31/21 - Oops!

Yesterday was a busy day and I forgot to do a blog post. . . oops!! Our internet is being really slow also so I don't think I will be able to upload pictures right now, maybe later.

The soccer game on Sunday went well. . . our team made it to the playoffs!

The DSAT Buddy Walk went very good in Tulsa on Sunday also. Lots of people came and all around it went very well. Hopefully I can get some pictures from there put up later.

That's it for now! Have a great day!

Suriyah

31/21 - Donkeys & Rams

When this post goes up, I will (most likely) be gone to our Sunday soccer game and then the Down Syndrome Association of Tulsa's Buddy Walk.

These 2 donkeys are new here. If anyone is looking for a cute donkey, let us know ;)!

We also got 2 new rams for our sheep breeding programs. The black and white one is a 3 year old Katahdin/Dorper cross ram. He is very nice. The red one behind him is a red Katahdin, and is under a year old (very big).

Flying rams!!

Hope you have an awesome day!

Suriyah

31/21 - Meet Dynamite

This is our new Boer buckling.

He is young, very big and very colorful.

He has already bred his first doe here.

His name is Dynamite.

I can't wait to see kids out of him!

Suriyah

31/21 - Random pictures, broken leg update

Yesterday I took off the brace from Cleopatra's broken leg. It looks good. She is using her leg almost like normal, although she still favors it a little bit. It looks like it healed a tad bit crooked, but I think it'll be just fine.

Here's a few random pictures from yesterday. Enjoy!

"Blondie"

"Chicci"

this doe looks like she is going to kid soon!

silly goat!

Suriyah

31/21 - Farm C-Section

WARNING: Graphic photos below.

Last night it was a typical evening milking. I milked the does, and about half way through milking my brother came back and said that one of the Boer does was missing. So him and Mom went out to look for her. No big deal. We had gotten this doe along with 2 other Boer does, a couple months ago or so. She wasn't the nicest out of all of them, but seemed okay. We figured they were all pregnant; they had been running with a buck; and sure enough, the one had triplets a few days ago. So, back to the story. We found the doe, she wasn't too far out in the 40 acres. There was a problem though. She had placenta hanging out of her, but no kid anywhere near - we searched and searched incase she had dropped a kid. Nope.

So, we brought her back. I felt up in there and there was a kid there, nose and feet, about 3 inches up or so. Okay, not bad. I ran back into the house for something, and figured if she hadn't had it by the time I came back out, then maybe we should help out. I came back out, nothing. Waited a few more minutes, nothing more. We decided to go in a see what was going on. The kid's head was twisted upside down and to the side. The doe was very tight in there, her pelvic bones not very wide at all. It was very hard to get a hand in there. After a long time of trying, and a few of us trying, there was no way this kid was going to come out. I have never felt anything like it. His head and shoulders were MUCH bigger than her pelvic bones. There was just no possible way. The kid was obviously alive, moving and such in there. We even saw him kick with his back legs from the outside. At one point while we were trying to pull him out, we heard him cry inside. It was one of the most amazing things I've ever heard.

Here we had a decision to make. The doe was pretty tore up, even though we were being extremely careful, and was obviously in shock. If we bred her again, with her hips being so so narrow, this would be likely to happen again. Plus, she may have died from shock and blood loss anyway. So, since we knew the kid was obviously alive, we decided instead of loosing the kid and most likely the doe also, we would save the kid. Time was ticking, and it was getting pretty dark by this time.

As hard as it was, thankfully this was not one of our milkers or a goat that we've had for awhile and grown to know, as it would have been a much much harder decision than it already was. So, it was decided we would put the doe down (with the .22) and do a c-section to get the kid out. The time of night it was there would have been no vet open, plus this doe just really was not worth it (as harsh as that may sound, sometimes that is the case).

So she was put to sleep, we immediately had a sharp knife and made an incision.

It took just over a minute before we found the uterus with the kid in it. Since he was already in the birth canal (somewhat), his head was out of his sac, so it looked like he was in a little bag.

We got him cut out of it and started rubbing him. He started breathing and crying very quickly.

A few minutes later, I had him in and he was already wanting to nurse. I rubbed and rubbed him, dried him off, and he nursed a bunch. Thankfully, I had just milked out colostrum from the other Boer doe that kidded since she had too much. Perfect. I felt sorry for the poor kid because his legs and head must have been sore from us pulling on him for so long and so hard!

