Free's kidding journal 2011: Plum's death wish p 42

[freemotion]

I just went to bring them in for the night and only Charlie would follow me. The other two didn't even get up. Then I had to carry Charlie when he stopped half-way.

I went back to get Buddy and Puchy and they were still lying down. Working their jaws in that pain gesture. Sigh. They got up to tinkle and took a few steps towards the gate and stopped. I had to carry each of them the entire way. They are heavy boys!

Is this normal? I'm going to post on byh just to check.

 

[Denim Deb]

Don't have a clue, but I wanna know.

 

[freemotion]

Taken today before "the big event."

Charlie, Buddy, Puchy. Aren't they gorgeous? Remember Puchy's bent front leg? You can't really see it in this photo, but he is normal and strong and you can no longer tell which leg it was.

Charlie and Buddy sparring:

 

[glenolam]

Having only done 1, I'd say they're perfectly fine.

The buckling I banded this year was a little stiff about 1/2 hr after the deed but his new owner said that the next morning he was hop skipping all over the place. That night, though, she did keep an eye on him because he was a little down, but afterall, the jublies were cut off from the blood supply and were a little tender!

Man up will ya!

If you have banamine on hand you can give that to them for pain - if not, some baby aspirin will also do the trick. You'd have to look up the doses as I'm unsure if that.

FWIW - the day I brought Fudgie home her twin brother had just been banded. He was going to his new home that day too. When we got there it had been about an hour since they banded him and his testicles looked like freaking footballs with a rubber band around them. He was crying left and right, laying down, getting up, etc - really pitiful. But they gave him some banamine and he was just fine by the time his new owners came.

 

[freemotion]

Apparently my buckling's reactions were pretty normal. I just over-reacted because I had a fairy tale picture in my mind, and when we set Charlie down and he looked normal, it confirmed that fairy tale in my mind. Then when he "fainted"......eeeeek! But they are all ok now, just still moving a wee bit slowly. All are sucking down their bottles twice a day. They go to once a day at their new homes.

Plummy's buckling went to his new home tonight, he suddenly sold....got the third call in response to my cl ad and the family came over tonight, got a big tour and lots of tips and took him home. Sniffle. That was a bit quick it seemed. I feel like I didn't smooch Puddin' enough! I'll have to smooch the three big bucklings a bit more tomorrow. They are going to their new homes on Tuesday afternoon just before I go to school to teach. I will be flooded with milk by Wednesday! Gotta get that cheese recipe book out! I realized this last week and ordered two more packets of culture (MA19) and realized I'd been using too much per batch. I printed off the conversions and put it in with my culture packets. Now I won't be wasting any culture.

This journal is almost complete for the year. Sigh. I couldn't wait for all the bottle feeding to be over with and cheese making to begin in earnest, and now I'm feeling quite nostalgic for those sweet little faces and smooching those sweet silky muzzles.

But I'm also eying a cutting of hay in the kid pasture......

 

[Denim Deb]

Just don't let OFG's neighbor near it!

 

[freemotion]

Final entry in this year's kidding journal: Buddy, Puchy, and Charlie just left to their new home. Jim and his dad came and picked them up, and like an obsessive mother, I gave all kinds of instructions. I showed him how to leash train them. I showed him how to give the vitamins for moving stress.....then discovered after he left that it was still in my back pocket! Arrrrgh! And he moved since we first started emailing and I have his old number, now disconnected, no further information available. Glad I gave them each a dose to show him how.

I packed a bag with three bottles, a gallon of fresh raw goat's milk with instructions, a mineral feeder and a bag of minerals to get him started, and the vitamins and dosing syringe which I took out of the bag when he asked me to show him how to give it.

I walked with the truck as they drove out of the yard and the bucklings/wethers talked to me softly. They were not nearly as stressed as I expected. I feel confident that they will be in good hands and will be loved and well cared for.

Sniffle.

Wait......FREEDOM!!!!!!!

 

[dragonlaurel]

You were a great goat Mommie. If they forget how to do any of it, they can e-mail or call you.
Enjoy your freedom for a while.

 

[freemotion]

No bottles last night, and no new mosquito bites. No bottles this morning, a leisurely morning before running out to milk. No separating the milk from the non-CAE does from Mya's CAE-positive milk. No looking at the weather report to decide how long the kids can be out in their shelter-less paddock. Two less water buckets to deal with. I can put away all the bottles that have been drying in two pans on the counter for the past three months. Hmmm. I'm over the kids already!

And enough milk to make a four gallon batch of cheese every other day.....

 

[glenolam]

Wow free - you really set up your customers well! Anyone who gets a goat from you is really really lucky!

Now, go and enjoy some cheese making!