Zoey arrived on our farm late Saturday evening and I was up and out in the barn to check on her first thing in the morning. Sadly, she had not improved and was still not eating or drinking. I immediately thought about what emergency goat supplies I had. Then I used all of the tools in my mental kit to assess her overall health. Her FAMACHA color was very good and her temperature was normal, so I guessed she had ruminal acidosis from the stress of traveling. In order to treat this I gave her a shot of B vitamin complex, a drench syringe of baking soda in warm water, to help with the pH of her rumen, and a syringe of goat probiotics.
Thankfully, as the day continued I noticed she began nibbling on hay and acting perkier. We knew from there she would continue to improve. Since we were out of the woods with her general health we turned our concern to her pregnancy, she had only been bred about 30 days before we went to pick her up. We were very concerned that the stress of the move, the new herd, and climate would cause her to abort. Thankfully, that was not the case! When the vet arrived in late December to take blood samples for pregnancy tests she came back pregnant! We were also very concerned about the wild temperature swing from 70 degrees F in Florida to days where the high was only in the teens in frigid western Pennsylvania. Zoey proved to us how tough she was, by growing a thick winter coat very quickly. We bought her an insulated goat blanket to wear anticipating the weather to be a great challenge, but by the second week at our homestead she no longer needed it!
Sadly, Ivy and Marigold still ruled the roost, they would boss Zoey around, not let her eat hay with them and generally show her where she stood in the pecking order
. Zoey turned to her human caregivers for love and affection and was regularly found laying on the doormat of our front porch. She is a very kind and patient goat that is a joy to be around.
The time came to take her to our first show of the year the PA Farm show where Zoey won the hearts of the Judge, spectators and other exhibitors. She won her class of over 20 Nigerian dry yearlings and went on to be the Grand Champion Jr Nigerian! Zoey has been an awesome addition to our herd. Come back next week to learn about Zoey's kidding experience here at Udderly Wicked Farms!