Copper for the Goats

Goats can be tough to manage.  Around this time of the year, you can notice their coat becomes dull instead of its normal shiny appearance.  It also has a coarse feel to it.  Then they get a "bottle jaw" look to them and diarrhea which indicates the presence of parasites.  They are quite prevalent in our locale.  In addition to treating with Ivermectin, Safeguard and Valbazen, we give them copper boluses.

When I say copper, I mean copper.  The heavy metal comes in the container and you make up capsules by measuring out prescribed amounts.  They feel heavy in your hands.

The trick is to get the goats to take the copper boluses.  I use a device that's normally used to worm cattle and horses.  I first coat the capsules of copper with peanut butter and put in in the wormer gun followed by a generous helping of peanut butter as the chaser.

We straddle the goat, pulling their heads back.  Then I gently insert the worming gun as far down her throat as I can get it and push in on the plunger.  This pushes the two copper capsules down their throats.  We hold their heads back until they've swallowed it all.  We did have cases in which two of the goats recognized something was up and spit it out.  We just do it again until they swallow it.

Copper has a life of 4 - 6 months.  Perhaps this will do the trick and will say farewell to the parasites.  We'll keep monitoring the goats daily.

Bunny's Baby

I'm re-reading James Herriot's books and am in the middle of "Every Living Thing."  He's talking about lambing season and going out in the countryside in the cold, windy weather to help ewes deliver in problem pregnancies.  Most of the farmers didn't have any enclosures and he delivered lambs out in the cold.  He said his hands and arms would get so raw from washing his hands so much and the wind whipping on his skin, chapping them thoroughly.  

It makes me happy for us in kidding season for goats, for when we begin to see their bags 'bloom,' we bring them inside the barn.  Even though it's not cold, it isolates the expectant mothers from nosy cows and chickens who won't give them a moment's peace.  Bunny is named bunny because she has a pink nose and a white stripe down her face, giving her the appearance, somewhat, of a bunny.  Bunny's bag has bloomed.  It is tight.  She is close.

She delivered twins Sunday afternoon, right before church.  Here is the smallest kid, a doeling, that Tricia is making sure that she gets a belly full of colostrum.  It's very important that they get this.  The baby is very weak and frail.  We worked with her for a while until her sucking reflex or instinct kicked in.

Unfortunately, her twin, also a doeling died during birth.  Tricia said that she was still in the sack and thinks she may have suffocated.  She was bigger than her twin sister by a long shot.  So yes, we buried yet another goat once we got back from Evening Worship services.

Bunny's baby girl is solid black with a white spot on her head and on her left foot.  We're working hard with her to try to get her to get up and get active and nurse on her own.  So far, it's slow going.  Hopefully, things will get better day by day.

Little goats are the cutest thing!

Here is Bunny and her baby, yet unnamed - we're still thinking.  Any ideas?

Agnes, another goat of ours, is now on the clock.  Her bag is growing, but I don't think she'll kid in the next day or so.  I'm watching her closely.  Tonight I milked out the rest of Bunny's colostrum that her baby didn't drink, and we'll freeze that for later use, should we ever need it.

Just Browsing...

Directly behind our 5 acres is a little patch of overgrown woods with live oaks, willow, China Berry and Chinese Tallow trees.  It's also filled with privet.  Even though this land is not ours, I have to keep it in check as the invasive trees want to take over our fence line.  I do pray each day that this land stays "wild," though.  I like it even though it harbors more than its fair share of possums, minks, squirrels, rabbits and numerous other wildlife.

The hard freezes this week finally killed any grasses that were growing in the pasture and the animals are living off of hay that we have stockpiled.  This jungle behind us contains something that the goats simply love - privet.  Privet spreads like an infectious disease and it grows so fast, you can almost watch it put on new branches and leaves.  Fortunately, our goats can eat it almost as fast as it grows.

The wild jungle behind us

To harvest the privet I use some heavy duty pruners like you see below.  It has to be big, as some of the privet is about two inches in diameter.

