I hope you are all surviving this time change better than I am. With it getting dark at 5 PM it reminded me of why I dislike the winter so much. There is something to be said about the level of dedication it takes to get up and take care of animals in the dark, work all day then go out and take care of them in the dark again at night. I don't know about you, but there is something about sunshine that just makes me feel happy and motivated, which is funny because the fall and winter is when I have more time to tackle the long overdue farm tasks like running fans and lights in my run-in shed, but with the shorter days and lack of sun light my motivation level is not as high as it should be!
Overall, the fall has been going well I have all the does bred with the exception of my yearling Chi Chi, who I put a CIDIR in this week with hopes to breed her the week of Thanksgiving. My one doe a three-year-old has been presenting with some odd symptoms, at first, she was isolating herself and not eating with a full udder, so I thought maybe she was uncomfortable from drying up, I checked her for mastitis, and she did not come back positive. I also checked her temperature which was normal, but I treated her with Nufluor just in case she had a silent case of pneumonia. I also noticed that she was walking a little stiff, so I thought to myself I better treat her with some thiamine and deworm her in case it is polio or meningeal worm. I have also been giving her daily meloxicam for the stiffness and probiotics...... not to mention after talking to my mom she thought she could have teatnus..... so, I treated her with with CDT anti- toxin..... All of this to say I have thrown the literal kitchen sink at her in terms of her treatment, and something is working. She began eating again and hanging out with the herd after day 2 of treatment with everything, but she is still walking a little odd. I wonder, does she have a mild case of polio, or did she get injured from fighting with the other goats..... I don't honestly know. To complicate the situation further, she had a very difficult kidding this spring and she was unable to stand directly after the kidding I assume due to inflammation. I did breed her just about two weeks ago, so I am wondering if the pregnancy hormones are making it difficult for her to walk or re-aggravating her previous injury....... For now, we are going to continue with daily thiamine, meloxicam and probiotics because she is improving......... Has anyone else dealt with a situation like this before? What do you think it is? Is there anything I am missing or anything you would do differently? One thing is for sure goats keep you on your toes! I hope you all are having a great fall and breeding season, stay tuned for the next blog where we will talk about the buck collection scheduled for next week!
Take care and Happy Goating!!
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