Bloodbath: Drawing blood on the goaties, video links p 3

[ohiofarmgirl]

ohmigosh! Free! you're world famous!!! look how fun!!! well it was fun for me to see!!!

yay!

what will you do with mya the CAE positive goatie - can you use the milk or are her milking days over?

it took us six stinkin' weeks to dry out debbie. oh.mi.gosh. after hearing on and on about how easy it is to dry them out from not having a really strict milking schedule?!?!?! ha!

one of the things we did was (in addition to going to just once a day etc, missing a day, everyother day etc) was that i didnt milk her all the way out. and she always had a bit of an udder. i think there was a couple days when she was uncomfortable but nothing too bad.

anyway, GREAT videos!!!

 

[Blackbird]

Six weeks???

We're almost done with Poppy now after a week, Jenna is taking a little longer, and Libia .. who knows about her. She BETTER NOT take six weeks!

 

[freemotion]

Well, I have to bring a smaller and smaller jar with me because I WON'T be able to NOT milk her out. It's like having chocolate in the house, or being alone with a bag of Doritos with no one watching....can't stop! I really have to dry her fast, as she is starting to lose condition. A tiny bit. Or is it me obsessing? Could be either. Taking no chances. Taking no prisoners. THE GOAT MUST DRY!

Oh, and, um, I think the correct wording would be, "Omigosh! Free! You're infamous!"

BB, I think half inch needles would probably be just right. When do you plan to get brave? You don't have to do all the goats at once, you know, but it would save on shipping. It is the same price for 1 tube or 10. There are still the lab fees, but I sure can find something to do with the $10 I'd save on shipping once instead of twice.

Oh, and for some silly reason, I just re-read your copy/paste from the youtube description dh wrote.....(runs SCREAMINGSCREAMINGSCREAMINGLIKEACRAZYWOMAN TO GET DH TO EDIT THAT!!!!!!!)

 

[Farmfresh]

I let my D1 the vet tech see your video and asked her for helpful input and criticisms.

Here is what she says.

First she says using the needle is easier but you have to make sure that you move it to the collection tube quickly so the blood does not have a chance to clot.

She also showed me that to control the needle better you should be holding the syringe closer to the needle and basically pinch the syringe between your thumb and forefinger. "like you are going to flip a dime with the thumb on top"

The thumb that holds the vein basically supports the needle - "like you are lining up a pool shot".

After you are done pulling - use a thumb to put pressure on the stick spot to stop the bleeding, or it will keep bleeding and make a big nasty bruise on the neck. If you tear the vein up enough times like that it can cause scars that make it VERY hard to hit the vein.

You can practice by sticking a grape. When you first hit the vein it feel a pop just like sticking through the grape skin. Freeze when you feel that pop and use your free fingers to pull the plunger back slowly. its not to bad on a goat but on a smaller animal you can over suck the vein and collapse it. If you keep pulling or jiggle a lot after you are in the vein you can slit the length of the vein or poke right through it.

Another good way to practice is to get a small piece of rubber tubing about the same thickness as a drinking straw. Block the ends (with hot glue) and fill the tube with soy sauce. Then wrap it in several layers of paper towel or a hand towel and practice pulling from that till you feel comfortable.

It will let you get the feel of popping into a vein and hitting something you cant see, also the soy sauce lets you see a flash back similar to blood when you first enter the vein.

Hope this info will help us all be more comfortable with this kind of thing. I learned a lot today!

 

[freemotion]

Wow, that is really helpful, FF! Where were you last week????

(Just kidding!)

 

[Farmfresh]

She just came over for dinner tonight!

At least we all know how to practice now and in the future we can all be even better!

You are still far more advanced at this than I am. I have NEVER even ATTEMPTED to pull blood!

 

[Blackbird]

When will I get brave? NEVER!

No.. Sometime before they kid on a warm day I guess. We can't have our gloves off for too long or we freeze.

Is there a time limit for how long the blood can be in the tube?

I don't know FF... I must flip coins and shoot pool differently..

If I only had three arms and hands... darn.

 

[Blackbird]

Oh! I have another question.. Are there any preferred brands of syringes to use? I find that you have to pull real hard on all of ours and then they pop out all the way right away, whether they are new or used.
Jeez. I sure nitpick about every little thing don't I?

 

[Farmfresh]

That is just how she described it to me.

I think the main thing is to be in good control of the needle at all times.

She said if you waited to get it into the tube too long the blood would begin to clot and mess up the sample.

 

[Farmfresh]

The way D1 described it the pressure of the blood will actually push the blood into the syringe at first and it just requires a gentle slow pull.

Don't know about brands.