Woody shrubs like privet is called browse, and goats simply LOVE browsing.  I clip the privet, throw it over the fence and the goats clip the leaves off the branches quicker than you could imagine.  This gives them a little variety in their diets and it also keeps the wild woods somewhat tamed.  In just a short while the woods will be teeming with dewberries that we'll harvest.  Cleaning up the woods will make dew berry picking easier, allowing grass to grow, and discourage varmints from wandering into our property.

Every once in a while I have to gather up the privet branches that have been denuded by the ravenous goats.  I stack the "bones" up in a big pile to eventually decay in the same woods where they grew.  I call 'em bones because they resemble the plate of bones after you've eaten your fill at a rib joint.

There's plenty more privet where that came from, and I'll gladly keep clipping it and throwing over the fence to keep those old goats happy.

One housekeeping item before I sign off tonight: We'll be going 'radio silent' until Sunday night, February 8th when I'll post again as we are spending some good family time together.  See ya Sunday!

Mending Fences

Last week I pulled in the driveway from work and something was just not right, but I couldn't put my finger on what was wrong.  Then I noticed it.  Popcorn, the Billy Goat, was IN the garden!  Oh no.  The first item of business was to get him out.  I rushed up to him and grabbed him by the collar as he munched on sweet potato vines.  I got him out of the garden and quickly over the bridge and back into the pasture.  Fortunately, he must have just gotten in.  He didn't damage much, besides eating the leaves on the okra plants and stepping all over the freshly planted lettuce.

The second order of business was to determine how he got in and then fix the problem.  It didn't take me long to discover it.  The area of encroachment was the southwest corner.  The goats (and cows) have a bad habit of leaning over the fence and eating sugar cane.  Now I don't see how they do this.  Sugar cane leaves are sharp as razors.  It seems like that would not feel good on your tongue, but to each his own, I guess.

The constant leaning into the fence weakened it, not to mention that I cut corners and instead of using treated 4x4's, I used untreated landscape timbers for fenceposts on all but the corner.  These rotted and on this particular day, when they leaned in to each sugarcane, the post gave way and Popcorn popped right over the fence.  You can see Popcorn in his mugshot standing in front of his handiwork.  You can also see, on his left ear, a gash.  That comes compliment of Belle, our great Pyrenees.  Two weeks ago Popcorn thought it would be a good idea to head butt Belle into the barn.  As it turned out, it was not a good idea.  Belle went after Popcorn with retaliatory precision, biting Popcorn's ear and ripping.  There was weeping and gnashing of teeth.  Popcorn won't do that again.  

I quickly bolstered the leaning fence with a cattle panel until I had time to fix it.  I moved this project to the top of the list and waited for the weekend.

This time, I went to the lumberyard and purchased treated 4x4s.  Using a post hole digger, I dug three holes two feet deep and filled halfway with soil, tamping it down.  I put a level on each side and squared everything and then put quickcrete around the posts and watered.  After letting it set, I used a come-a-long to pull the fencing tight and stapled the fencing to the posts, creating a impenetrable border.  (hopefully)

I realize having a lush garden surrounded by pasture can be a major temptation, but the animals (humans, too, right?) need borders.

The time spent mending fences was a significant investment of time and required some monetary outlay.  Time will tell if, and for how long, the fence will hold up, but I'll remain vigilant to maintaining a strong border fence.  Goats in the garden is never a good thing.  

The Trouble With Goats

Goats are interesting creatures.  Always getting into trouble.  In fact, just this morning I woke up to find Agnes, one of our goats, had gotten herself completely tangled up into some portable fencing.  I struggled for almost 10 minutes before going to get the wire cutters and destroying my fence in order to free her.  It is no wonder that in Matthew 25 our Lord separates the sheep from the goats.  A quick study of this passage shows that the goats are not the good guys.  In fact, they are told to depart to everlasting fire.  Although goats are cute, they can definitely be troublesome, and if I'm honest, sometimes I wish some of ours to be on the coals of a barbecue fire, if not everlasting fire.  

