Sick Doe and Low Milk Production

It's been a very rough month!  My Doe, Pims, who kidded with beautiful twin does on February 2nd got sick!  Here's what happened.  She was producing very well...about 2.5 lbs per milking of colostrum. She was beginning to produce more at around 6 lbs per day, when she had a sudden drop in production. It was super cold so I didn't think much of it.  The next day I realized that she was scouring badly and had no appetite. 

I went into high gear.  I had two hungry kids and not enough milk and a doe that could die!  I started with Corrid, doused down her throat with a turkey baster.  I used 2 tsp in water enough to fill the baster and put it down her throat, behind her tongue (this is a 2 person job).  You have to run it down slowly so she doesn't choke. I also treated the water with Corrid.  It tastes bad enough that they wouldn't drink the water and I saw no change by evening so I switched to Sulmet.  Again, a dose down the throat with a turkey baster and sulmet in the water with some goat electrolytes to help mask the smell and to give her back some of what the diarrhoea was taking.

I followed the following regimen for a week.  Sulmet in the morning and in the water with electrolyte, almost no feed (1/2 of a 16 oz can of rolled oats and cheerios twice daily--she only picked at it anyway) at milking time.  Her udder went through changes and her milk production dropped to 1.7 lbs per milking.  The udder became leathery like when a doe is being dried up. At night she got pro-biotics and no sulmet in the water.

By the third day of this, her stools were firm.  By the weeks end, her udder was pink again, as if she had just kidded and she was producing 2.25 lbs of milk twice a day...almost enough for the kids but not nearly what you would expect of a two year old doe.  For the kids I started adding milk re-placer to their bottles on top of the milk to get them used to it.  You don't want to switch to milk re-placer all at once because they will get sick (as my husband found out when he got up and thought he was doing a good thing by making a straight milk re-placer bottle.  The baby scoured but recovered quickly when she got her mother's milk and probiotics).  I used the "Save a Kid" brand milk re-placer and it worked very well.

Pims is now a month out from her first episode with scours.  She has gone through mini-episodes since then of not eating and having loose stools but she continues to get better.  She is eating two 16 oz cans of goat grain (Blue Seal Caprine Challenger) twice a day and is producing 5 lbs per day of milk, which is pretty poor.  She may never recover from the damage that was done to her gut and it may always affect her production but I am waiting to see what spring and fresh grass and warm temperatures do for her before I make any judgement.

It's been a tough road but on the positive side, at eight weeks this Saturday, both kids are doing great.  They have exceeded their weaning weight already even though I am still feeding bottles--20 oz, twice daily of their mother's milk and 20 oz of water with molasses twice daily.  They are eating kid grain (it's hard to tell how much because they spill quite a lot) and hay.  They are both well over 30 lbs and growing fast.  Pims has contributed three does to the herd in her two years and more than earned her way.  I hope she will recover but if she doesn't, only a wonderful pet home will do for her...or she stays with us.  She won't be culled.

Seeing Spots

Pims was acting strangely last night when I did my last check before bed...of course she was in labor!  So I went back inside and got my Triadine (for cord dipping), a clean towel and got my milking pail ready as well as a bottle for the kids.  I knew it would probably be at least two hours...there was no show yet but I was seeing contractions every ten minutes. So I put on my snow suit and wool coat. Temps were in the teens so it would be a cold wait. This was at 7:30.

At 10:00 we saw fore-waters  crowning (finally!) and at 10:15 I was seeing spots!  I was rewarded for my wait with the loudest doe I've ever seen...her name is Mocha Madness.  15 minutes later came Chai who is mostly brown but a lovely doe as well.  These two will stay with us for at least the next two years and we couldn't be more thrilled with how Pims is producing.  What a great doe.

For her trouble, she got a warm pail of molasses water.  They need the energy even though the kidding was perfect and she didn't skip a meal she worked very hard!  It's her second freshening and her second set of twins so milking is not strange but a welcome relief to her poor distended udder! 

Buck Bath

Well it's almost fall and Mr. Wonderful has turned into Mr. Stinky.  That's right, as every buck owner in the world knows, those bucks get really gross when breeding season rolls around.  It's not just the hormonal stink but mix that with a generous helping of buck peeing on his own beard.  I heard that people wash their bucks but I had never done it before so I was a little worried.  He is 200 lbs on the weigh tape and he's quite strong.  I thought if it panicked him we'd be holding on to wet soapy goat for dear life and we'd never get him rinsed off.  It would be a goat rodeo.

The good news is that he loved it!  He's been so stinky that I avoid touching him and the only contact he gets is when I put the leaf rake over the rail to scratch his back...he hasn't had a good back rub in months.  He wasn't crazy about the straight from the well cold water but he loved the lathering up bit.  He wasn't even as bad as our dog but stood patiently while we lathered and rinsed.  He lounged around like a king afterwards.

So, if you haven't washed your buck get to it while the weather is still warm.  You (and he) will be glad you did.

Miniature Cow??

Saturdays Caledonian record features a picture of this animal, above, with the caption calling her a cow.  I've had people ask if they were dogs before but I've never had anyone mistake my goats for cows!  And in print...in the Newspaper.

Stars and Stripes

We took Sally and Pim's daughter Belle to the park for the Star's and Stripes annual political milking contest where politicians are given 30 seconds to see who can get the most milk.  I was so proud of how Sally behaved!  She stood still and let around 14 complete strangers attempt to milk her.  The Ham's also brought their goat "Lily" to the competition and she was lovely to everyone as well.  They both represented goats to the public in a way we would all be happy to see.

Of course, Dick Lawrence, remained the reigning champion in the contest.  The goats had plenty of milk though.  It was something I was worried about. 

Stars and Stripes

Mustang Sally will be hob-nobbing with politicians on July 21st in Lyndonville.  Every year politicians are invited out to Bandstand Park to milk a cow to see who has the most "pull" in the Kingdom. This year they are going the way of the goat and Mustang Sally will be in the park (hopefully behaving herself) while two politicians see who can get the most milk into the pail in 30 seconds.  I'm a little worried about this...I can practically milk her out in that amount of time.

So get out to goat and come by Bandstand Park at 11:30 to say hi and meet miss Sally.  I may even have some cheese for you to try!

Presenting : Queso Blanco

The babies are weaned and now comes the fun part....what to do with just under 12 lbs a day worth of goat's milk.  Of course it's time to make cheese!  I will be marketing the cheese through the St. J Coop (I will add other places you can get it as they are added to my list). 

Right now you can get a sampler pack...three cheeses in two ounce tubs.  They are:

Queso Blanco with Basil and Garlic : this is a lovely cheese with even buttery undertones that carry the pesto taste uniformly throughout the cheese.  Great on crackers or I love to throw it into my eggs (Yum!).

Queso Blanco : This is a very mild versatile cheese which can be grated and used any place that calls for a mild cheese such as on pizza or salads. 

Yogurt Spread : This is a tangy cheese like Cream cheese...great on bagels or crackers.  It also is great as a dip for veggies (it's a little thick for chips)

Yogurt Spread with Dill and Garlic : One of my favorite combinations...goes great on crackers or bagels.  I like it on sandwiches as an alternative to mayo.

All cheeses are made by hand one at a time and without rennet!