Hen23's Journal~Goodbye

[Henrietta23]

Not to worry.....Ginger has scurs that grow and grow and I finally learned to let her snap 'em off herself....sometimes she breaks one off at the halfway point, sometimes she wrenches it off at her skull and owie! At least you don't need to worry about trimming one for a while now! Cause for rejoicing!

Remember, it is a head wound so can bleed more than expected. It will look worse because Daisy is almost white, but it's no biggie. Really. Have another beer....feet up!

Yay on the milking! I've squirted myself all over, still do!

My goatherd hero! Thanks Free.
Almost overflowed the quart jar this morning but I think that was because we slept in (6:30) and milked her a little later. Milking is going so smoothly that DH says he wants to try the evening milking today.
Daisy's head looks much better today. You're right about blood against a white head! I managed to sleep but did go down and peek at her through the window once to make sure it wasn't bleeding badly. It wasn't at the time I noticed it. She and Thomas, who is not limping this morning, are out there playing, bonking their heads together so I guess it isn't hurting her either. AND Donki had a normal looking BM, pretty much on my foot.
Busy day planned. Mom and I are going to pick strawberries. Then it's back here to freeze some and make some jam. Then I've got milk coming out my ears and need to make some cheese! Anything left over becomes yogurt because I'm almost out.
Outdoors we are blocking the ducks' access to the goat pen because of the mess they make of the water buckets. We have some food storage issues to work out for the goats' different foods.
Having a small area for the goats means it gets messy quick so I will rake it out and put in fresh bedding.
2.5 days left of school.

 

[Henrietta23]

Nevermind. Thomas is still limping some. If he still is Monday I guess I will have to call the vet.

 

[freemotion]

"Limping some" is really not a huge concern, especially if you cannot find a reason for it. Really-truly! Especially since you just plopped three goats together in a new place. Bonking happens. Limping happens. Bleeding scurs happen. Really, it is ok!

If it makes you feel any better, my teensy Plum has had a very mild limp for a week. It comes and goes. She gets bonked more than normal without a mom to protect her. But for her sake, she needs to be socialized with the herd and to learn from them how to be a goat and what to eat, where to sleep, how to jump and hop and skip, and what is rude and what is good manners.

If I got the vet in.....well, I might as well just build a guest house for him! I did spend $330 for a vet to check on Willow when she was three-legged lame for several hours. He said, "Hmmm." Said it could be this and it could be that and the treatment was the same for any possibility: Wait.

She was three-legged for two full weeks and we finally figured she'd dislocated her hip and would be lame for life. Then a client said, "Why don't you give her some of your supplements that you talk about all the time? You must have something for pain and inflammation." DUH! Within two days she was experimenting with weight bearing, then within another week or so we forgot which leg it was.

Moral of the story: Have a beer, put your feet up, take a deep breath. You are majorly overwhelmed right now so everything seems much bigger than it is. Really. Breathe! Thomas will be just fine, I promise.

 

[Henrietta23]

I've decided to listen to Free and Thomas' stomach. He is eating like a little piggie so I am not going to fret. There continue to be no visible injuries, swellings, hottness. The vet who sold them to us told us they really like raisins. I don't usually buy them because DS doesn't like them. But I did grab some yesterday and brought down a few when I went to visit the goaties. I am a goat goddess now. Daisy was letting me pet her, Thomas was too. Even Donki ate a few from my hand, something she won't even do when she wants her grain YESTERDAY. Or apples. I got a good look at Daisy's horn. Looks perfectly normal-ish. No worries there. Thomas let me feel his leg with no jumping away. Just call me raisin lady!
I can't tell you how thrilled I was too see Donki have normal poo finally.
Has it really only been a week? Really???
ETA: Gluten free/low carb should really mean no beer, but........ I do have a few Redbridge sorghum beers in the pantry. I have one each weekend..... and guess what? IT'S SATURDAY!!!!

 

[Henrietta23]

Free, you are a goat guru AND a prophet. You said I should be thankful that I won't have trim that horn of Daisy's. So I was looking at Thomas' head this morning and thinking, hmmm, that horn has grown a little.... I bet I'm going to have to trim it. Rats! Then when I went down to bring them hay this afternoon it seemed a little different, crumbly around the edges. Sure enough, he came in the barn while I was setting up the milk stand and it was gone. Just a little bloody. Doesn't look as scary this time now that I know it's normal.

 

[freemotion]

Just repeating what was said to me when I needed to be talked off the ledge!

 

[Henrietta23]

It was one bit of info that didn't really show up in any of the books or online articles I read. If I searched I found stuff, mostly people like myself in a slight panic over what to do about it.
Didn't get the barn cleaned because of the rain. Now, I'm not afraid of a little rain, but the goats don't like it and it's hard to clean a small barn around 3 goats! I hope it doesn't rain all day tomorrow so I can do it.
DH gave milking a try and found that he can do it but he's really slow.
Now, for some strawberries that I picked today (11 lbs worth!) and then that cold beer.
Cheese got made but jam didn't. Tomorrow, tomorrow, I love ya tomorrow.....

 

[Henrietta23]

figures, it's the other horn that Thomas lost.

 

[TanksHill]

Your goat adventures sound like they are keeping you busy. But all that cheese, milk and yogurt sounds wonderful!!!

g

 

[Farmfresh]

Let's see you have gobs of fresh milk and strawberries ... Sounds like homemade Ice Cream time!!!!

BTW I also highly recommend Wood Chuck cider (also GF) for those hair raising/goat raising days.