The New Wether and Copper

Well, Popcorn is officially working on becoming a wether!

Popcorn

He went to the vet and got banded.

I am no good at banding them when they are this big, but I wanted to let his urinary tract grow before he was banded.  Just a few days before his appointment, he had diarrhea.  His eyes were quite pale.

My March/April babies are getting big enough for their first dose of copper, and since he and several others were pale and having diarrhea, I gave them copper.  Then I moved on to the rest of the kids.

Marin

Luckily, when we were at the vet’s office (curbside only), Popcorn was kind enough to give us a poop sample, so I had them do a fecal, (low copper means more likely to have worms) but it came back clean.  I’m going to assume I’d get the same results with the rest of the kids.

Tiger

Hopefully, the copper will help all the kids, and I won’t see any more sloppy poops.

Onyx

Now I’m working on another round for the adults because some of them are starting to show signs of needing it again.

Wanda

This copper seems to be a full time job all by itself.

Harley, Maggie, and Blaze

I moved Harley and Maggie from the Love Shack to the north paddock so they could have green grass and a little more room.

Maggie and free range hen

Of course, they have to share with the free range hen.  I can’t believe none of the others come out.

Anyhow, Maggie is still thin, but she eats like crazy and acts well.  She’s anemic, but she just got more copper.  I am not sure if it’s just old age and copper deficiency or CAE.  Harley, on the other hand, has a really good weight, but her mobility is getting worse.  She’s struggling to get up.  I’m going to have to call the vet to see if they can check her front foot and see if they can help her.

Harley

I’m pretty sure they are not going to make it through the summer.  Sorry, but that is the sad reality of farming and being a horrible livestock (letting them retire).  Blaze is also up here.  I had to do some touchup on her foot, and I’m hoping it feels better.  If not, I’ll have to call the vet and see if they can fix it.

Blaze

I also brought 2TC up with her mom.

2TC

At least she’s doing really well.

Another Round

Last weekend when it was warm, I gave the goats another round of copper.  Some of the goats were showing signs of being depleted again.  Cinnamon has that streak down her face that shows she needs copper.

Cinnamon

Flower has lost some hair on her face and neck.

Flower

My girls who are pregnant also need more when they are growing babies.

Gidget

I always worry about my older goats because I really have no way of knowing how depleted they are.  I can only guess, and I don’t want anyone to get as bad as Fionn was last summer.

Fionn and Joani

Although, Cupid still has a fair amount of her orange color.  She’s not pure white in her spots yet.

Cupid

I don’t want her to get that bad again either.