Sit back and relax for a few, this is gonna be long. I apologize for that, but I have to tell you the background on these two babies.
Up until February of this year, I have only owned the usual animals most Americans own...dogs, cats, fish, and an occasional amphibian. That changed when hubby and I bought our first home out here in the country in January. The property came with a fairly decent chicken coop and attached building, which we fixed up. I got my first chicks ever on February 28th, 2013.
The chicks are now 19 and 15 weeks old and outside permanently. I had *planned* on raising ONLY the chickens this year, to make sure I could do it and not overwhelm myself with too many new animals at once. I learned as much as I could (and am STILL learning) about chickens, mostly from this forum. Hubby and I wanted to get some goats starting next year, as long as everything went well raising these chickens. My plan was to start slow, gain experience with the chickens, gain lots of knowledge, and when I'm ready, get my next animals to add to our new little farm.
Fate wouldn't have it that way.
An acquaintance of mine knew we had a new home out in the country in 8.5 acres and that I have chickens. He contacted me asking if I'd take his two baby goats. The neighbors in his neighborhood complained and called the county on him for having them, and were told by the authorities that he had to remove them. I wasn't ready to own goats, so I told him no. Not only did I know nothing about raising them, we really couldn't afford them. He contacted me again, pretty much begging me to take them because he didn't want them going to someone who would use them as food or sacrifice. He said that he had a full bag of grain that would go home with the goats, and he'd pick up a bag of milk replacer for them. After a long discussion with my hubby, I finally gave in and agreed to take them. I had no idea what I was in for.
We picked them up on a Monday night. It was an hour drive to get there and then back home. This is what I knew about them and what was given to me when I picked them up:
They were 5 week old Boer cross doelings. When I asked what they were crossed with, he said "Billy". (Say what? Doesn't "billy" just mean a male goat???). The mama to the babies rejected them from birth so they had been bottle fed...up until three days prior to me picking them up. His wife said they had begun to wean them because that's what it said on the bag of feed they bought for them. For those three days the girls were getting electrolytes from the bottle and offered grain (which they wouldn't touch)...that's it. Oh, and she said they wouldn't drink water out of a bowl, so she gave them water from the bottle. They gave me a small bag of powdered electrolytes, a full 50 pound bag of feed, and two human bottles with nipples that had holes the size of bb's cut out. No milk. The wife said he had not gotten the milk like he promised. It was 9 o'clock at night, so no feed stores were open for me to get any (and I didn't know at the time you can use whole cows milk from the grocery store).
Did I mention I knew nothing about goats? In fact, because of my ignorance, I fed them EACH two bottles of electrolytes when I got home with them (at 10 pm) because they were crying so bad. The next morning, in the daylight, I got a good look at them. They were emaciated. They looked like they had a dark brown undercoat, and when I looked closer and parted the hair, realized it wasn't an undercoat of hair, but an undercoat of LICE. They were completely covered in them. They also had diarrhea, BAD. My husband's uncle's ex wife (who is still friends with the fam) raises goats, so I called her immediately. When I told her the story of the babies, she flipped. Not only was it way too soon to take them off milk, the electrolytes are not to be used as meals. She told me they had scours. She told me to immediately go to the feed store and pick up a bag of replacer and some pritchard nipples. The holes in the human nipples were way to big and causing them to get liquid in their lungs in their haste to suck down the electrolytes. She also told me to give them pepto bismol for the diarrhea.
The next few days were touch and go with them. I know now that they were on death's doorstep from malnutrition, parasites, and scours. Thank God for the internet. I found a forum (not this one, but one that is specifically for goats) and the wonderful members there helped me through the next couple of weeks to try to save these babies. I have learned a lot. I know now that the electrolytes I gave them the first night was bad. They should have never been taken off milk, and been offered hay. Water should never be fed from a bottle. Whole milk from the store is better than replacer. They have been vaccinated for CD T, wormed and treated for Cocci with Valbazen and Baycox, treated successfully for the lice infestation, and the scours is gone. A day after I got them I was asked to weigh them by a member of that forum I had joined. Butterscotch, the larger of the two, weighed 9 1/2 pounds. Caramel weighed 8 1/2 pounds. By Boer standards, a kid at 5 weeks old should weigh anywhere from 20-30 pounds. Since I don't know for sure what they are crossed with (but we think Nubian due to their ears), it's a guessing game as to the weight, but regardless of what they are crossed with, they are extremely underweight.
I have had them for three weeks now. Caramel's weight yesterday was 11 1/2 pounds, and Butterscotch's weight was 13 1/2 pounds. They are gaining which is a good sign, and a blessing. Their horns are peeking out above the hair on their heads. Last week their inner bottom eyelids were white...now they are a light pink. I am giving them red cell for the anemia (caused by the parasites). I have slowly transitioned them from replacer to whole cow's milk (right now they are getting 1/4 replacer, 3/4 whole milk...and will be on just whole milk this Friday). They get 4 bottles a day, and the ounces based on their weight. They also have access to fresh water, hay, minerals, and baking soda...all free choice...always available. They browse throughout the day on yummy blackberry leaves and grape leaves, as well as ground cover in my yard.
If I knew then what I was up against, I don't know for sure I would have taken these babies. Then again, had I known then that they were close to dying, I wouldn't have said no the first time I was asked to take them. It's been a struggle, I've cried a lot...especially since I fell in love with these little girls the minute I set eyes on them and didn't know if I'd ever wake up to find dead kids in their goat shed. I still have a lot to learn, but I am determined to become the best daggone goat owner there ever was.
