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.

It Could Be a Rough Year

In 2020, I lost way too many goats. Last year, I only lost four.  This year could be another rough one between age and copper.

Cinnamon is starting to look old.

I have already shared that I’m still not certain Flower will make it through the winter.

Flower has been pigging out on the sweet lick tub.

Coral and Victoria both went in for a bit of extra care this winter.  They are holding their own, but they have both dropped weight.  I do hope they can recover.  Spring might be a great help for these two; spring will be a big help for most of them.

Victoria

I also have several others that I’m not sure will be with me through the year.  Reva dropped a lot of weight last fall; copper helped, and she’s holding her own.  But she has bad feet that I think was caused by the copper deficiency.  I’m trying to help her, but I’m not sure how long I can keep her comfortable and happy.

Reva

Joani really has started dropping weight also, but she’s hanging in there.

Joani

Hilda is starting to show her age.  She is the oldest girl I bred, and this will be her last time.

Hilda with daughter Purl

Bambi is the same age as Flower, but she’s still looking pretty good.  But when you’re twelve, you’re on the list of possibles.

Bambi

Same with Dolly.  She looks great for her age.  Actually, she looks great for any age.  But she is going to be fourteen in June.

Dolly

Myson is also showing his age.  He’s had a couple of episodes where he may have had bladder stones but got them passed.  I hope he hangs in there.

Myson

I just have so many old goats, and the copper is still an issue.  I’m not sure some of my old ones will ever get caught up.  I just hope the young ones continue to improve.

Old Ladies and Birds

I still just have the three old ladies in the buck room.

Victoria, Flower, and Coral

I shut the door at night and let them out during the day while it’s nice.

When it gets cold again in a couple of day, I’ll just keep them shut in.

Coral

Coral and Victoria are doing great.

Victoria

Flower is holding her own.

Flower

I’m going to try to do another round of copper for everyone on the next decent weather weekend.  Some of the goats are showing signs of needing more.

Cinnamon

I still have a couple of other goats I’m keeping a close eye on, but they are still hanging in there.

Joani

I’m still making sure Aurora gets her extra feed.  It seems to be helping her, and she waits there everyday until I give it to her.

Aurora

While the weather is nice, I’m actually starting to get a few eggs.

The birds were all coming outside.

Sadly, this is the only space that is cleared for them.

The poor goose would like a real bath, but it’s buried under all that snow.

The peacock thought it was a good day to come out and flex that tail.

He’s so handsome!