Goat Rant *long*

[Wolf-Kim]

I would ditch the sick buck, pay for the pup's surgery, and then find me a new vet.

I'm not too familiar with goats, but your vet either doesn't have a clue about goats or is trying to millk you for money. Either find a vet that deals with goats, or team up with someone who keeps goats locally and knows the deal. Most goat breeders know how to disbud and band their goats and can teach you to do the same. I don't even have goats, but I assisted the lady up the road from me and even I know how to band and disbud.

Obviously, don't do business with the shady dealer. If anyone asks about him, tell them your negative experience and refer his business elsewhere.

I would get rid of the buck, ASAP. I don't know about soremouth, but many times with sooo many conflicting sources, I would play the safe card and get rid of him. Lesson hard learned. Find you a better buck, registered with papers(at the time of sell!) and one with a clean bill of health. I think you'll be much better off playing the safe card.

You'll get the hang of it, it's always hardest to get the ball rolling. Many times we have to learn from our mistakes, just take a deep breath and know that it will get better! I went through the exact same thing with our quail and it's frustrating, but temporary!

Hope for the best,
Kim

 

[freerange freaks]

I don't have a lot of experience with goats but I have had a 4 week old bottle kid with soremouth. I just wore gloves when I handled him and washed up well after. It seemed pretty minor and he got over it well and never had another bout of it. None of my other goats caught it (he was quarentined) nor have I ever had another case of it and that was three years ago. The biggest worry for kids with soremouth is that the virus will prevent them form eating and they will quickly dehydrate and possibly die. A full grown, healthy adult has enough reserves that if he is off his food for a few days he probably wont be affected too badly.

As for the deworming, I have to agree with Haviris. Ideally, pasture rotation, regular fecals, deworming only when necessary would be the best approach to worms. However, this is unrealistic for most producers. Over use of deworming medicine causes resistance. Selectively breeding goats with a natural tolerance for worms is going to stengthen your herd's overall health and also reduces the use of chemical dewormers which in turn lowers the rate of resistance. Again, an ideal situation without much practicality for most.

As for wethering your bucks, I'm sorry I have no advice. I eat my boys

Good luck, and take the advice that feels right to you.

 

[enola]

Take a fecal sample to any livestock vet, he can tell you exactly what worms, if any your goats have.

Then you can make a decision on just what wormer to use.

I learned the hard way that "browsers" do indeed get tape worms, and the nightmares that tapeworms cause !

 

[horsejody]

Quote:

yeah, isn't that weird? He sounded all normal at first, but he seemed to be under the impression you could just put them together and they would breed right away and then he'd take the buck home. I tried to explain that I wanted to lease the buck for a month or two until the girls went through 1 or 2 heat cycles and I made sure he had bred them all.

Then at the end of the call, he said that I should wait until they come in heat and then call him and he'd come over so we could 'watch them breed together.'

It seriously creeped me out and I was SOOO very glad he never called again.

OMG. I'm glad you explained that better. When you said, "one creepy guy who said he'd like to come over and watch the goats breed with me," I thought you meant that he wanted to watch the goat breed you. You know, like some wierd beastiality thing. I stll think he's a creep, but I'm glad to know it's not as bad as I originally thought. It's too early. I need caffeine. I'll shut up now.

 

[PotterWatch]

I was right there with you Jody

.

 

[cyanne]

Quote:
yeah, isn't that weird? He sounded all normal at first, but he seemed to be under the impression you could just put them together and they would breed right away and then he'd take the buck home. I tried to explain that I wanted to lease the buck for a month or two until the girls went through 1 or 2 heat cycles and I made sure he had bred them all.

Then at the end of the call, he said that I should wait until they come in heat and then call him and he'd come over so we could 'watch them breed together.'

It seriously creeped me out and I was SOOO very glad he never called again.

OMG. I'm glad you explained that better. When you said, "one creepy guy who said he'd like to come over and watch the goats breed with me," I thought you meant that he wanted to watch the goat breed you. You know, like some wierd beastiality thing. I stll think he's a creep, but I'm glad to know it's not as bad as I originally thought. It's too early. I need caffeine. I'll shut up now.

Yikes!

Okay, he was creepy, but not THAT creepy!

 

[coffeemama]

I had a pup with two non-descended testicles and they didn't charge me extra-maybe check with some other vets??

 

[Chirpy]

I had a pup with two non-descended testicles and they didn't charge me extra-maybe check with some other vets??

Same here except that mine had one un-descended testicle... I'd ask around at other vets to find out if this one is 'taking you for a ride'.​

 

[Wolf-Kim]

I would have to suspect that the vet is taking you for a sucker, just like the goat breeder. Definately check out other local vets, from all that I've heard of yours, with the goats and the dogs, you need a new vet!

-Kim

 

[cyanne]

Oh, yeah, I am not getting him neutered at that vet. They wanted $231 to neuter him! Their base price for the neuter for a dog at his weight was $130 then there was the added price of the cryptorchid procedure.

I checked with my old vet from before we moved and he said he would do the full procedure for $112. Still not cheap, but he is a BIG dog already so they charge by weight for the anesthesia.

So, I have that scheduled for next week, and I already got his rabies shots, de-worming, flea and heartworm control, and I gave him his basic puppy shots.

The lesson here is that there is no such thing as a free dog!

And after all of that cash-ola, he had darn well better keep the coyotes off my land and away from my goats! Then again, he can't possibly be as useless as my other 4 dogs (2 labs and 2 papillons). I've had them all forever (the oldest one is 12) and all they do is eat, poop, and sleep!