He is a huge kid, at least probably 12 pounds. (and this doe was tiny, probably one of the most narrow Boer does ever). He is also very healthy, and I think he is polled (naturally hornless).

So, it was a sad evening and a happy evening. Life on the ranch can be hard at times, and hard decisions have to be made. I was very excited that we were at least able to save the kid.

The Boer doe that had triplets the other day is doing ok. The babies are doing great. I do not know this doe's history, but she seems to be very old. She's a sweet old gal, but she came down with hypocalcemia. She has only been with us a for about a month or so, so I have no idea how she was fed before - obviously not very well. I left the 2 does on her, and pulled the buckling to be a bottle kid. This way he'll be a friend to the new orphan and the doe won't have to produce as much milk, just feeding 2 small girls. I am treating her every 2 hours, I really do hope she pulls through.

Suriyah

31/21 - Bounce-U & Buddy Walk!

Yesterday was the Bounce-U prep event for the Down Syndrome Association of Tulsa Buddy Walk on Sunday. It went very well and we were all very tired after handing out bags and bouncing for hours.

The Buddy Walk is this Sunday, starting at 1:30 at the Union Park. Anyone and everyone is welcome! If you can, come spend the afternoon with us! You can find out more info here.

Suriyah

31/21 - Triplet Kids Born!

Yesterday morning a Boer doe that we got a few months ago, gave birth to triplets! 2 girls and a boy. The girls are way smaller than the buck, they are just adorable! Here's a few pictures.

Gotta go!

Suriyah

31/21 - Feeding article

Here's an article on feeding (goats) that I wrote. Just the way we do things here and thought I'd share!

Feeding

Whether you are a novice goat owner to an experienced rancher, it seems there are always the constant questions about what and how much to feed. After many, many changes over the years with our herd, figuring out what works best and what doesn't, I think we have finally narrowed things down for our herd. But as always, one thing is not going to work for everyone. Depending on what part of the country you are in, whether you are dry-lot feeding or pasture raising your goats, management and feeding issues are going to vary a lot.

Goats have many nutritional requirements and dairy goats are one of the harder to keep livestock, at times. Milking does and growing kids need calcium. The most common source of calcium for goats is good Alfalfa hay or pellets.

Remember when you are feeding goats, you are feeding the rumen. The goats rumen is a very complex system, and requires lots of nutrients from hay, pasture and browse. Goats are browsers, which means they eat lots of forage and cannot do well just off of a pelleted or grain based diet. Turned out in a lot with forest and grass pasture, typically the goats will go to the forest first and eat the leaves, bark and various things first before going to eat the grass. Whereas sheep on the otherhand, will not typically eat the leaves and bark like goats do, they'll go straight for the grass (which has earned them many nicknames, but this isn't about sheep).

What we have been feeding our herd for years now, is this.

Milkers get Alfalfa or Alfalfa/Orchard grass hay twice a day. After the morning feeding, during the pasture months, they will go out and browse all day long. During the winter months, they get fed more hay. On the milk stand, each milker gets between 1 to 1.5 pounds of grain each milkling. So a doe, depending on production and size,will get a total of 2 to 3 pounds of grain a day. We feed a 14% protein grain, with 3-4% fat.

Kids get fed grain once a day and then are given lots of alfalfa or alfalfa/orchard grass hay. It is best for kids to have free-feed hay. I am not a big grain fan, so if the kids are growing well and don't seem to be lacking, they will not get any grain at all, only hay and milk. If you are bottle raising your kids, the longer you can keep them on the milk bottle, the better. They get a much better start in life this way. Our kids are typically bottle fed until 5 months of age.

Dry does and bucks get pasture all day (when it's there), and alfalfa or alfalfa/orchard grass at least once a day. If the pasture is not good, they get fed hay once in the morning and once in the evening.

If there is any animal that is thin for some reason, first start out with trying to figure out why they are thin. Worms, mineral deficiency, etc. Once you have that taken care of, you can give them Black Oil Sunflower Seeds, Rice Bran, Soybean Meal or Calf Manna as these are all very high in fat and protein.

Suriyah

31/21 - Sunday

It's Sunday. As usual we went to our soccer game this morning. It was a good day.

