It is a challenging job to keep all of the goats happy and healthy! This spring I have implemented several preventative health practices!
The kids get Di-Methox at 3 weeks, 6 weeks, and 9 weeks. This prevents coccidiosis (an intestinal disease that especially affects baby goats). I give the Di-Methox over a period of 5 days, giving 3cc the first day and 1.5cc the remaining 4 days.
I use a drench syringe to squirt the Di-Methox into the back of their mouths. Most of the time they quickly swallow it! Some of my older goats have fond memories of the drench syringe because it occasionally has honey on the tip!
I finally boosted my poor goats with copper. They are showing severe signs of copper deficiency: very dull coats, brown splotches in their coloring, and the "udder pimples" I mentioned in a previous post. Pat Coleby, in her book Natural Goat Care, is a big proponent of maintaining appropriate copper levels in goats. She explains that copper deficiency leads to a compromised immune system which can lead to great susceptibility to worms, infections, etc. Another interesting fact that she mentions is that darker goats need more copper than lighter goats. Many people bolus their goats yearly. I didn't do it last year (maybe because I didn't see a reason to?), but this year I knew I must!
I gave the adult bolus which is 4 grams. The bolus came in a large clear capsule of slow release granules. Overdosing on copper can be fatal. They are supposed to be swallowed whole in order to release properly. I just opened their mouths and stuck the bolus in the back of their throats. I then held their mouths closed so they wouldn't spit it out. I heard a tiny bit of "crunching" (uh-oh!), but they got them down and now I am slowly waiting for the results! I can't wait for my does to have beautiful sleek coats again!
I will soon be listing some of the kids on Craigslist. It is sad...but I really can't keep eight goats and in a few weeks the bucklings will be mature enough to do their job (so they can't stay or I would end up with serious inbreeding problems as well as stinky bucks!). I brought out my camera to get some "baby pictures."
Hillbilly (Elly May's buckling)
His main goal in life is to eat. He loves grain and will even stand still for a picture if we give him grain!
This is Howdy (Edna's buckling).
Surprisingly, he seems to be the most dominant of the kids (even though his dam, Edna, seems to be the most shy of the does).
Holster (Charlotte's buckling)
He was originally a bit of a timid goat, but he has quickly become a friendly fellow!
Until Next Time...
