Tuesday, May 30, 2017
Castrating and Lice
Treated everyone for sucking and biting lice with permethrin 10 - 1.5cc for adults, .75cc for kids. We also castrated all of the boys. They were pretty late (2 months +) but we were able to use the traditional emasculator and green cheerios. Glad those things are done.
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
Bottle Feeding Schedule
Here is the schedule that Fiasco Farms uses.
Use the chart above for info on offering hay, grain, etc.
Use the chart above for info on offering hay, grain, etc.
- Day one- 6 oz. (per feeding) colostrum, every 4 hours.
- Day two- 8 oz. (per feeding) colostrum/whole milk, 4 times a day
- Day three- 10 oz. (per feeding) colostrum/whole milk, 4 times a day
- Day four- 10-12 oz. (per feeding) colostrum/whole milk, 4 times a day.
- For the next week- 10-12 oz. (per feeding) 4 times a day.
- For the next 2 months- 10-12 oz. (per feeding) 3 times a day.
- For the next 1 month- 10-12 oz. (per feeding) 2 times a day.
- 10-12 oz. (per feeding) once a day for two weeks.
Sunday, September 18, 2016
Goose Poop
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.
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.
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
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