|
|
Post by here to stay on Feb 29, 2016 23:37:48 GMT
With all the kids coming with people's stories, I started looking back over my goat moments. Of course there were many happy moments, a few unhappy ones.
But one stands out in horror. I was in a seperate kidding shed with a momma and her hours old kids. The mom suddenly pushed into me, catching me off balance. I fell straight onto two of the kids, flat out on them. One was mostly off to one side but I had to get up to find the other. He was flat as a pancake, on his belly with his legs spread out, absolutely quiet, smack in the middle of where I landed. I was beside myself with recriminations and horror at what I had done and grabbed him up.
As his legs rotated back underneath he started to squirm around. I set him down and he did the wobbly, new baby walk over to mom for a drink. As far as I could ever tell, he suffered no injury at all. I guess a thick layer of straw, the fact I landed on him with my stomach and not a bone part plus the incredible loose joints of newborns saved him. But to this day I can feel the horror of that moment. Shudder.....
|
|
|
|
Post by aoconnor on Mar 1, 2016 4:13:52 GMT
Oh horrors! Amazing they can bounce back so well from events that happen like that. I would have been mortified!!
|
|
|
|
Post by jd4020 on Mar 28, 2016 20:05:19 GMT
I remember when I got my first goat some 33 years ago. She was a lovely Alpine with wattles (I do love the wattles) and had the coloring of an Oberhasli. (which is also one of my favorite coloring) Her name was Matilda--already named when I got her. I often let her out of the pen to follow me around for a while. I had given her a piece of carrot and she choked. Was down on the ground on her side. Didn't have a clue what to do to try to help her. The only thing I could think of was to hit her on the shoulder. Don't know if it was right or wrong--procedurely wise, but it worked. She coughed and out went the piece of carrot. Now when I give carrots as a treat, they are cut very small.  |
|
|
|
Post by spacecase0 on Mar 29, 2016 2:41:15 GMT
one of my friends dropped a 50 pounds bag of feed over the goat fence,
was clear when it went over, but a baby goat ran under it,
said all they saw was 4 feet sticking out from under the bag...
so after running around to the gate and getting inside and lifting up the bag,
the tiny goat just got up and walked away like nothing ever happened
apparently they are quite durable
|
|
|
|
Post by shellymay on Mar 29, 2016 12:14:01 GMT
Had two goats ONCE, we were putting in a new fence row and had the woven wire fence all stretched tight and we were getting ready to nail it to wooden post when one of the dang goats jumped up on tractor seat and started bumping on the shifters/levers and the next thing we know the fence hit the ground and all loose again, my husband chased that goat for what seemed like an hour 
I have mentioned before that we live in a berm home, and well goats like to climb on things as we all know, yep daughter calls us one day when she got home from school and she was frightened by a noise on the roof and thought the worst like burglars or something were out there, nope just a dang goat walking on roof back and forth across the house, THUD and that was the last straw and the two goats had to go and I have Never looked back LOL.................. |
|
|
|
Post by manygoatsnmore on Mar 30, 2016 3:29:45 GMT
Probably the worst goat disaster that turned out well was a lot longer than a moment...it was more like 6 weeks or longer of having a goat in my utility room. It started with our queen of the goat herd, a beautiful black and white LaMancha named Magpie, or Maggie. One day, I went out to the barn and found Maggie down, lying out flat with her head twisted back, and cold to the touch, even in her mouth. To this day, I do not know exactly what happened to her. I grabbed her and ran to the house - that was a heavy goat, and I'm not that strong, but somehow, we made it.
I started warming her and grabbed my vet box. Filled her full of B Complex, BoSe and Penicillin shots, and tubed her with warm water, baking soda and molasses, propped her head up so she couldn't choke and started converting the utility room into an ICU for one. I laid a brand new tarp down and duct-taped it up the walls and appliances to catch any goat pee and poop. Added a good layer of fresh shavings and put a baby gate across the doorway between the utility room and kitchen after my daughter and I moved her into her new room. I brought in a bale of hay to prop her against and to hold her head up.
She came to enough to grind her teeth a bit and flop her head backwards again. I was looking through all my goat books trying to figure out if I was dealing with goat polio, listeriosis, or just a goat that got pummeled, trampled and went into shock. More Vit B Complex (didn't have exactly what I needed, but B Complex is OTC, and I just gave more to get the right dose. I'd give her another drench, change the hot water bottles (jars of hot water tucked up next to her under a quilt), and say another prayer for her not to die, nap for a couple hours and do it all again. For a couple days, I thought I'd find her dead every time I approached her.