One thing that keeps us busy with goats is dealing with foot problems.  Ours are very susceptible to foot rot.  It's a condition that has us constantly trimming hooves and applying copper sulfate soaks on affected hooves.  I want to introduce you to "Bunny."  Bunny is a goat that sadly lost her baby as a stillborn this spring.  We call her Bunny due to her pink nose and striking resemblance to a bunny rabbit.

Bunny is in our goat milking stanchion for her hoof treatment.  She has an issue with her front left hoof.  We put her in the stanchion so that we might be able to isolate the hoof for treatment.  We gave ol' Bunny a cup of sweet feed to somewhat distract her from the task at hand.

I got some hoof trimmers and clipped around the affected, tender area.  There is a spot that appears to be an abscess.  It started to bleed, and I squeezed it hard to see if I could get any infection out.  Then Tricia mixed up a copper sulfate solution for soaking.  The poured it into a "hoof bath" apparatus and we set Bunny's affected hoof into the soaking solution.  I then used duct tape to secure it on her leg, so she wouldn't kick it off.

We left the boot on for 20 minutes, hoping to give the copper sulfate time to work.

We finally took the boot off.  Hopefully Bunny will improve.  If not, we're not opposed to bringing her to the veterinarian.  Bunny is not the only hoof patient at the moment.  "Tillerson," who is Tillie's little buckling was also limping.  Tricia squirted some copper sulfate into the affected hoof.  

We'll continue to watch Bunny and Tillerson for improvement and provide care to them as needed..

The Kidding Season Comes to a Close

We had five momma goats pregnant.  Popcorn, the billy, has proven to be quite the fertile fellow.  One by one, they kidded.  Bunny had a stillborn buckling.  But with three healthy baby goats running around the pasture, we were ready for the last one to be born.  It was time for Callie.  Her bags ballooned, letting us know that any minute, there would be a baby.  So far this year we have 1 doeling and 2 bucklings.

Tricia came around the corner of the barn and said, "We have a new baby.  It's a little buck."  Callie already had him all cleaned up.  They say the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree.  That means the offspring are often like the parents.  So is the case with Callie and her little boy.  This is Callie's face:

And this is her little buckling's face...  White, black and brown.  She marked him well.

The little fellow got right down to business, drinking his colostrum to ensure he gets a good start.  Since Bunny lost her baby, we're milking her twice a day and keeping the milk to make kefir and cheese.

We still have a little leftover goat milk that we feed to the laying hens.  They really enjoy it.

But they must drink fast.  Belle, our Great Pyrenees, has developed an affinity for goat milk.  She comes around the corner, chases off the hens, and makes quick work with her tongue of lapping up the goat milk!

It's Kidding Time!

Springtime is exciting!  Hens laying more eggs, grass is growing, foliage on trees is a vibrant green.  And, goats begin to kid.  Tricia keeps close tabs on the goat family.  Agnes seemed to be first in line.  When I arrived in the barn, I was greeted by odd sounds coming from within.  Agnes was in labor, pushing, digging holes in the ground.  She was in obvious pain.  We watched as another contraction came on, followed by another.

Two tiny hooves emerged.  We always check to ensure they are facing the correct way.  We don't want to encounter breech.

It didn't take long for Agnes to push out the newest arrival on Our Maker's Acres Family Farm.  A brown goat!  How does that happen?  The doe and the buck look nothing like that.  I would guess that might be from a recessive gene, but I wasn't paying that close attention back in biology class.

Agnes' motherly instinct kicked in and she began cleaning up her baby.  She diligently licked and licked and gave the little one a proper spit bath.

I lifted up the little goat's legs and exposed two teats and no male 'equipment.'   It's a girl!  A little doeling.  How nice.

