Hen23's Journal~Goodbye

[Henrietta23]

Rant away~ goodness knows I have! I know my son isn't an angel in class. He is easily distracted, blah blah blah. So put him in a classroom with an ADHD teacher, single mom of 6 sons, two of whom are bipolar and you have a disaster brewing. I really think she can't handle boys at all. All hindsight at this point of course. Next year wouldn't be any better given the two teachers to choose from. One is a disorganized nightmare with stuffed toy moose all over her room. We did find out DS is NOT allergic to dust but that can't be healthy! The other is a great teacher who burned out this year around about November. 26-27 kids per class, more programs being cut, bus routes being cut, less help for Special Ed. kids so more of that responsibility being put on classroom teachers. Nope, no thanks. Okay now I'm ranting too! The supplements the naturopath has him are definitely making a difference.
Last year's issues were largely on the playground when his classroom teacher was not on duty. He has a scar on his face from this little girl. She almost got his eye.... understaffing and poor staffing. Last year we had a substitute paraprofessional on duty at lunch and she hit him on the backside for eating standing up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think Donki is still adjusting to the new routine. I wasn't successful in getting a lot of info from Paul on how he fed and I believe any routine he had kind of fell apart as his living situation changed. Seeing her go after the grains was a new thing yesterday. I will try some of your ideas.
I swear those babies have grown already!

 

[Henrietta23]

No getting around it, I'm going to have to trim Donki's hooves soon. I don't have a tool for it yet either. TSC has these foot rot shears in stock: http://www.tractorsupply.com/livest...s/burgon-ball-eze-trim-foot-rot-shear-2281123
but I don't want to get junk and end up hurting her or wasting my money. I've looked around on BYH and there are as many ideas as there are members! I really need someone ot hold my hand. I can call my vet if I have to I guess. I think I should ask if he'll do a fecal on her too. Ugh. I've cut 3 million dog and cat nails in my life and this is freaking me out!

 

[freemotion]

I have those shears and they work great.

I had my farrier trim my goat's hooves for years. Then I got too many goats....and the dairy girl's hooves grow a lot faster than my pygmies hoofies! Apparently, the nutrition needed to put milk in the bucket also grows feet. I was going to go bankrupt paying the farrier if I continued using him. So I had to learn.

Just start by trimming just the front feet or just the back. Use the point of the trimmers to scrape any dirt out, then snip off any flaps that are folded over. Then trim the point off each toe. Then trim a bit more off the sides of each toe, and take some of the rubbery heel down a bit. Put the foot down on the milking stand and see if it looks reasonably level. Then do the other one.

Save the other two for the next day, or whenever your heart stops pounding!

I've never known a goat to die if a drop of blood appears in the process. They forgive you pretty quickly, too. Usually, though, any blood shed in the process is mine, from getting poked by the shears when a naughty goat struggles! Them suckers is sharp!

 

[freemotion]

Oh, and there is no shame in hiring someone to do it so you are not overwhelmed with all the new tasks all at once! Worth every penny, sometimes. Think of it as a very tiny "vacation!"

 

[Farmfresh]

If it was me I would probably "hire them done" the first few times. That way you can carefully watch the proceedings a few times and learn. That is how I learned to trim horse feet.

 

[FarmerDenise]

I had SO trim my baby goats hooves, while I cuddled/held them and it still wasn't easy. We used kitchen shears, and only did a bit at a time. I was able to do a really good job, while they were so sick this week. So both baby goats got some nice pedicures I almost got the nailpolish out
Hopefully this made them more comfortable about me handling their hooves in the future.

 

[Henrietta23]

That would be cute Denise! I can just see my Daisy will her toes all polished! She is a dainty looking thing compared to her brother and Donki!
All morning I've been going back and forth about calling my regular vet who is a super nice guy and would probably help me with it after hours with me one evening. Or should I make contact with the large animal vet since I really need to do that anyway. And THEN it occured to me that Paul didn't give me any health records on Donki and I don't know where she stands on vaccinations etc. Sigh.... off to email him and wait for a response. She is still having clumpy poops, but we just started to see her eating well yesterday.
She was chowing on her grain while in the milking stand this morning. That made it much easier. With an adjustment to the stanchion I could have milked her without DH there, IF I could just get her onto the stand by myself. Then she came out and chowed on some hay and alfalfa pellets while I got ready for work. She's quieted down quite a bit. My teenage neighbor has not been going to school for some reason this week. I thought yesterday might be senior skip day because I heard her father telling someone on the phone that she was at the beach all day. She was still home when I left today. I bet she's glad she's got Donki to listen to!! I gave them all some maple branches to keep them busy for a while.
I still feel like I'm faking my way through feeding them. Donki gets a largish scoop of grain. She turned her nose up at it when I mixed beet pulp in. That's what the vet was feeding the babies, grain mixed with beet pulp and sunflower seeds. But I'm not sure of ratios.
I will pick up the TSC shears today and take a look to see if I feel like I can handle it.....

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Go for it!
I used a pair of flat blade wire snips (cause they don't have a super sharp point) the first time I did mine. I've since bought a pair of pruning shears, they work much better for me.

I watched every video on youtube about trimming hooves before I even tried.

Lucky (the wether) & the baby handled it well, just a little struggling, Dixie on the other hand... I have to bribe her with corn. DH feeds her one kernel at a time while I mess with her feet. We do the back one day, the front the next.

I gotta do Dixie again this weekend.

 

[Henrietta23]

Go for it!
I used a pair of flat blade wire snips (cause they don't have a super sharp point) the first time I did mine. I've since bought a pair of pruning shears, they work much better for me.

I watched every video on youtube about trimming hooves before I even tried.

Lucky (the wether) & the baby handled it well, just a little struggling, Dixie on the other hand... I have to bribe her with corn. DH feeds her one kernel at a time while I mess with her feet. We do the back one day, the front the next.

I gotta do Dixie again this weekend.

Dry feed corn, cooked corn? If I can find a favorite food for her....
she does like apples but she won't eat from our hands. She'll stand and lean on us and let us pet her for hours on end, but will not eat from our hands. He'd have to drop a kernel at a time in her dish which I suppose would work too.
Thanks
Still trying to figure out WHERE this large animal vet is. My vet told me one town, the phone book says something else entirely. Weird. There are other choices including a large animal clinic that's not much farther than this guy would be. I'm going to call my vet again to see if his receptionist has a current number. They don't open 'til 2 on Wednesday.

Ugh, everyone in this building is yelling and screaming today. No one wants to be here. Including me!

 

[freemotion]

Clumpy poo.....largish scoop of grain....how big is that scoop? My does can tolerate a double handful per meal, which is about 2-3 cups, max. Then it is clumpy poo. That is why I use beet pulp (soaked) and alfalfa pellets to keep them busy.

My folks brought an apple pie over last night, along with a big bag of peels and cores. It is nice to have family that is so well-trained! The average person just wouldn't understand when I ooooh and ahhhh over the bag of garbage...er....gold, a bit more enthusiastically than over the pie!