She finally rallied enough to hold her head up and start eating and drinking on her own, but couldn't stand. We have a milking stand that has a set of arms and a sling for doing AI breeding, so I took the legs off of it to make it floor level and started having her stand in the sling with just enough ability to touch the stand and hold herself up, or she could rest in the sling. In the sling for a bit, lying down for a bit, repeat.
Bit by bit, she got stronger, but she was so thin. She'd been in good condition before all this, but now she was a wobbly bag of bones. While she was sick, she also had almost all her hair fall out, so she was also a bald, scaly goat for nearly a month while it fell out and grew back in. Eventually, she grew fatter and hairier, and one day we came home to find her wandering around the house - she'd jumped the baby gate. Nothing like having a goat greet you at the front door - on the inside!
At that point, I figured she was well enough to go to a small pen in the barn where she could continue to heal without the other goats hurting her - she was still a little weak compared to her old self. The other goats were just across the pen from her, so she was also being slowly integrated back into herd life. After a few weeks in the pen, I let her out with the others. She promptly went over to her second in command and plowed her head right into the other doe's side! Whether this was repayment for whatever had happened before we found her, or just reasserting her dominance, either way, Magpie was BAA-AACK!
From that day on, she was the herd queen again, and went on to give us several beautiful kids. She nursed not only her own kids but her grandkids, too, and she ruled the roost until I finally disbanded our goat herd years later.
|
|
|
|
Post by here to stay on Mar 30, 2016 16:13:21 GMT
Boy what a great goat mom. I could only wish to be one of your goats. Your story brought a lump to my throat.
|
|
|
|
Post by manygoatsnmore on Mar 30, 2016 19:22:34 GMT
here to stay, thanks. I've lost some goats over the years, of course, but Maggie was my favorite success story.
|
|
|
|
Post by mogal on Jun 26, 2016 22:10:16 GMT
I guess our worst kidding was one morning this spring, not bad having had goats since '78. Rusty worked harder than I ever saw a goat labor with NO results. The tendons in her hips weren't loose or anything to indicate that the kids could pass on their own. My previous vet had reduced her practice to seeing clients only on Friday--this was a Wednesday--so I couldn't call her. I ended up calling a recent vet school grad who said there was no way the doe could kid as she was. Instead of giving her something to slow the labor to let her dilate (what a professor at the vet school used to do), she gave Rusty oxytocin plus another injection she told me to administer in 45 minutes. Nothing happened. At 6, I checked Rusty myself and she was still so tight, nothing dilated. ARRGH! At 9, she was forcing out a bubble so I checked--very small hind legs. When I tried to remove the kid, the hock joint separated so that I had to grasp the leg higher to pull it out. A stillborn preemie. Rusty wasn't pushing at all by then. I tried to get the second kid and found front legs but the head/neck were bent back over the spine. We called the vet again and hauled Rusty to her clinic for the vet's safety since it was late and foggy. When I told her what had transpired, including the presentation of the second kid, she said adamantly that they were hind legs. When the kid finally came out, the presentation was just as I had described. The vet quickly put the kid behind her but not before both DH and I saw I'd been correct. She then delivered the third kid, a mummy, and said she'd pulled out the placenta as well. That professor friend at the vet school and everything I'd ever read said you do NOT pull a placenta but it didn't look like much of one. She gave Rusty a shot of antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory. To make matters worse, the vet smelled like a brewery. She'd driven to the clinic and worked on my goat under the influence--won't call her again.
Rusty was one sick goat for a couple of weeks. I contacted my previous vet on Friday. She dispensed more meds for Rusty but warned me that in a situation like that survival was unlikely. We gave her all the meds the experienced vet gave us plus I picked all the healing herbs I could find to feed her and kept milking her. We lost the kids but now Rusty is slick and shiny, and milks well despite not having all the hormones associated with a normal parturition. Poor baby was so sick!
The next worse kidding was a doe kid that had 4 hind legs and an umbilical hernia. She was alive but not viable. Her brother was fine and so was the mama.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2016 22:34:57 GMT
WOW! I can't believe that!
The whole thing is shocking. I'm shocked your goat is alive. You never ever give oxytocin to a doe that isn't dilated. You are so lucky she didn't rupture!
Going into the doe and pulling the placenta is fairly common as long as the vet knows what s/he is doing. Did you do a uterine flush on the doe?
