Mary, Mary, Miss Extraordinary

When the vet came to help Stormy, I had him check on Mary too.  She was not supposed to have babies this year, but she gave me oopsie babies Trace and Quatro.

Mary, Quatro and Trace

While she did amazingly well at raising them, it really took its toll on her, and she’s been in a steady decline since August.  Her lungs didn’t sound great, she was horribly under weight, anemic, and struggling to stay warm, so we decided it was time to say good-bye to her as well.

Bubbles, Mary, and Quatro

Mary, Mary quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row.

Mary was actually named after the singing group Peter, Paul and Mary.

Kizzy and triplets Paul, Peter and Mary

But I always chanted the nursery rhyme to her until I decided maybe she was taking it a bit too much to heart with her contrary nature.  Then I changed it to Mary, Mary, Miss Extraordinary.

Mary

She was such a beautiful girl.

Farewell, Mary, Mary Miss Extraordinary.

Shuffling the Copper Deficient

As much as I’d love to have a long stretch of boring, I have goats.  That is not going to happen.  I am shuffling the goats who have been struggling with the copper deficiency.  The good news is that Freddie is doing so much better I put him in with Tiger.

Tiger and Freddie

His eyes are red; he’s eating well; he’s gaining weight.  I’m feeling pretty good about where he’s at.  I also had to move him to make room for Stormy in the Love Shack.

Stormy

Even though I had been letting her come in to eat sweet feed each evening, she was still falling behind more and more.  Then she ended up with bottle jaw–as bad as Annie’s.  I gave her more copper and shut her in the Love Shack.

Stormy

The swelling is going down, which is good.  She’s eating really well.  Now I just need her not to pick on the other girls and quit fighting through the fence.

Stormy fighting with Cinnamon (Dolly behind; Antigone and Edith in front)

Seriously.  Why? The last thing these old ladies need to do is use extra energy.

Annie; Mary and Dolly fighting

Annie and Mary are getting more color in their eye membranes, but they are still really thin and weak.  I keep trying.

Mary

Bonnie is also looking more thin, so I shut her in with the other three.  It’s kind of getting crowded in there.  As long as they can get along, though, it’s more body heat to help it stay warmer, especially with the cool, damp windy weekend we had.

Bonnie

Hopefully, they can recover.  Part of it will depend on the weather, too.  We need to quit having crazy swings from hot to cold.

Working On Them

I know I’ve said this fall seems to be unusually rough for the copper deficiency, and that continues.  Freddie is slowly making progress.

Freddie with Annie in the back

I will say, his appetite has really improved in the last few days.  That’s a really good sign.

The hair is starting to fill back in on his ears, but you can’t tell in this picture.

Annie is really doing better.  I think she’ll be ready to go back to the rest of the herd by this next weekend if she continues to improve.

Annie

Unfortunately, Mary is looking horrible now.  I have her shut in for lots of extra food and less stress and running around.

Mary

She wasn’t supposed to have kids this year.  She did an amazing job of raising Trace and Quatro, but that has a lot to do with why she is run-down now.

Beautiful Trace (with Bambi in the background)

She’s not happy about being taken off pasture and put in the Love Shack, but hopefully, she can gain her strength back.  She was not supposed to have kids.

Watching the herd in pasture

Stormy is also really thin, but she’s getting quite old, so I am giving her extra food and babying her.

Stormy with Tish

Bonnie is thin too.  She’s not exactly young anymore.

Bonnie

I think I’m going to try to put those girls up north as soon as I can put Xerxes with the little bucks again.  Hopefully, Freddie will be strong enough to join them by then.