Caprine Calamaties

Our trouble with goats continues. Last year the worst problems we had were the girls knocking heads and getting cut on their scurs. This year the problems seem nearly endless.

Savannah has an infection in her udder - mastitis. We are currently treating it very aggressively. Many times we treat a goat that isn't feeling well with a more holistic and supportive approach and they are able to get back on their feet by the next day like nothing happened. But we are going full Western medicine on Savannah since she has been so sick. She has gotten shots of antibiotics and a different antibiotic infused in her udder. She has had a fever for almost a week but it looks like it might finally have broken...just in time for her twin Shelli to come down with similar symptoms. This time we aren't waiting the lengthy 4 days to get the lab results back and are treating it as if it's the same infection. Shelli's fever is already down. I think we caught it very early. But a sick goat is truly a sad thing to see - their normally perky ears hang limply on the side of their head, they mope around and their rumen becomes less active making them look like they've lost 20 pounds overnight.

(by the way, we never use the milk of a goat that appears to be sick or is on medication)

But that's not all. The two boys who were castrated last week still at like they are in terrible pain and won't come anywhere near me - though they frolic right up to Dale. Guess they recall exactly who put those rubber bands around their 'equipment' (and they've apparently been gossiping - the other two intact boys are also afraid of me now!). But they will get over it eventually.

And then on Saturday 3 of the kids got the runs. This can be very serious in goats. We quickly gave them the medication for the worst of the causes since we'd rather be safe than sorry. They do appear to be getting better now. But it was rough for awhile. And let me tell you, trying to squirt bad tasting medicine in the mouths of 9 kid goats that don't want it, can be quite difficult!

Little Lily was spared the intestinal upset.


Lastly there was a freak accident on Sunday. Dale was taking some people to see the kids when he noticed that Lark looked to be stuck in the hay manager. Thistle, arguably the stupidest goat in Texas, gets his head "stuck" regularly. It's not really stuck - there's plenty of room for him to get his head out. He just doesn't know that. We have to help guide his head back so he can be free. But Lark hadn't done this before. He suddenly pulled back and was free....but there was a wire sticking out of his eye!!! By the time Dale caught him, Pops had come to fetch me to help. The wire had fallen out on its own but it was obvious that it had gone through both his upper and lower eyelid. Somehow his eye completely avoided damage. And when I say "wire" I don't mean something thin like a coat hanger - think more like USB cable (hey, it's the only thing in my field of view that fits!). We cleaned the wound and gave him an anti-inflammatory and painkiller...and hoped. It did swell, but it was already reduced by the next day and he is acting perfectly fine. Whew.

But what's in store for us next week?!?! I can't even imagine...