We left the barn and walked back to the house to allow the two of them to bond.  The baby was struggling unsuccessfully to stand only minutes after delivery.  She just needed a little time.  When we returned to the barn in 15 minutes, the little critter was up.  Baby goats are funny.  They always try to find the teats, bumping around the wrong end of the momma.  Tricia reached in and gave here some instruction.  Everyone needs a little help sometimes.  She quickly latched on and began drinking the nourishing colostrum which will give her antibodies and a good head start.

She didn't need any help after that.  The little doeling (as of yet, unnamed) was drinking to her heart's content.  We also spotted colostrum-tinged stool, confirming she's getting what she needs for good health.

We have several more goats whose girth is widening.  We'll be on watch for the next to come into labor.  Our goat herd is increasing.  We'll need to sell some of these little ones as they are weaned or they'll eat us out of pasture!

Hay Day Part I

The day that I came home from the hospital, we got a call from our neighbor down the road that they were baling hay and asked if we could go pick up our order.  It's Bermuda hay and this year's price is $7 picked up in the field and $9 picked up in the barn.  Obviously, picking up 75 bales of hay was out of the question.  We normally pick it up in the field, but asked if they could stack it in the barn and we would pick it up once I was recuperated.

I got a call yesterday that they were cutting again and needed the space.  Our hay was in the way.  I'm not fully recuperated, but the hay had to be moved.  So, I called Russ and Benjamin to come by after work and we could tackle it together.  Russ said with me not being 100% and Benjamin not being fully healed from his accident, that we were like the "Island of misfit toys."  He called my Dad for assistance and Dad drove over from Kinder to pitch in.  What a sight we were!

We backed up the truck in their barn and began loading up the truck.  We had 75 bales to pick up and bring back to the house.  We're about a mile from their barn to our house and would have to make 6 to 7 trips.

In the first load, we stacked up 12 bales.  We quickly learned that by stacking the bales and interlocking them, we could fit 16 or 17 bales.  We had a little assembly line going and got better with each load.

It was hot and we worked hard.  So did the truck.  You can see it is squatted down pretty good.  I was hoping we wouldn't break the springs.  Russ and Benjamin rode up on top of the hay on the ride home where we backed up to the garage.

Normally, at this point, we back up to the barn and use a pulley to hoist the bales up into the loft.  We'll have to wait on that for another day when we have more help.  For now, so the hay doesn't get rained on, we stacked up the 75 bales in the garage.  

The car, for now, will sit outside.  It can get wet.  The hay cannot.  This is what will get the cows and goats through the winter.  I'm not convinced they realize the work and sacrifice that goes into feeding them!  Unloading the hay has Belle exhausted just watching the work!!  Can you see her in the bottom right corner?

Here is a side view of 75 square bales of bermuda hay.  Inflation has hit the hay field, too!

Ginger, our cat, doesn't seem to mind the hay in the garage.  It's given her a new place to nap.  Lazy cat!

Speaking of naps, I think I'll go take one myself.  Well show you Part II when we move all this up into the hayloft at the barn.

Kids Looking for a New Home

Be fruitful and multiply.  God told Adam and Eve to do that.  They did.  After the flood, God told the same thing to Noah and his family.  They did.  Later, God told essentially the same thing to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and guess what?  They did.

Our goat family has taken that message to heart as well.  It all started with one goat and now we've got a herd of them.  This spring Mocha gave birth to Blackie and Callie gave birth to Betty and Agnes gave birth to Abby.  It is like a goat rodeo in the pasture 24/7.  Our little pasture is just too small to handle all of the goats, chickens, and cows.  I told Tricia, "We've got to sell some of these goats."  She doesn't want to.  Tricia loves the goat family, but understands the space limitations.  

They are dairy goats and Tricia milks them.  We have a goat milk smoothie every morning with fresh berries.  Delicious!  I think we've shown you photos of Blackie and Abby, but I'm not sure if we showed you Betty.  Betty has an interesting "paint job."  Look at the spots on this critter:

She started out as being very small as compared to Blackie, but she has quickly caught up.  It is entertaining to watch the babies play out in the pasture.  They hop around and dart this way and that.  Fun to watch, I tell ya.  

