Gouda Eyes

You might remember I had to take Hilda’s boy, Gouda, to the vet to get a clip on his eye.

Gouda

Well, the next day, I had to take Reva’s boy over for clips too.

Reva’s boy

When I took him, I also took Gouda back because below his eye was all swollen and purple.  They decided they must have his a little blood vessel, and it was just blood pooling.  No big deal.  I added him to my list of goats getting anti-inflammatory and pain meds, and all is gouda! Right?

Well, in the morning, the clip had come off because it was so swollen.  They couldn’t put it back on because of the swelling.  I got an eye salve to put in it, but the whole eye swelled shut.  It was filling with pus.  We added hot packs and changed the anti-inflammatory.

Hilda (I don’t know what kid is to her left) and Gouda in the pan to the left

Finally, he went back to the vet and got shots of penicillin in the eye lids.  Poor baby.

But it’s finally looking better.

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Tony

I cannot tell you how excited and happy I am to see Tony in the barn eating his hay every time I go in there.

Tony

He is going through a crazy amount of hay and llama feed.  That’s a good thing!

I am grateful to my vet (and not the jerks from the ISU field services) for helping me get him the right treatment.  I’m also grateful to my nephew for helping give shots and the alfalfa hay (the kids like his leftovers too) and Claire for helping give the last shot.

Tony, Plulto, Anubis, and Sidney

I am pretty sure he’s going to survive.  We just need to get some more weight on him and then he’ll be ready to go eat on pasture all spring and summer and finish gaining his weight back again.

Everyday Goat Herder

Most of the time, my winter days with the goats is just doing routine things–feed and water.  Part of that also includes just paying attention.  It’s been nice to notice that Antigone’s head has completely healed up where her horns were removed.

Antigone and Pistol (in back)

I see Margarita is not very round.  She’s bred and it makes me worry she isn’t getting enough to eat.  That means I put her and her maa in the Love Shack.  Although, after just a couple of days, I’d returned Maggie to the Love Shack three times and Margarita twice, so I gave up.  Now I’m trying to get Margarita to eat in the milk room after Dolly is done with her extra feed.

Margarita and Maggie

Then I noticed Clover was under the bench in the greenhouse, which made me think that I hadn’t seen her when I fed grain.  Sure enough, she got under there and couldn’t get out, so I had to pull her out.  Luckily, that’s not a very frequent problem.

Clover

I’ve noticed Reva limping again.  I consulted with the vet, and we’re going to try a different antibiotic that is more safe for while she’s pregnant and try to take care of that stubborn infection in her hoof.

Reva

Because I seem to not know how to truly tell when the girls need more copper, I also try to pay attention to anything that can give me a clue.

Mary with a fish tail

Of course, I’m not so sure that Mary’s fish tail isn’t an improvement.  She’s actually getting enough hair on her tail to sport this look.

I also noticed one afternoon that Maybeline (I know she’s not a goat, but still…) had twine from a bale of hay wrapped around her foot.  No matter how hard I try to keep them picked up, they end up everywhere.  Anyhow, Maybeline was not about to let me take it off her foot, but she did run from me like I was a demon trying to drag her soul from her, and it finally fell off.  Of course, she still thinks I’m evil now.  I swear that girl better just be pregnant and hormonal, or she’s major bi-polar.

Maybeline (and Odie in back agreeing that Maybeline is crazy)

Fionn has been coughing off and on all fall and winter, but he seems to be acting fine.  I am just keeping a close eye on him to make sure he’s still eating well and acting well. He’s not a young kid anymore.

Fionn

Then these two little stinkers managed to flip the lid off the corn, and I spent a couple of tense days hoping that they didn’t overeat on the corn.  I did threaten Pluto that I’d never forgive him if he killed himself by overeating.

Anubis and Pluto

Then yesterday when I was doing chores, I noticed that Athena had a bloody back side indicating that she had aborted.  At least she was not very far along (more like she didn’t settle than aborted), and she is acting fine, so I’m not worried about her.  Still, I will keep a close eye on her to make sure she doesn’t get an infection.

Athena

Mama Phoenix was doing better.  She was doing so well that she managed to fly up to the roof of the soap room to roost for the night.  That means she reinjured her leg when she flew down in the morning.  Sigh.  We’re back to gimping around.  Poor girl.

It seems like there’s always someone to take care of and do something with.