Bloodbath: Drawing blood on the goaties, video links p 3

[justusnak]

Wow, Sooo glad to hear it went smoothly with the rest. I have to say...I dont think I could do it. Well....maybe...I didnt think I would ever be able to give shots to my animals....then when my Ram was attacked, I had to give shots for a week. It wasn't easy...but we both made it through it, and he still comes to me for neck rubs.

 

[freemotion]

Just got the results, and it was mostly good news, some BAAAAD news.

Mya and Ginger are both pregnant, both are my dairy girls.

Willow is NOT pregnant. Poop! Something must be wrong, as she has been living with the buck for well over a month now after repeatedly coming back into heat.

Mya tested CAE positive, everyone else, including Te'a (who I did not breed due to mild suspicion of CAE) is negative!!! Woohoo!

But Mya....POOP! I will pull her babies and bottle feed them, if there is a doeling to keep. Poop.

 

[Beekissed]

But....you did it! You tested your own goats! How cool is that?

Taking blood from animals seems sort of like doing it to children, I imagine...neither one can really understand why you are hurting them and regard you with suspicion thereafter.

Heck, Ugly Betty still won't let me touch her after catching her this summer and combing all the old wool off her hair.

Free, you're my hero!!!

 

[big brown horse]

I agree with Bee, it is totally cool that you did it yourself!

What does CAE mean, I hear it often especially on craigslist...seems to be a hot topic.

 

[Blackbird]

CAE is Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis is a virus that affects white blood cells(if I remember, going off the top of my head!) It can be fatal, cause lameness, but I guess its kind of like AIDS(?) some can be carriers but it doesn't always progress any further. A lot go on to live happy productive, and full lives, which, given her healthy now, is exactly what Mya will do. It can be spread by milk or blood, as far as I know.

This is what I worry about in my own herd - not enough to kill anyone off, definitely not, but enough to proceed with caution until I can get everyone tested.

Yes. GO FREE!

Just think of all the little goat babies!

 

[freemotion]

Thanks for the applause, friends. I was feeling a bit "glass half empty" for a bit. I will be back to my usual "glass overflowing" by morning, I'm sure.

Already hoping for a nice pair of doelings to bottle feed and spoil rotten!

 

[freemotion]

The drying off process has begun. Today I only brought one quart canning jar with me to milk Mya. I almost ran back to the house to get a second one as soon as the first one was filled and I saw almost another quart in her poor udder! I kept blowing the foam off the top, too, to make more room in the jar. I felt sorrow for the loss of the milk that I clearly saw remaining, and pity for the goat who I knew would be sore later.

Dad milked tonight and also just brought a quart jar. We will go through tomorrow with the quart jar again, then switch to a 24 oz jar on Monday. Then a pint jar, then milking once a day. Mya is so hungry lately, I don't dare reduce her feed at all to help with this process. She is at the three month mark in her pregnancy. So I am keeping alfalfa hay in the racks all the time now, in spite of waste and a very fat Te'a!

Am I being too cautious with my slow-down plan?

 

[Blackbird]

Maybe a bit, but better to be overly cautious than not enough.

We are on day 4 for drying Poppy off, and we're going to start drying Jenna tomorrow. Poppy is near the 3 month mark, Jenna is near the second. Their bodies usually know when to stop once you allow it.

 

[freemotion]

How do you slow down, BB?

 

[Blackbird]

we start drying them off with milking only once a day, then eventually we skip an entire day of milking, milk once the next day, and so on skipping two in a row, milking once, skipping two, and so on until dried. We usually do it gradually and take anywhere from two weeks to a month.

However, since Molly had her preemie a while ago we've been milking her 2X a day, so hopefully she will start producing more in a couple weeks and I'll have enough to keep my kefir going.