Their playfulness catches the attention of people passing by on the road.  In fact, someone stopped and wants to buy Betty.  They've called twice letting us know they were coming by to get her, but each day they haven't shown up.  I took this photo of Tricia and Betty in the event she got sold - Betty, that is.  (Tricia is NOT for sale.)

We'll see what happens.  One way or the other, we've got to get some goats off the pasture.  Cabrito?  That would be very hard since we've named them!

Copper for the Goats

So we noticed that the goats' coats started getting wiry and dry and also they've had problems with foot rot.  When your copper levels are right, you don't have all these problems.  It's been a year and four months since our last copper treatments, so it's time to do it again.

We ordered copper boluses off the Internet.  Ultra Cruz Goat Copper Bolus for Adults.  (Adult goats, that is).   The bolus is simply a gelatin capsule with copper oxide "shavings".  Each bolus is 4 grams and is a slow release form of copper.  If the goat is > 50 lbs. and > 3 months, they can get a 4 gram bolus.

We've stuck it in a banana and fed it to them or stuck it in a slice of balled up bread.  Sometimes they spit it up, though.  We opted to give it with a de-worming pill syringe.  We put some peanut butter in the plunger and then put the copper bolus so that it sticks in there and won't fall out.  Then we put some more peanut butter on top.  The goats like peanut butter, and it helps them to swallow the bolus.

Copper pill popper

The little tool is long and enables you to get the bolus in.

Past the lips and over the gums, lookout stomach, here it comes!

You grab the goat and lift its head up and use your fingers to open the mouth.  The syringe goes in and you try to push it down a bit and then hit the plunger.  The goat will taste the peanut butter and swallow it down.

Crocks with socks (very stylish!)

Except sometimes, even as hard as you try, they spit it up.  We don't give up.  We keep trying until we get the copper down them.  The bolus will last from 8 months to a year.  In the past, we've seen the health and vitality of their coats get better along with a reduction in their susceptibility of foot rot.  Hopefully, we'll see the same results with this dose.

Disbudding Our Baby Goats

When one of our goats named Agnes was born, time got away from us and we didn't de-horn (disbud) her.  Never again!  We vowed never to make that mistake again.  Agnes' horns grew, and she is the only critter on the homestead with horns.  It gives her an unfair advantage.  She bosses all the other animals around (including the cows).  She uses those horns as a weapon to force her way in to the feed trough.  She bullies the other animals.  Never again.  No sir-ee.

When out two latest kids were born, we made a mental note to get the clippers out and the disbudding iron and get the job done.  Tonight was the night.  We still haven't named the little kids yet.  We'll get around to it soon, I'd imagine.  The two just love playing with one another.  They were about to get settled in for the night underneath the feed trough, but we threw a monkey wrench on those plans.

Tricia grabbed the black one first.  She's jet black except for 3 strands of white hair on her forehead.  If you look closely, you can make them out.

We plugged in the disbudding tool.  In just a few minutes, it was warmed up, glowing cherry red on the tip.  Tricia donned leather gloves and sat on the little kid and held her firmly.

But before we got to that part of it, let's rewind.  First, you have to get the clippers and cut the hair away from both the horn buds.  This enables your disbudding iron to get down to the area around the horn buds.  The little black doeling has a nice haircut now and that enables you to see the little horn buds.

The tool is applied for about 4 seconds on each side.  Yes, the babies cry at first.  Then we come back a second time for about 3-4 more seconds until a copper-colored ring appears around the horn bud.

Now it's time for the little spotted goat.

It doesn't take long at all.  The babies cry.  The momma goats are concerned about their babies.  But in just a few minutes, we reunite them together and everything goes back to normal.

The heat from the disbudding tool kills the horn roots and they don't grow.  That's a good thing.  No bullying the others.  No getting horns stuck in the fence, either.  By tomorrow these kids will have forgotten all about this experience.