A few days ago we sold all the remaining little bucklings that we had. . . that meant Mr. Tic-Tac had no more little friends. So, he had to graduate to the big boy pen. He is doing just fine. There is another buckling in there from this year also, he is a few months older and MUCH bigger, but Tic-Tac seems to be holding his own just fine. Plus, our bucks aren't very rough with each other either.

I am exhausted, and that is not good because we have a very busy week ahead of us. Hopefully I can squeeze my blog posts in!

Hope you had a great day too!!

Suriyah

31/21 - Enterotoxemia

Since it's a super busy day, I figured I would just re-post my article on Enterotoxemia.

Enterotoxemia

Years ago we'd had a some new bales of alfalfa hay, it was really green and leafy, and the goats loved it (of course). Before going to bed that night, I heard a kid crying. We had some kids being dam-raised, and had a beautiful F3 MiniNubian doeling named Midget. We went out and checked - everyone looked fine. So as usual, we went to bed. A few hours later my Mom awoke to a kid screaming/crying in pain. She went out there, it was Midget. She tried to save her (gave her many things) but within minutes she passed away. We read and she had the exact symptoms of Enterotoxemia, and the single thing that will save a goat's life in the case of Entero., we did not have - C&D ANTITOXIN (not the toxoid). A hard lesson learned.

It's been many years since that happened. I've read a TON about Enterotoxemia and never lost a goat to it again, thankfully. A few times the goats have got into grain, or a goat has bloated, etc., and I always give them a shot of CD Antitoxin. The worst thing C&D Antitoxin can do is, if you vaccinate, is it will negate the CD&T vaccine. The best C&D Antitoxin can do, is save a goats life.
A few months after we lost Midget to Enterotoxemia, a lady called us up and her kid was sick - sounded like she had Enterotoxemia and she was so far into it she was laying on the ground with her eyes rolling back in her head. The owner did not have the antitoxin, so she rushed to our house, got a few syringes full of it, went home and gave it to her doe kid - she was back to normal within hours.

Ever since we lost Midget to Enterotoxemia, we've never been without the C&D Antitoxin in the fridge. I always stress to new goat owners that this is the one thing your medicine cabinet should never be without.


So, how would you know if your goat has enterotoxemia?
Well, it definitely takes a lot of watching your goats, knowing their normal habbits, sounds and routines. The symptoms of Enterotoxemia can be very widely ranged. It can be as simple as a goat crying - but this isn't just any cry - it's a cry that the goat either is getting seriously injured or has enterotoxemia. Once you've heard it, you'll remember it. It's the cry of a goat in pain.
Enterotoxemia can also come on after a goat has bloat, has diarrhea/an upset stomach, is stressed, a slight (or large) change of feed, a bottle kid drinking a large/abnormal amount of milk, or possibly even weather change - these are all prime conditions for enterotoxemia to kick in.


What about if you vaccinate with the CDT Vaccine? It's suppose to prevent it, right?
We choose not to vaccinate our goats. There is a bunch of info why not to vaccinate here. My goats are healthy, we do not believe they need vaccines - after awhile they just suppress the immune system anyway. I know everyone won't agree on this subject, but that's okay.
If you DO vaccinate, your goat can still get Enterotoxemia. The vaccine will lessen the chance of an adult goat getting it, but it's still possible. And the vaccine does not protect young kids from getting enterotoxemia.

Like I said before, if you even think your goat may be getting Entero, don't hesitate giving them some C&D Antitoxin. The worst it can do is negate the vaccine, the best it can do is save a life.

A goat with Enterotoxemia really needs to be treated like this - C&D Antitoxin (reduces the gut flora that has overgrown), Pepto bismal (to line the gut and protect it), Banamine (calms the gut and eases pain), baking soda won't hurt and if the goat is really bad, starting them on Penicillin is also good to take care of any infection that might set in. The goat should be re-treated every 3-6 hours with the C&D Antitoxin and Pepto until the syptomes subside. An adult goat should get anywhere from 10-15 cc sub-Q of C&D Antitoxin, and a kid should get around 5 cc.

Another important thing to note is when a bottle fed kid has enterotoxemia, do not feed them milk. Instead of milk, give them electrolytes (prefferably clear). You do not want to overload the gut with more milk when it cannot handle the stuff already in there.

In conclusion, watch your goats.