Did you know that a single goose can poop up to three pounds a day? They can. And mine have chosen to poop on the back deck. So three pounds times six geese means eighteen pounds of poop on my deck every day. It's just too much.
Due to their overactive pooping, I have decided to reduce the number of geese I have. The guy I got them from is willing to take them back (since I never paid him anyway). He's also going to take two of the three babies. He's going to butcher them - which is what I would do if I had a plucker. I'm keeping Violet the Toulouse goose and one of her babies - hopefully a female. That will bring the poop level down to six pounds a day which still sounds like too much. I may have to get rid of all of them.
UPDATE: I decided to get rid of all six geese. My friend promised he'd find Violet a nice home.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Advice on Sick Goats
Years ago Sue Rieth, BI, lady with immeasurable goat knowledge told me to treat these colds with selenium injections, the vitamin B carrier was an important part of it she gave like 3 injections a week for the first week and then it I don't know it was a lot I know you can overdose selenium you might try the vitamin B complex way more than you think necessary but she did it for like a month maybe daily the first week if you just have vitamin B three times a week the next week and then weekly for 3 more weeks or something like that.
***
Before Fair: Not sure what all of your goats caught, but if it was a respiratory thing what I treat with prior to bringing any of my goats to a show is Inforce 3.
***
It won't help you now, however, we have found that coccidiosis quite often turns into an enterotoxemia problem in an older goat. Any time we have an older goat kid or an adult start to scour and we find that they have a high cocci fecal count, we treat the cocci with Toltrazuril, Biosponge, and Gentamyacin (antibiotic - oral) and then also give a shot of CD&T anti-toxin (NOT the toxiod) for possible entertoxemia if it does't resolve with the cocci treatment.
***
Before Fair: Not sure what all of your goats caught, but if it was a respiratory thing what I treat with prior to bringing any of my goats to a show is Inforce 3.
***
It won't help you now, however, we have found that coccidiosis quite often turns into an enterotoxemia problem in an older goat. Any time we have an older goat kid or an adult start to scour and we find that they have a high cocci fecal count, we treat the cocci with Toltrazuril, Biosponge, and Gentamyacin (antibiotic - oral) and then also give a shot of CD&T anti-toxin (NOT the toxiod) for possible entertoxemia if it does't resolve with the cocci treatment.
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Goodbye Lilo
I had to make the decision today. I went to the barn and Lilo couldn't get up. She made a grunting welcome sound, tried to rise, and then fell back. I told her it was ok...she didn't need to get up on my account. I went back into the house and got a pan full of warm molasses water and a blanket.
She drank the water greedily and stopped shivvering as I placed the down covers over her back. But she was couching and grinding her teeth, her eyes closed to the world around her. She moved her head toward my chest and rested it there.
I sat for a long time just rubbing her cheeks. She let her head sag and she leaned into me some more. I told her it was ok. I understood.
I got up and called the only person I could think of - our butcher. Joe told me that he'd be there as soon as possible. I spent the next hour crying, talking to friends, and wandering the property. I eventually ended up back with Lilo. She was the same as when I had left her. She sat with her eyes closed, her nose full of snot, her teeth grinding, and her body shaking. I could see that she had been having diarrhea but was too weak to get up when she went.
I went out to the gate to meet Joe. He came back to the barn the way he always has, with his short 22 in his hand and a purpose in his step. We opened the barn door to find Lilo a few feet from where I left her.
He walked up to her and asked if she were the one. I said yes and began to explain. I had just enough time to cover my ears when the shot went through her head. She slipped further down the wall and shook. I shook with her. I have seen many animals go through this process. We have always told the boys that the shakes and twitches are the energy leaving the animal's body. But thinking about it now, Lilo's spirit left her the minute that bullet hit her head. The twitches were nothing but a body.
And that's how Joe treated it. Now, I am not faulting him. I called him because I knew that he could do something that I couldn't do. He could shoot her and deal with her body in a way that I couldn't. But I wasn't prepared to watch him drag her out of the barn, her head trailing behind, and then curl her up into a blue barrel. She looked so small in the bottom of that barrel. And as I closed the gate behind the truck, I whispered "Goodbye Lilo."
She drank the water greedily and stopped shivvering as I placed the down covers over her back. But she was couching and grinding her teeth, her eyes closed to the world around her. She moved her head toward my chest and rested it there.
I sat for a long time just rubbing her cheeks. She let her head sag and she leaned into me some more. I told her it was ok. I understood.
