This doe kid was a twin to a buck, notice the tiny teats and the underdeveloped vulva. This condition is caused by the twins sharing the same placental attachments, allowing testosterone to cross over to the doe kid and preventing her reproductive organs from developing. Picture taken at one year of age.
I have learned that the best way to tell that your doe is beginning labor, is to know your doe and notice any changes in her normal routine. She may not eat with the rest of the herd, often wandering away from them. If you do not know your does due date, check for softening of the ligaments on each sideof her backbone just above her tail. If you become familiar with the way they feel and they become very soft, sometimes to the point that you can almost touch you fingers together around the bone, kidding is very close. Here are other signs that kidding is imminent.
Ears back, closed eyes, stiff back legs,
back arched, udder may become visibly
larger.
Yawning, calling out, biting her sides. Looking at her sides. Licking.
Luzcille is getting serious, notice the stiff
back legs, time to head for the kidding stall.
Two signs that a goat is copper deficient, split tail and brown coloring of hair that should be black
Horned buck kid 1 month old
Same kid shaved for disbudding
Polled buck kid 3 months old
Note the hair pattern is exactly the same, but the 1 month old kid clearly has horns and the 3 month old has bumps like a giraffe.
Areas circled are small cyst-like bumps filled with mites, arrow shows what the contents look like when expressed.
Below is a slide showing the mites.
Tapeworms found after Valbason treatment.
This wether was cured with the appropriate dose of Penicillin for his weight given sub q for 4 days.
This doe was cured after two treatments of 2 cc ivermectin given orally every other day.
The treatment I use for Pinkeye is Terramycin ointment.
I try to shave my goats at least once during the summer which seems to clear up the mites, if not I give Ivermectin orally.
*I am not a veterinarian, I do not even have a lot of experience, the treatments I list are ones I have used and found to work for me. Most pictures are mine and some are from other breeders.
In early 2009 this doe developed a raw area that would not heal after antibiotics and numerous treatments to the area involved. In september she was taken to the University of florida Veterinary School where she was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma.
In April, shortly after yearly herd testing, this doe was found to have a golf sized lump at the base of her neck. I had the vet return for that reason and he was not concerned enough to do anything. When it was still there in July, I had him return to test for Caseuos Lymphadenitis . The results were negative. I had another vet look at her and it was decided to remove it surgically. Since the Cl test was negative, I decided to stick a needle in to see if it was a solid mass or something that could be drained. It did have a think white substance inside. Within a week, I noticed a raw area on her udder and the udder was lumpy. Shortly after, she developed multiple abscess on her thigh . The vet then consulted with the diagnostic lab at Clemson and made the decision to euthanize her and present her for necropsy. It turned out that this doe was suffering from a Staph infection and no trace of CL could be found. Other than the Staph, she was in excellent condition. But because of the extensive spread of the abscess into the muscle, it was felt that she could not have been saved. I feel that she could have been saved if properly treated from the beginning but the focus had been on CL.
Day 150, after a difficult delivery, Tunes delivers twin doelings,weighing 5 lbs each at about 11:00am. I immediatley feel like this was not a normal kidding and begin trying to locate a Veterinarian to see her.
At approximately 4:00pm we finally found one in
Silverstreet, SC and took her immediately to the office of
Twin Oaks Clinic. After examination, it was determined
that she had a ruptured uterus. She went immediately into surgery. At about 7:30 we were told that she had survived the surgery and we could take her home if she could stand and walk when she was awake. Eventually she was able to come home and nursed her babies right away.
Tunes on the day after delivery, not feeling well, severly
bloated, not really interested in her kids, food or water. At
least she had an IV. Had the vet come out and tube her, gave
Thera bloat and banamine. On large amounts of antibiotics.
Tunes began to eat on day 2 and take an interest in her babies. Temp was normal, still getting a lot of antibiotics, but on day 3 she spiked a fever. On 5/7 she went in for an exam. Her belly was soft, she was still eating and drinking, seemed to feel fine. Changed her antibiotics and here she is after the visit.
On day 3, catheter is out, is not willing to have her temp. taken
but is eating, drinking and taking good care of her babies.
