Treating the Feet

We've had a lot of rain this year.  So much so that we have become accustomed to mud even more so than we normally are.  Just a big mess!  The past couple of weeks it really dried out.  It was timely as it allowed us to drive right up to the bard to load the hay into the loft.  Wet or dry, you can count on one thing with animals -foot rot.  The poor goats struggle with it mightily.  We watch them gingerly walk around on sore feet.  You can smell the stench of infected feet when you get near them.  Yuck!

Tricia tries to keep the goats' hooves trimmed.  She diligently works at it, pouring Hoof and Heel over the affected area.  It will work for a few days and then we'll see Annie and Buckwheat limping around.  You just can't help but feel sorry for them.  They are miserable.  So we decided this weekend to give them a good treatment.  

We mixed 1 teaspoon of copper sulfate per cup of water into a bucket.  We put Annie up into the milking stanchion and tied her front legs and back legs together.  Then we lifted her feet up and put them in the bucket of copper sulfate solution and tied the bucket to the front of the stanchion.  We made sure the solution was high enough in the bucket to cover all the areas of her feet. We used our phones' stop watch to time the treatment for 15 minutes.  Then we repeated for the back feet.  

It was hot and uncomfortable.  Annie kicked.  I'm guessing the copper sulfate was going to work on the infected areas.  Sweat ran down our backs as we fought to keep her feet in the bucket.  It was a LONG 15 minutes.  

After much kicking and fighting and only minimal spillage of the copper sulfate, we were done.  All four feet treated.  By the next day, she was walking much better.  I think she might have even tried to tell us "thank you," but I cannot speak the goat language to interpret.

In Oberlin, Louisiana, where our family farm is, there is a road that my buddy lives on called Dipping Vat Road.  I'm told that it was named that because back many years ago, there was a cement (I think) trough-like structure that they would run livestock through to treat them.  It might have been flies, it might have been foot rot, but whatever the malady, the animals were run through for treatment.

I wish we could fabricate something like that at Our Maker's Acres for our animals.  We've read some about having them walk through tubs of lime.  Trouble is, with cows, goats, and chickens moving in and out, it would be very hard/expensive to do. We will keep researching to see if we can formulate an idea that would work a little better than tying up feet and shoving them in a bucket!  (But if it works, it's hard to knock it, right?)  We're always looking for an easier way.

It Worked!!

Well, in THIS PREVIOUS POST on September 14th, I mentioned that we have an appointment at a processor in Morse, Louisiana to bring our Jersey bull to get processed.  The appointment is in early October.  Trouble is, he's an aggressive bull and thrashes with his head and comes running at you.  It is high time to get him off the property and into the freezer.

I figured that I would back the cattle trailer into the pasture and each afternoon, I would bring a bucket of feed to the bull.  We've never fed the bull anything - just grass in the pasture and free choice hay.  The plan was to feed him in a bucket and each day move the bucket closer and closer to the trailer.  Then I'd put the bucket at the edge of the trailer and then the next day put it where he'd have to put his front legs in the trailer to eat and then the next day, I'd push the bucket of feed all the way in so that he'd have to get fully in the trailer.  Then, I could shut the door.

I started working on the plan two days ago.  I quickly learned that the gluttonous bull was going to like the feed and the plan could be shortened.  By day two of the plan his front feet were in the trailer. And today...  Well, I'll let you see for yourself. Why do you think the trailer is tilted up in the air?

Well, it is because ol' boy jumped right on up in the trailer to eat!  Tomorrow I'll push the feed bucket all the way to the front.  Shutting the door should be pretty easy.  The only problem is that the second weekend in October is a long way away!  I asked Tricia if we might be able to get the appointment changed to an earlier Saturday, but all of the Saturdays coming are already booked with activities.

Before I started working with the bull to try to get him in the trailer, I figured I would make a ramp to make it easy for him.  You can see it below.  I used some old 2x4 lumber that I salvaged from when we demo'd the chicken tractors.  Some of it was rotten and we burned it.  But others were in good shape and I made a nice ramp.

After talking to a friend about my plan, he suggested that the ramp may scare him off and that he didn't think I'd need it.  He said the bull would jump right on up once he got used to the feed.  You know what?  He was right!

Although it only took less than 10 minutes to make the ramp, I hated to waste the lumber and time making it.  Looking at the unused ramp gave me an idea.  Have you ever seen those mats that cranes use on a construction site?  Or a board-run at an oil drilling site?  That reminded me that I could use my ramp as a mat or a board run around the barn when it rains and gets so muddy that sometimes you step right out of your boots.

Back to the bull, I think we won't have to have a rodeo to get him in the trailer to get him to the processor.  The plan worked, even faster than I thought.  On second thought, perhaps I should wait until early October when I have him in the trailer and on the way before I celebrate.