I hope that the vet didn't charge you.
|
|
|
|
Post by jd4020 on Jun 29, 2016 19:26:42 GMT
Last year one of my girls was a first timer for a birth. She was doing fine but it seemed like it was taking a very long time. When I would check, I would feel a nose & two front feet in normal presentation. She wasn't showing any signs of stress or distress, just cud chewing and pushing at intervals. Well, I called the vet about 6 in the morning and he stopped by. I could tell he was confused by what he was feeling. Now she was distressed.
What he finally pulled out was very sad indeed. The little doe was perfectly formed except that her rib cage had never knit together right. All the organs were just floating. She was alive until the amniotic sac broke. He had only seen one other goat like that in 14 years - cows a bit more frequently. I had never seen or heard of anything like it, ever, and I'm glad I didn't try to pull it out myself, I would have freaked out that I had pulled it apart.
The "end well" part of the story is that my first time mama recovered quite well. In fact, a more than a year later, I am still milking her once a day. I treated her with what the vet prescribed and my own home care. Our vet was surprised that she made it, so I was very happy---to say the least. She has a very sweet personality, like her mother, whom we no longer have.
|
|
|
|
Post by mogal on Jun 29, 2016 21:59:03 GMT
Goatlady, we were very lucky she survived. The older vet from whom I got extra meds gave her a drug that would help the remaining material in her uterus break up and pass. She said too much time had passed to enter the uterus again. Rusty "cleaned" very well and fortunately, the flow was normal looking, never putrid or discolored.
We never received a bill from the new vet for the second call, the one after hours at her clinic. I don't know if it were an oversight on her part or deliberate. I've debated whether it would be more ethical for ME to call her to remind her she'd not billed me but I decided I'll just let the sleeping dog lie. In her inebriated condition, she probably didn't remember our name.
jd4020, that little doe with the umbilical hernia had her stomachs, liver and intestines on the outside floating within the placenta. That's all I recognized in a quick examination--didn't have the heart or stomach to look more closely. Her bones were so soft, almost rubbery, and tiny. I was here by myself dealing with that one.
|
|
|
|
Post by jd4020 on Jun 30, 2016 4:34:48 GMT
I understand mogal, sometimes it's just so much more than one can deal with. Especially, it seems when they are so tiny and gone before they even had a chance.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2016 1:21:51 GMT
Worst moment that turned out well was very recent, just a month or so ago.
A dear friend blessed me with the daughter of my second-favorite-goat-in-the-world. She was doing very well here, along with the kid on her, until one rainy morning when we were choring before work. Heard her kid crying most piteously, so we started looking for his mom.
Couldn't find the doe anywhere. Walked our land, didn't see her. No blood, no sign of attack, but no goat.
We had to go to work, so we took care of the rest of the livestock. With heavy hearts, we posted on our neighborhood FB page that she was lost and asking folks to keep an eye out for her.
One of our very good neighbors, who lives ~ 3 miles from here, took it upon himself to walk our entire fence line after he finished his own chores. He found an open space at the seasonal creek, crept under it, and called our girl. She trotted right over to him, and followed him back to the rest of the herd.
After notifying us of his success, he went back to the hole in the fence and mended it for us.
We have the best neighbors EVER.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2016 1:42:10 GMT
Worst moment that turned out well was very recent, just a month or so ago. That's an AWESOME story, Pony. What a guy!!! Everyone should be blessed with such a wonderful neighbour. Wish I had the same success with our 3 geese (husband, wife and daughter) that went missing a week or so ago. They've simply disappeared, leaving the son behind. Breaks my heart to hear him calling out for his family. They've been with us for a number of years and never strayed from around the house and the top paddocks - even down to the river. No dogs that could have gotten them, and we don't have other predators here. It's duck hunting season but the hunters are a long way away and nowhere near our place. |
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2016 2:01:16 GMT
Worst moment that turned out well was very recent, just a month or so ago. That's an AWESOME story, Pony. What a guy!!! Everyone should be blessed with such a wonderful neighbour. Wish I had the same success with our 3 geese (husband, wife and daughter) that went missing a week or so ago. They've simply disappeared, leaving the son behind. Breaks my heart to hear him calling out for his family. They've been with us for a number of years and never strayed from around the house and the top paddocks - even down to the river. No dogs that could have gotten them, and we don't have other predators here. It's duck hunting season but the hunters are a long way away and nowhere near our place. We are, indeed, blessed with incredible neighbors, and do our best to be blessings to them as well. I am so sorry to read about your geese! Has the trio wandered off before? I wonder if they found themselves on another farm, and the folks there said, "hey! Poor geese! They must need a home - with us!" |
|