*October 25, 2009, Tunes won GCH and BOB at the St Johns County Fair. Tunes has now completed her requirements for ADGA and is now a finished Champion. The possibility of breeding her is yet to be decided.
To me, this doe was worth every dime that was spent on her even if she never has another kid.
Disbudding Using Castration Bands
When I( bought this buck, he had not been disbudded. On my first attempt, I banded both horns using two bacns for each horn placed as close to the base of the skull as possible. This turned out not to be very successful. One horn fell off and you can see the "kink" in the right horn where the first band was placed. But the horn that fell off was not close enough to the skull to stop the horn from growing. This process took about 2 months. Then I made a second attempt at banding and the left horn came of cleanly but the bands broke on the right horn. Now I am attempting a third time to remove the right horn. Each time I banded I gave him a tetanus shot.
* UPDATE: This doe had the carcinome surgically removed . Updates as she heals.
Soremouth is not always on the mouth. It can be anywhere, ears, lips. Here is an example of a buck with soremouth of the eye.
Does can bcome pregnant on two separate dates. In 2008, I bred Esterlina, she came in heat again shortyly after and I bred her to the same buck. When she kidded, she had a set of terrn twins and a set of premature twins.
Same doe 4 weeks after surgery.
* Horn fell off in December*
This is a doe kid that wqas born following the birth of 2 normal doe kids. I thought she was delivering the placenta and she delivered thsi hairless stillborn.
On February 24th, 2010, Kiss was on day 149 of her pregnancy. She had looked ....not really sick but just not her usual self for the last two days. At 10:00am she started to scream in pain. Thinking she was in labor, I did a quick exam and her cervix was closed. I rushed her to the vet where she was immediatly place on oxygen and had an IV started. The vet, decided that she would hydrate her and do a C-Section. She found 2 stillborn kids and two live kids. Kiss was given antibiotics and Calsorb and I took her home. She was eating and drinking but would not stand. She was started on Thiamine and continued on the Calsorb. On the morning of the 27th, I found her in acute distress and rushed her to the Clinic, but she died before I got there. I then took her on to the Clemson Diagnostic Center in Columbia for a Necropsy.
After all the tests results were in, the Veterinarian who did the C-section consulted a Doctor who specializes in goats and it was concluded that because Kiss was carrying quads and she was a very small doe, she had suffered from a lack of oxygen which led to part of her uterus to die. Which was probably the reason that tow of the kids did not survive. Even though she was treated with anitiotics, she continued to have a multiple system failure and died on the 27th.
She was a beautiful loving doe and a devoted mother . She left behind a little son and daughter.
This is my tattoo set. I have my numbers and letters, two sets of tattoo plyers, needle nose plyers in case my screw is too tight, sanitizer, alcohol, cotton balls and my green ink. I always have my book to be sure I tattoo the right numbers/letters for each doe. The first thing I do is set up my plyers. I have one with my herd ID for the right ear and I always keep this one the same. The other is for the left ear and has to be changed for each goat. After the plyers have the correct number/letters for the animal to be tattooed, I check them on a piece of paper. The black rubber area goes behind the haired part of the ear. If everything is correct. I clean the plyers and letters/numbers. You can use alcohol.
Next I put the goat on the milk stand with the head in the bars. I shave the inside of the ear and then clean it with alcohol using a cotton swab. I dry the ears with another cotton swab.
Here is the doe on the stand, ears shaved and cleaned. I am sanitizing the plyers.
She was definatley not co-operating for the photo session. But you can see how the plyers go with the ear turned so that the black pad is behing the ear on the haired part and the one with the numbers is on the inside of the ear.
After both ears are tattooed, look at the ear to make sure that you have the correct tattoo before applying the ink. I use green tattoo ink in a paste and rub it in thoroughly with my fingers. Yes I ahve green fingers for a while but you can use gloves if you don't like green fingers.
Rub the ink in different directions to get it into the tiny holes, You can also use a toothbrush. As you can see, they will not stand still for the tattoo job or to have the ink applied.
Now she has forgotten all about the ordeal and she is trying to tease the bucks.
