Gwen

It started very small. I saw her stumble a couple of times. I thought maybe the arthritis that often afflicts goats with CAE was flaring up again. Over the next couple of days it became clear that something was wrong with our little girl. She was still eating and drinking, but she just wasn't right. I took her to our local goat vet who took one look at her and declared her "one sick goat." She was standing next to my car with looking hunched up with her head turned to one side. My normally bright, active girl whose head would pop up and eyes would sparkle at the mention of her name seemed dull and almost lifeless.

The problem was, aside from obviously feeling pretty terrible, Gwen had no other symptoms. No vomiting or diarrhea. Her appetite was good, and she still seemed to be getting around ok. The vet gave her a shot of B vitamins, prescribed an antibiotic, and sent us on our way with a request to report if anything else developed...

Princess Gwendolyn

  Our little Gwendolyn will always hold a special place in our hearts. She was the first goat born here on the farm. We knew her mother Josie had CAE, a nasty goat virus that is spread from mother to kid by nursing, so we made sure to be there when Gwen was born and diligently raised her on a bottle while carefully heat treating her mother's milk to kill the virus. After a few weeks, we decided to find a nanny for Gwen to act as a companion and so that Gwen could get fresh milk. We found Thea, our big Saanen doe, who would allow Gwen to nurse while on the stand and was happy to act as a companion to our growing girl.

When we bought Thea, we were given every assurance that she was CAE negative so we did not test her. When we finally decided to test Thea and Gwen months later just to be sure, we were devastated to find that both does were positive with virus. In our efforts to avoid spreading the virus, we went from one goat with the disease to three. Several years later, we have learned how to deal with CAE for the most part. We test every new goat that comes on the farm, and we test all our does before they give birth. So far, we have never had another transmission here on the farm.

That said, we still have to deal with our three positive girls. We are too attached to them to "cull" them as some people would suggest. Josie seems to just be a carrier with few if any symptoms. Thea has the classic arthritis developing in her front limbs. And Gwen? Well, Gwen is starting to show what we can only assume are signs of the virus. She is thin. She's very skinny, and we've had her repeatedly checked for parasites and dewormed. Now we are doing our best to manage the virus by treating our Gwenny like the princess she is.

At night Gwen has her own bedroom suite. We have a small pen set up with hay, alfalfa, minerals, fresh water, and a bowl of grain every night. This gives our skinny little girl free access to all the calories she wants without her having to compete with the other goats. Being small and in poor health, the other goats tend to push her around.

During the day most days we let Gwen graze in the backyard. There is lots of fresh, mostly untouched grass and a few fruit trees and shrubs that she is welcome to nibble on. Her appetite isn't the greatest these days, so there is little fear of her doing any real damage to the plants.

While in the backyard, she likes to make her way into our closed in porch area to nap in the middle of the day. Gwen spent the first several weeks of her life living in the house, and I swear she still fancies herself an inside goat.

For now all our special attentions seem to be helping our princess of a goat put on a bit of weight. I suspect this winter she will need to be jacketed in the cold weather. The few chilly days we had recently seemed pretty hard on her. CAE is a terrible disease that almost always shortens the life of goats who have been infected. Hopefully all our efforts will keep our Gwenny with us at least a little bit longer.

Gwen's birth story

  We knew Gwen's time to kid was drawing near. Her udder had started to fill and the ligaments on either side of her tail were getting very loose. Gwen herself was getting rather sick of us spending so much time staring and prodding at her back end. Since Gwen is one of our girls with CAE, we take extra care to make sure we are there when they kid and can pull the kids before momma has a chance to bond with them. CAE can be transmitted by nursing, so we make sure to tape up their teats when kidding time draws near. All the kids from the positive girls have to be pulled immediately and fed heat treated milk and colostrum.

  That morning we found Gwen sleeping late into the day in the small open stall near where the sheep like to sleep at night. This is rather far away from the area where the rest of the herd spends the night. She spent most of the day in that stall and often when I would check on her, I'd find her laying down. Since she is the princess goat around here, I happily brought her hay and water and feed which she nibbled on very slowly.

  That evening after I had put all the birds away, I checked on her again to find that she was in active labor. The sun was going down and that area has no lighting so I made the decision to move her to the milking room. Big Onion was away making an egg delivery in  New Orleans so while I gathered an armful of hay and started to collect all the things I would need, I got him on the phone and tried to convey the fact that Gwen was about to give birth without resorting to yelling at the poor man something along the lines of, "OMG THE BABIES ARE COMING! GET HOME NOW!!"

  I quickly spread a deep layer of hay in one corner of the milk room and gathered a bucket of fresh water for Gwen and anther of soapy water for me. I ran to the house for an armful of towels. I even changed out the light bulb in the room for something a lot brighter. Then I dragged a very begrudging Gwen up to her new cozy, well lit nest and settled down in the hay with her to wait.