Butterscotch:
Caramel:
Up until February of this year, I have only owned the usual animals most Americans own...dogs, cats, fish, and an occasional amphibian. That changed when hubby and I bought our first home out here in the country in January. The property came with a fairly decent chicken coop and attached building, which we fixed up. I got my first chicks ever on February 28th, 2013.
The chicks are now 19 and 15 weeks old and outside permanently. I had *planned* on raising ONLY the chickens this year, to make sure I could do it and not overwhelm myself with too many new animals at once. I learned as much as I could (and am STILL learning) about chickens, mostly from this forum. Hubby and I wanted to get some goats starting next year, as long as everything went well raising these chickens. My plan was to start slow, gain experience with the chickens, gain lots of knowledge, and when I'm ready, get my next animals to add to our new little farm.
Fate wouldn't have it that way.
An acquaintance of mine knew we had a new home out in the country in 8.5 acres and that I have chickens. He contacted me asking if I'd take his two baby goats. The neighbors in his neighborhood complained and called the county on him for having them, and were told by the authorities that he had to remove them. I wasn't ready to own goats, so I told him no. Not only did I know nothing about raising them, we really couldn't afford them. He contacted me again, pretty much begging me to take them because he didn't want them going to someone who would use them as food or sacrifice. He said that he had a full bag of grain that would go home with the goats, and he'd pick up a bag of milk replacer for them. After a long discussion with my hubby, I finally gave in and agreed to take them. I had no idea what I was in for.
We picked them up on a Monday night. It was an hour drive to get there and then back home. This is what I knew about them and what was given to me when I picked them up:
They were 5 week old Boer cross doelings. When I asked what they were crossed with, he said "Billy". (Say what? Doesn't "billy" just mean a male goat???). The mama to the babies rejected them from birth so they had been bottle fed...up until three days prior to me picking them up. His wife said they had begun to wean them because that's what it said on the bag of feed they bought for them. For those three days the girls were getting electrolytes from the bottle and offered grain (which they wouldn't touch)...that's it. Oh, and she said they wouldn't drink water out of a bowl, so she gave them water from the bottle. They gave me a small bag of powdered electrolytes, a full 50 pound bag of feed, and two human bottles with nipples that had holes the size of bb's cut out. No milk. The wife said he had not gotten the milk like he promised. It was 9 o'clock at night, so no feed stores were open for me to get any (and I didn't know at the time you can use whole cows milk from the grocery store).
Did I mention I knew nothing about goats? In fact, because of my ignorance, I fed them EACH two bottles of electrolytes when I got home with them (at 10 pm) because they were crying so bad. The next morning, in the daylight, I got a good look at them. They were emaciated. They looked like they had a dark brown undercoat, and when I looked closer and parted the hair, realized it wasn't an undercoat of hair, but an undercoat of LICE. They were completely covered in them. They also had diarrhea, BAD. My husband's uncle's ex wife (who is still friends with the fam) raises goats, so I called her immediately. When I told her the story of the babies, she flipped. Not only was it way too soon to take them off milk, the electrolytes are not to be used as meals. She told me they had scours. She told me to immediately go to the feed store and pick up a bag of replacer and some pritchard nipples. The holes in the human nipples were way to big and causing them to get liquid in their lungs in their haste to suck down the electrolytes. She also told me to give them pepto bismol for the diarrhea.
The next few days were touch and go with them. I know now that they were on death's doorstep from malnutrition, parasites, and scours. Thank God for the internet. I found a forum (not this one, but one that is specifically for goats) and the wonderful members there helped me through the next couple of weeks to try to save these babies. I have learned a lot. I know now that the electrolytes I gave them the first night was bad. They should have never been taken off milk, and been offered hay. Water should never be fed from a bottle. Whole milk from the store is better than replacer. They have been vaccinated for CD T, wormed and treated for Cocci with Valbazen and Baycox, treated successfully for the lice infestation, and the scours is gone. A day after I got them I was asked to weigh them by a member of that forum I had joined. Butterscotch, the larger of the two, weighed 9 1/2 pounds. Caramel weighed 8 1/2 pounds. By Boer standards, a kid at 5 weeks old should weigh anywhere from 20-30 pounds. Since I don't know for sure what they are crossed with (but we think Nubian due to their ears), it's a guessing game as to the weight, but regardless of what they are crossed with, they are extremely underweight.
I have had them for three weeks now. Caramel's weight yesterday was 11 1/2 pounds, and Butterscotch's weight was 13 1/2 pounds. They are gaining which is a good sign, and a blessing. Their horns are peeking out above the hair on their heads. Last week their inner bottom eyelids were white...now they are a light pink. I am giving them red cell for the anemia (caused by the parasites). I have slowly transitioned them from replacer to whole cow's milk (right now they are getting 1/4 replacer, 3/4 whole milk...and will be on just whole milk this Friday). They get 4 bottles a day, and the ounces based on their weight. They also have access to fresh water, hay, minerals, and baking soda...all free choice...always available. They browse throughout the day on yummy blackberry leaves and grape leaves, as well as ground cover in my yard.
If I knew then what I was up against, I don't know for sure I would have taken these babies. Then again, had I known then that they were close to dying, I wouldn't have said no the first time I was asked to take them. It's been a struggle, I've cried a lot...especially since I fell in love with these little girls the minute I set eyes on them and didn't know if I'd ever wake up to find dead kids in their goat shed. I still have a lot to learn, but I am determined to become the best daggone goat owner there ever was.
Butterscotch:
Caramel:
