Good Goats: 190 animals, worms, dairy sheep

Wow, has it really been a week since I was last on here?!? I guess so!

Before I forget, this is a fact about our ranch that we figured out the other day - we have about 190 animals, just here on our side (goats, sheep, llamas, dogs, rabbits, guineas, chickens, cats)!! And guess what. . . about 160 of those are named :)! We all thought that was pretty funny.

I've been waiting and waiting for the right does to come into heat, but they haven't yet. The other day the bucks were blubbering at the fence, so I went down there to see what was up... hoping a doe was in heat that I wanted to breed. But, nope, it was just little Snickers in a total standing heat. She is not ready to breed for a few more months.

The past few days I have been researching a lot about worms, specifically Barber pole worms (Haemonchus contortus). I have read about them before, but have really been looking into it. I think Dancer is having trouble with them, steady weight loss and anemia. The stress of the move probably brought it on, and I was worming him with a wormer that will not deal with Barber pole worms. After talking to a long time goat breeder, she gave me her vet's treatment plan that they have seen work many times. It is Valbazen that they use. Valbazen is one of the "white" wormers, along with Safeguard, etc.

So we got it, and I started treatment on Monday. Hopefully he pulls through.

We've had good success using Cydectin the past 2 years here in Oklahoma, but I have heard that this year it is not working as well for many folks. In California, we would worm about once a year with Ivermectin, and then after a doe kidded with Safeguard. It worked, but that was the DESERT :).

One thing people do not do or remember, which is a HUGE key, is having healthy goats otherwise. An unhealthy goat that is not in good condition is going to be a prime target for worms, compared to a healthy goat that can fight them off. Good feed, nutrition, minerals and especially copper boluses help with this. It has been found that doing regular copper boluses help reduce HC worms (barber pole worms). Okay, off my soapbox now ;).

Onto other things. . . the little kid, Cutie Booty, is doing great and growing well. I don't have any updated pictures of her at the moment, will have to get some though. This morning Mom saw Baby do the normal "birth stretch". . . so maybe we'll have some kids soon!!

One another note, the other day I made some cheese from regular milk, and some from low-fat milk (milk that has run through the cream separator). I thought it was interesting to see the difference in the cheese. They are both good. The one made with low-fat milk (on the left in the photo) is more crumbly, dryer but still good. The one made with full-fat milk (on the right in the photo) was way more creamy and kind of "sticky", still good, but it was more like a spread. That can change though depending on how long you hang it.

Last Wednesday they (Mom and my little sister) traded a lady named Nancy for some dairy sheep! They got one ram and 2 ewes. So next year we might get to try some sheep milk, Lord willing.

AND very surprisingly, they are not too scared, one of the ewes will come up to you! She's still a little bit scared of the little (human) kids, probably because they move to fast. But to have a friendly sheep :).

Ames,