoying her alfalfa pellets


I'm very happy with the condition these girls arrived in and the care the breeder gave was top notch. She stayed on top of coccidia prevention (hence the nice growth these girls have had), and used proper dewormers on the correct schedule..

All in all I think the breeder was great, very helpful, very professional, allowed me to test them for CAE prior to purchase.






I started this goat adventure with the Miniature Alpines....then added standard Alpines, and now Lamanchas.

Through all of this I've learned quite a bit. I started my herd with tested, CAE negative stock but in the begining I didn't know exactly what else to look for. Thanks to some dear friends and mentors I've got a better handle on what a quality dairy goat should look like, what to look for and what traits are undesireable.

Nothing I have is perfect, but I'm happy to say that with each purchase I've "bought smarter" and have gradually added better quality. I've found what I like, and don't like and I think I've figured out what direction I want to go in this endevor.

I have no intentions to show, but I want to produce quality, disease free goats that milk well. Shayla really wants to show, she's been going on and on about for a few weeks now and she is quite heartbroken that she's not old enough yet (she's 6 & she has to be 8 to join 4H) but I hope to produce goats that she will be able to proudly show and at least do well with in our local shows. 

I no longer have Miniature Alpines.... I find I prefer longer legged, taller gals on the milk stand, easier for me to milk. So Tootsie, Keys & Ella have gone to my mom's and Houston will go soon as well.

Lilly, Sabrina's girl is being sold to a dear friend of mine to be a future home milker. It was a hard decision, but I simply can't afford to keep everything, and I'm very happy with her future home.....she'll be a spoiled mess I'm sure.

With Lilly gone that will leave me the Alpine trio & the Lamancha trio. I plan on retaining a Lamancha doe this kidding season, but have no plans to retain any Alpines as I only have room to expand so far and I've chosen to expand my Lamanchas.

At the moment I have Casper & Comanche in a 40ft x 10ft corral. This keeps them separate from the others so they can settle in without getting caught up in dominance games and this also makes them easier for us to catch & handle. We'll probably keep them separate for the first month at least, then we'll test the waters and see how they do with the others.

Lilly has just been bursting with curiousity, and I find it quite funny that she, like Sam when Tonka came home, is facinated (or perhaps confused) by the girl's ears (or lack of) Any time she's able to sniff them, she's bumping their tiny ears as if she's trying to figure out the new oddity...

Lilly meets Casper...Casper isn't impressed..