Goat Herd Updates

We've had a crazy kidding season.

It started off without a sign of the trouble to come. Pinky kidded on February 17. She had two doelings. Read the whole story here. 

Their names are Black Cherry and Cookies N Cream (Cherry and Cookies for short). Some photos of them:

Jenny and Honey were next up, due on March 21. Or rather, Jenny was due then and Honey was possibly due then and possibly due April 13. I sent blood in to test for CAE, CL, and Johne's one week before March 21. Three days before they were due, I got the results back -- and Jenny and Honey were both positive for CAE. This was pretty devastating. I had bought them from a closed herd and never suspected CAE. I am still not sure where they got it, but that does not change the fact that they did. 

We had to make some quick decisions. I could dam raise the kids and then process them, but I was pretty sure the family wouldn't take to that very well. Or I could just bottle raise, but I had no CAE free colostrum saved up, and was nowhere near ready to bottle raise in any other way, shape, or form. 

Dad ended up driving to Raliegh to get some colostrum from a friend, and I got my act together and prepared to bottle feed. Jenny kidded two days later. 

She had a single buckling named Moose Tracks. We were thankfully at the birth and he did not nurse off of Jenny. 

Some photos of Moose from when he was born and a few more recent ones:

I had battled rumen shutdown with Binky for a short time after Jenny kidded, but he was seeming mostly over it. One day he was acting a bit depressed, so I made a mental note to check him over that night. At feeding time, I found him in the woods dead. I can only guess the rumen shutdown had come back suddenly. He will be greatly missed. 

​Some photos of Binky:

Honey didn't kid until April 14. She had twins, one buck and one doe. Their names are Breyers and Bluebell. I was at her kidding and CAE prevention went down without a hitch. (Or at least not much of a hitch -- Blue did get a swig of milk early on, but I don't think it was enough to do any major harm.) I plan to keep Blue as a replacement milker. 

Honey had a retained placenta. After 48 hours without having fully delivered it, we took her to the vet. It took oxytetracycline, lutalyse, two kinds of antibiotics, several flushings, and lots of TLC, but Honey was quickly restored to full health. 

Photos of Bluebell and Breyers:

A photo of Honey and her babies on the way to the vet (I took the babies because everyone would be less stressed out, and I didn't know how long I was going to be gone - they would need to eat): 

Because Binky died, I needed a companion for Ebony. I was going to wait until Moose was old enough, but Eb needed a companion before then. Searching Craigslist for a wether, I came across Dontcha, one of our Mini Alpine wethers from last year. I snatched him right up and we brought him home four days after Honey kidded. 

Photos of Dontcha on the way home:

Pinky is too good at escaping our fencing. I don't think anything I can do short-term is going to prevent that, and I don't want to risk her getting bred by Ebony again. As much as I hate to do it, I am going to give her to a friend. She'll go live with Dwopple and Song, her kids from last year, at a home with a only small herd of Nigerians where she can be the one and only herd queen. I guess she'll be happy there, but we will really miss her, the snobby little princess. 

​Some photos of Pinky:

Jenny and Honey are starting to show small signs of CAE - congested udders, lumpy udders, creaky joints. They won't be bred again; I can't keep taking their kids away. They will live out their lives here in happy retirement. 

Photos of Jenny and Honey:

Eb is doing well, still his same old ornery self. I am probably going to get him wethered sometime this summer. He is Blue's sire, so I will need to get a new buck anyway to breed her to. 

An outdated photo of Eb and Binky:

And some photos of the whole herd to cap it all off:

By Suzanne Tyler
the Green T Goatherd 

P.S. I have started a Green T Goats YouTube channel. Click here to check it out.