I got up and called the only person I could think of - our butcher. Joe told me that he'd be there as soon as possible. I spent the next hour crying, talking to friends, and wandering the property. I eventually ended up back with Lilo. She was the same as when I had left her. She sat with her eyes closed, her nose full of snot, her teeth grinding, and her body shaking. I could see that she had been having diarrhea but was too weak to get up when she went.
I went out to the gate to meet Joe. He came back to the barn the way he always has, with his short 22 in his hand and a purpose in his step. We opened the barn door to find Lilo a few feet from where I left her.
He walked up to her and asked if she were the one. I said yes and began to explain. I had just enough time to cover my ears when the shot went through her head. She slipped further down the wall and shook. I shook with her. I have seen many animals go through this process. We have always told the boys that the shakes and twitches are the energy leaving the animal's body. But thinking about it now, Lilo's spirit left her the minute that bullet hit her head. The twitches were nothing but a body.
And that's how Joe treated it. Now, I am not faulting him. I called him because I knew that he could do something that I couldn't do. He could shoot her and deal with her body in a way that I couldn't. But I wasn't prepared to watch him drag her out of the barn, her head trailing behind, and then curl her up into a blue barrel. She looked so small in the bottom of that barrel. And as I closed the gate behind the truck, I whispered "Goodbye Lilo."
Monday, September 5, 2016
Very Sick Goat
Lilo is looking worse today than yesterday. She has extreme diarrhea to the point that her tail and legs are covered in it. She is still eating, but that's about the only positive thing I can say about her condition.
I don't know at what point you decide that a goat is suffering too much to save. We are only on day two of CoRid, but I don't know if that will be enough for her to bounce back from this. And as much as I love her, if she isn't healthy, she isn't useful in the herd. At this point, I'm not sure that I will ever breed her or Asha again. So then what do I do with them?
J says to butcher. That's what a lot of farmers do with their older livestock. It is another way to keep things from going to waste. If we just euthanize her, it does nobody any good. But I don't think I could eat Lilo even if I wanted to. And at this point, giving her CoRid means that she cannot be butchered for at least 24 hours.
So do I call the vet and have her put down? Do I call the butcher and see if he would be willing to put her down for a kill fee? Do I have the neighbor come over and do it? Or do I wait, hoping that she will get better; hoping that she will not infect everyone else; hoping that she isn't suffering?
I don't know at what point you decide that a goat is suffering too much to save. We are only on day two of CoRid, but I don't know if that will be enough for her to bounce back from this. And as much as I love her, if she isn't healthy, she isn't useful in the herd. At this point, I'm not sure that I will ever breed her or Asha again. So then what do I do with them?
J says to butcher. That's what a lot of farmers do with their older livestock. It is another way to keep things from going to waste. If we just euthanize her, it does nobody any good. But I don't think I could eat Lilo even if I wanted to. And at this point, giving her CoRid means that she cannot be butchered for at least 24 hours.
So do I call the vet and have her put down? Do I call the butcher and see if he would be willing to put her down for a kill fee? Do I have the neighbor come over and do it? Or do I wait, hoping that she will get better; hoping that she will not infect everyone else; hoping that she isn't suffering?
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Sick Lilo
Lilo hasn't really been great ever since the green bloat. She continued to cough on occasion and just didn't look like she felt very good. But in the last week, she has gone downhill fast.
She is very thin, her fur is coarse and curly, and she has clumpy poop. Z said he saw her fall down yesterday. Asha has the same symptoms only not quite as bad.
We started a round of CoRid to treat cocci. My first thought is that is what is persisting underneath anything else. Lilo certainly caught a cold from the girls who came back from fair, but I don't want to shock her system. 24cc of CoRid for all the adult does. I'm not concerned about Fool's Gold, he looks perfectly healthy.
One reason I think we may be fighting cocci is the feeding situation. The goat feeder has lost a board and the girls continually pull the hay out onto the ground. In addition, the chickens have decided that the goat feeder is a good roost at night. There is always poop in the bottom of the feeder. Chickens have cocci too so I'm wondering if they are contaminating the hay as well.
I am going to follow through with five days of CoRid to see if we can get these girls feeling better. After that, I'm going to worm everyone and then update their CD & T. I know I've been lax with their vaccinations. I've felt like since we've kept a closed herd for the most part, that we didn't need to vaccinate. I'm thinking maybe that is a mistake. We will do Covexin 8 soon and then follow up with a booster in six weeks.
Hopefully everyone will be feeling better soon. I would like to breed the girls now, but I'm not going to be able to do that until everyone is feeling better. For now, I will only breed Buttercup, Tumbleweed, and Anna.
She is very thin, her fur is coarse and curly, and she has clumpy poop. Z said he saw her fall down yesterday. Asha has the same symptoms only not quite as bad.
