Copper Time

I remember last spring that the goats seemed to all get really bad with the copper even though I was giving it to them quite regularly.

Casey losing fur on his ears

Haley has bare spots on her hips from scratching and the fur coming out.

I am seeing that this year as well.  I gave everyone another round over the weekend.

Cupid’s orange spots have no orange.

Popcorn’s spots are fading.

Cinnamon needs fur on her face.

Hopefully, this will help get them caught back up.

Brigit (not showing signs, but I want to prevent that)

Even the March babies got some copper.

Haley’s Pasture Walk

I’m trying to figure out how to get the goats out of the garage, and I thought I would have enough shelter to put them up north if Haley went back with the rest of the herd.  So after a week of resting and being pampered up there, I decided to see if she wanted out.

Haley waiting to see if I brought peanut butter meds

She didn’t hesitate to come out.

We went out to pasture together.

She nibbled some grass.  She seemed to be doing well, so I decided to head back to the barnyard.

She decided to come with me.

pausing to scratch on the branches

I admit, she does still look tired.  I think I might have been rushing her.

She was quite happy to walk right back in the gate when I opened it.  It looks like she’s going to keep getting spoiled.

Haley

I’ve been trying to have fewer goats in the milk room because it’s a free-for-all when I try to go through the door.  I might have accidentally shut Pretzel’s head in the door once.

Pretzel

That means I haven’t been feeding all the old ladies their little bit of extra sweet feed.

Dolly

The temperatures has still been mostly well below average (except for a couple of extra warm days), which means the pasture hasn’t grown like it should for this time of year. That has been hard on the old girls.

Joani

Haley ended up with bottle jaw.  I caught it early.  They just had copper two weeks earlier, but I did check and she only had 2 grams.

Haley

So I gave her another 2 grams and shut her in the Love Shack for a couple of days.

She was better, so I moved her up with Flower and Coral.

Haley, Coral, and Flower

I wish the goats had a pop-up timer (like the Thanksgiving turkey) to let me know when they need more copper.  It would be so much easier than guessing.