Farm
It is amazing how "not knowing what you don't know" makes you brave enough to do things you would never otherwise do, or at least not without a lot more planning. We first got goats right after moving into a rental property. I had dreamed of goats for years, and we were all so excited! At the time it was late December and it is not a time of year that a lot of livestock is being sold, so I knew I was lucky when I found Petunia for sale. She came with Vanilli, the white "sheep" goat (Pygora), and our adventure into goats was born. We built some pens in the back of Josh’s work van which at the time was a 15 passenger van with the back seats out, and drove 1 ½ hrs to pick them up. I let the kids take them on leads and walk them around in the field to get used to the space. The first day was great. The second day, I got a frantic phone call from Josh at work (it was naturally a Sunday) that the goats were terribly ill and he wasn’t sure they would live. Naturally, having owned goats for less than 72 hours, I wasn’t about to let them die. I had him call the emergency vet for a farm visit. Over the course of the next 3 days, we got an education about Rhododendron poisoning and goats. Petunia pulled out of it fairly quickly, but by the second day I could not get Vanilli up without a lot of prodding. He was laying there with his eyes half open, foaming at the mouth, intermittently attempting to vomit/dry heave, and grinding his teeth. He was nearly at death’s door. Frantic, the kids and I managed to get him into the back of our SUV and take him to the vet where was admitted to the veterinary hospital for overnight treatment. I do think he would have died otherwise. $1500 poorer, and wiser, we found the offending rhododendron in the burn pile that had been left in the field by the previous tenants. In the pouring rain we worked to get all of it burned out. After that, we were very invested in goats. Here is 7 things I learned from this experience:
2. Know the poisonous plants in your area. Not all plants are poisonous to all animals. Know the difference and what is common in your area. Believe me, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Your animals and your pocket book will thank you. 3. Keep your vet on speed dial. Not all vets are knowledgeable about goats. A lot of vets lump them in with other ruminants, when there are some significant key differences in goats. A good vet is an invaluable resource. Our vet office has 2 doctors who are knowledgeable about goats. They have helped us several times. Develop a repoire with your vet. If you don’t have any good goat vets in your area, there are educational Facebook pages you can join as well as tons of info on the internet, but none of that makes up for having a good vet on your team. 4. Keep emergency medical supplies on hand and know how to use them. If I had activated charcoal and milk of magnesia, and the knowledge of how to tube and drench goats, we may have been able to treat this issue at least in 1 of the goats without expensive vet bills. The best recipe I have seen for poisoning is 1 table spoon of activated charcoal mixed into a slurry and drenched. Then in about an hour, give milk of magnesia. Repeat every 4 hours until improved. 5. Goats, like all living things, need to keep their electrolytes in balance and some molasses water with electrolytes and b vitamins can help this, but equally importantly, goats need to keep their rumens going, otherwise they may suffer acidosis and die. A goat primarily needs good probiotic bacteria (we use this one) long stemmed grass hay, and healthy browse like blackberry stems/leaves, in order to keep their rumen healthy. Our vet advised we continue to offer free choice hay, but not offer any other feed, grain, or alfalfa. 6. Pain control is paramount. If we had not treated the pain, I believe Vanilli and possibly Petunia too may have died. Goats don’t do pain (or water, but that is a story for a different day). Pain can cause rumen shut down, which is life threatening in a goat. Thankfully the doctor gave me some doses of banamine, a pain medicine to give which helped considerably. 7. Don’t kick yourself. Goats are like two year old human kids. They are constantly into everything. If there is a thing that is bad for them to eat, they will find it. If there is a way to escape they will also find that. Even if you do everything right, you may still end up with a sick goat. Things happen. This is how we learn.
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This was our first birthing of baby goats. I read every blog post and expert opinion on what to have available at birth! We were SO prepared! But naturally, true to the doe code, when Petunia went into labor, it was a day I was working. My boss frowns upon people calling in with pet or livestock concerns, so I got everything set up and ready, then had to go. Luckily Emma had watched many birthing videos with me, and we had good friends who were willing to come over to be the more experienced birth coaches. But as it turned out, Petunia didn't really need us. As a first freshener, you never really know what to expect. I white knuckled it through my work day, and snuck off every hour for updates. According to all the attendants, Petunia was doing well, but it is hard not to be there in person! Finally, it was time for me to go home, and right as I was getting ready to leave, I got the message! "She's starting to push!" I got home as fast as I could, but by the time I got there, she had delivered all three with minimal assistance! She had a girl and then a boy, then when everyone thought she was done, Emma said, "I think I see feet!" Sure enough, Petunia had one more little girl, giving us a lovely set of triplets. She got right to work cleaning them up, but she licked their little backs clean over and over without cleaning and drying the rest of their bodies. With the cold air and their big ears giving large blood vessel exposure to the air, they chilled quickly. When I noticed that one of them was starting to seem less active, and I put my fingers in her mouth and the inside of her mouth felt cool, I knew we had a problem. We got extra towels and the blow dryer, and then one by one we blow dried the babies the rest of the way off. After that they were spunky again. They all started to try for the udder. Instinct is pretty stinkin amazing! Petunia was so intent on licking them, that every time they would move from under her nose to try to get to the udder, she would move so that she could lick them again. Finally by holding her in place, the babies were able to find their way to her udder to nurse. Once we were sure everyone was dry and we witnessed all the babies had eaten well, we felt comfortable leaving them. I got up twice in the night to check them and make sure everyone was staying warm and getting colostrum. They all did awesome! It was a great first birth experience! |
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September 2020
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