We started a round of CoRid to treat cocci. My first thought is that is what is persisting underneath anything else. Lilo certainly caught a cold from the girls who came back from fair, but I don't want to shock her system. 24cc of CoRid for all the adult does. I'm not concerned about Fool's Gold, he looks perfectly healthy.
One reason I think we may be fighting cocci is the feeding situation. The goat feeder has lost a board and the girls continually pull the hay out onto the ground. In addition, the chickens have decided that the goat feeder is a good roost at night. There is always poop in the bottom of the feeder. Chickens have cocci too so I'm wondering if they are contaminating the hay as well.
I am going to follow through with five days of CoRid to see if we can get these girls feeling better. After that, I'm going to worm everyone and then update their CD & T. I know I've been lax with their vaccinations. I've felt like since we've kept a closed herd for the most part, that we didn't need to vaccinate. I'm thinking maybe that is a mistake. We will do Covexin 8 soon and then follow up with a booster in six weeks.
Hopefully everyone will be feeling better soon. I would like to breed the girls now, but I'm not going to be able to do that until everyone is feeling better. For now, I will only breed Buttercup, Tumbleweed, and Anna.
Recap of the Last Year
Ok. So I've been completely lax in writing on the blog. My goal is to be more current with this blog as it is a great help to me when I'm looking back on things.
Here's what happened over the last year. In September 2015, we found a place to move into that had enough room for everyone. It is five acres, with a barn and a shop. The goats are loving it, the chickens don't have a coop right now, but we're working on it. And the dogs love having all the space to run around. The entire property is fenced so we can actually let them run.
All of my does kidded early in 2016. Anna was the first on January 1st. She had twins and they both were very healthy - Elsa and Olaf.
Tumbleweed kidded on January 22nd with triplets - Juniper, Tulip and baby 3. They were all completely formed, but we lost one of them in the birth. I think Tumbles was so busy with the first two that she didn't get to the third on in time to clear the amniotic sac from her nose. Two weeks later, we lost another one of her babies when it jumped into the horse trough and drowned. I have never had that problem before but we will be filling all of the troughs with cinder blocks from now on.
Lilo kidded on Valentine's Day. She had twins - Bow and Arrow. They were small but well formed.
Asha was the last to kid. She was bred by Fool's Gold - our Boer buck. She had a single - Fin. I'm not sure exactly what the date was as I didn't write it down in my calendar, but it was the end of February. Fin was the first cross bred kid...very big and beautiful.
All the babies grew well. Kobi chose Juniper as his market goat, but he got cocci and was down for a bit. It stunted his growth and Kobi chose to work with Elsa instead. Marli chose to work with Fin and Zayne chose to work with Olaf.
Mid-spring, we sold Bow and Arrow to a gentleman for butcher. It was a stretch to get them up to 60 lbs. We started using a creep feeder with all of the babies, keeping it full all the time.
Beginning of summer, we sold Freestyle - our Alpine buck. We decided that having an Alpine didn't fit with our overall herd plan. We really have been focusing more on meat babies and Freestyle didn't help with that at all. I sold him for a song.
We prepared for fair, fighting to get everyone up to weight. We fed Dairy 16 and alfalfa pellets free choice to all of the babies, but they just didn't grow as well as we wanted. In the end, Kobi's goat came in at 72lbs - 3lbs shy for auction weight...again. Marli's goat came in largest at 90 and Zayne came in at 81. Both boys did very well in auction - fetching $5 and $5.50 per pound respectively.
Oh..we had a strange problem with frothy green bloat. The goats were out of their pen for the night and the next day both Asha and Lilo were sick. J said they were throwing up, but we all know that goats cannot throw up. They were actually slinging their cud, which looks a lot like throwing up. Two days of frothy green mouths and very unhappy girls. They would cough up their cud and throw their heads around, flinging the green cud everywhere. We gave them vegetable oil to help break up the gas in their rumens. It seemed to help but it was slow. Afterward, Lilo continued to cough every once in awhile.
I put in a vegetable garden but it wasn't very productive. There was a lot of grass in the yard and I didn't keep up with weeding. The ground was deplete of any nutrients and nothing but the potatoes grew very well. I plan on covering everything with black plastic this winter and see if we can kill the weeds. Either that or bring in raised beds. The only thing I don't like about the idea of raised beds is not being able to till. But I suppose if I have great soil, I can just plant overwinter crops and then remove them in the spring when I'm ready to plant. I got more from the 3ft by 12ft garden I had that was done as a square foot garden than I did out of this 24 ft by 24 ft garden.
We lost our bunny - Captain America - to heat stroke this summer. We had given Black Bear to a friend for her daughter. M wasn't spending as much time with them and we thought it might be time to get rid of the rabbits altogether. I think that there might have been some lack of care that went into his death, but nonetheless, M was crushed.
And last but not least, after fair we came home with a new goat to add to the herd - even though we have been downsizing the herd. J is in Guam so he didn't have anything to say about it. Her name is Buttercup. She is two or three years old and a purebred Boer. She does have horns which was my only concern. But she is proven and we hope that she will give us some great babies for fair next year. We put her in to the pen with Fool's Gold today to start the breeding process. We are waiting with the other girls - next post will explain.
Here's what happened over the last year. In September 2015, we found a place to move into that had enough room for everyone. It is five acres, with a barn and a shop. The goats are loving it, the chickens don't have a coop right now, but we're working on it. And the dogs love having all the space to run around. The entire property is fenced so we can actually let them run.
All of my does kidded early in 2016. Anna was the first on January 1st. She had twins and they both were very healthy - Elsa and Olaf.
Tumbleweed kidded on January 22nd with triplets - Juniper, Tulip and baby 3. They were all completely formed, but we lost one of them in the birth. I think Tumbles was so busy with the first two that she didn't get to the third on in time to clear the amniotic sac from her nose. Two weeks later, we lost another one of her babies when it jumped into the horse trough and drowned. I have never had that problem before but we will be filling all of the troughs with cinder blocks from now on.
Lilo kidded on Valentine's Day. She had twins - Bow and Arrow. They were small but well formed.
Asha was the last to kid. She was bred by Fool's Gold - our Boer buck. She had a single - Fin. I'm not sure exactly what the date was as I didn't write it down in my calendar, but it was the end of February. Fin was the first cross bred kid...very big and beautiful.
All the babies grew well. Kobi chose Juniper as his market goat, but he got cocci and was down for a bit. It stunted his growth and Kobi chose to work with Elsa instead. Marli chose to work with Fin and Zayne chose to work with Olaf.
Mid-spring, we sold Bow and Arrow to a gentleman for butcher. It was a stretch to get them up to 60 lbs. We started using a creep feeder with all of the babies, keeping it full all the time.
Beginning of summer, we sold Freestyle - our Alpine buck. We decided that having an Alpine didn't fit with our overall herd plan. We really have been focusing more on meat babies and Freestyle didn't help with that at all. I sold him for a song.
We prepared for fair, fighting to get everyone up to weight. We fed Dairy 16 and alfalfa pellets free choice to all of the babies, but they just didn't grow as well as we wanted. In the end, Kobi's goat came in at 72lbs - 3lbs shy for auction weight...again. Marli's goat came in largest at 90 and Zayne came in at 81. Both boys did very well in auction - fetching $5 and $5.50 per pound respectively.
Oh..we had a strange problem with frothy green bloat. The goats were out of their pen for the night and the next day both Asha and Lilo were sick. J said they were throwing up, but we all know that goats cannot throw up. They were actually slinging their cud, which looks a lot like throwing up. Two days of frothy green mouths and very unhappy girls. They would cough up their cud and throw their heads around, flinging the green cud everywhere. We gave them vegetable oil to help break up the gas in their rumens. It seemed to help but it was slow. Afterward, Lilo continued to cough every once in awhile.
I put in a vegetable garden but it wasn't very productive. There was a lot of grass in the yard and I didn't keep up with weeding. The ground was deplete of any nutrients and nothing but the potatoes grew very well. I plan on covering everything with black plastic this winter and see if we can kill the weeds. Either that or bring in raised beds. The only thing I don't like about the idea of raised beds is not being able to till. But I suppose if I have great soil, I can just plant overwinter crops and then remove them in the spring when I'm ready to plant. I got more from the 3ft by 12ft garden I had that was done as a square foot garden than I did out of this 24 ft by 24 ft garden.
We lost our bunny - Captain America - to heat stroke this summer. We had given Black Bear to a friend for her daughter. M wasn't spending as much time with them and we thought it might be time to get rid of the rabbits altogether. I think that there might have been some lack of care that went into his death, but nonetheless, M was crushed.
And last but not least, after fair we came home with a new goat to add to the herd - even though we have been downsizing the herd. J is in Guam so he didn't have anything to say about it. Her name is Buttercup. She is two or three years old and a purebred Boer. She does have horns which was my only concern. But she is proven and we hope that she will give us some great babies for fair next year. We put her in to the pen with Fool's Gold today to start the breeding process. We are waiting with the other girls - next post will explain.
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