  It seemed like forever that she was grunting and groaning and pushing with nothing happening. I called Big Onion every few minutes to make sure that he was in fact on his way and to give him our (lack of) progress reports. Gwen was taking frequent brakes to rest her head on my arm and nap in between bouts of contractions and pushing. I was just starting to wonder if I would have to intervene when a telltale bubble started to appear at her rear end. A few more pushes and that bubble bust in a stream of liquid and a tiny little nose and mouth appeared. There was a little tongue was sticking out to one side of the mouth and I carefully touched it with one finger to make sure the baby was still alive. To my delight, the mouth moved just a little. Meanwhile poor Gwen was pushing with all her might. It sure didn't look like there was any way for the rest of that head to fit out the backside of our smallest goat so I started to gently help as best I could. Most kids are born feet first so you have something to grab and pull. This kid decided to enter the world nose first making it very hard for me to give much assistance. After what seemed like forever to both me and Gwen, the head finally came free and the rest of the body followed quickly.

  I was so surprised to see that our flashy colored Gwen and honey and white colored Gimli made such a darkly colored little creature. I only had a second to ponder before I wrapped that baby a towel and hustled it off to the poultry house. I took a second to find that Gwen had given us a little girl and that she had her mother's LaMancha ears. I left Rialey to do the dirty work of kid cleanup while I went back to make sure momma was OK. Gwen seemed exhausted but relaxed and not at all upset about losing the kid that she never really knew she had.

  A quick note here on the fact that having a dog I can trust with a baby animal like that is a HUGE help. Plus, she did a darn good job of cleaning up the slimy little creature.

  Since Gwen seemed to be doing alright at the moment and seemed to be out of active labor, I bundled up the now mostly clean and dry little one and ran her up to the house. I put her in the bathroom with the space heater running and ran back to make sure Gwen was done. About this time I figured that Big Onion had finally arrived home because I got a text along the lines of "OMG SHE IS SO CUTE!" I let him take over caring for the baby while I sat with Gwen, and we both recovered from the ordeal.

  After about an hour, I was pretty confident that she wasn't having any more kids. There were no more signs of contractions, and she seemed very relaxed and sleepy. Being a first time mother, we would not expect her to have more than one anyway. With a little encouragement, I was able to get her up on the milk stand and milk out a small amount of colostrum. Unfortunately, one of the most common symptoms of CAE is udder congestion after kidding, and it looked like Gwen was not going to escape that fate.

  After milking, Gwen settled down in the deep hay to relax, and I headed up to the house to check on Big Onion and the newest addition. Big Onion had already gotten a few ounces of powdered colostrum into the baby, but there is no replacing a mother's milk so we got started heat treating the colostrum her mother. While we waited the hour it takes to heat treat the precious stuff, we decided we would call the little one Frankie after Aretha Franklin for her big lungs and the fluffy fur on her head.

  Big Onion voluteered to go out and check on Gwen and finish up the few chores I didn't get to in the excitement of finding our girl in labor. He had only been gone a few minutes when I heard the back door open and him shouting, "Kaela, come and get this! Gwen had another one!" and he shoved a soggy, slimy little beasty into my arms and headed back out to make sure Gwen didn't have any more surprises!

  It was another little girl marked almost just like the first only with her father's Nigerian Dwarf ears! She looked like a little donkey! We are calling this one Geogie after Curious George since both girls sound like tiny chimps when they talk. This is especially funny to me as I often call Gwen my Monkey Face as a pet name.

  The second girl was much smaller than the first and while we don't think that she had a chance to nurse from her mother before Big Onion found her, we had a heck of a time getting little Georgie to take a bottle, but that's a story for another blog post. For now, suffice to say that both girls are beautiful and sweet, healthy and active and pooping and peeing all over our kitchen!!

(Sorry for the poor quality of pictures with this post. In all the craziness, I didn't have a chance to grab the real camera. Promise there will be better pictures of these sweet babies to come!)

Homemade Hay Rack

 I'm not sure if I ever shared the pictures of this wonderful hay rack that Big Onion made for us. I needed something that was sturdy and safe for putting hay out for the sheep. They tried to hang themselves with the hay net, and the commercial metal racks are way out of our price range.

 He was actually able to make it from wood and old fencing we had already on the farm. It works like a charm and so far no one has managed to injure themselves on it. The only problem we have is a few of the chickens think this pile of hay is a way better place to lay their eggs than their nest boxes. We didn't notice this was happening until they had laid a good sized nest. I guess we'll have to fashion some kind of netting over the top to keep this from happening.

The best part about it is I can dump an entire square bale into this thing then pull off the strings, and it's good to go! So far there has been very little wastage either.

The Big Onion Hay Holder: Thea tested, Rialey approved. 

Bonus shot of my little Gwenny enjoying some salt/sulphur block. The goats love this thing, and apparently it is good for keeping the flies and ticks away. Thea and Elanore always go and lick the block after their dinner. I guess they are trying to tell me something about the flavor of their food. Picky goats.

Another kid update

 Francesca and Lucia are growing like little weeds. They have horns now! Both of their parents had really nice wide based, outward turning horns so these two girls should have nice sets as well. We don't do any horn removal around here for a lot of reasons not the least of which is the fact that it gets very, very hot here in the summer and horns are thought to help cool the blood.

We are still totally enamored with these two sweet things. Lucia (left) loves snuggles and scratches and giving kisses just like her daddy. Francesca reminds us so much of Josie, their mother. She is opinionated and strong headed and does not like being touched if she can help it. She is also the loudest baby goat I have ever seen! She doesn't just call when she wants something, she yells!

 We have started bringing them out of the backyard and into the first pasture. Here they are learning that duck pool water is too gross to drink while Rialey keeps a watchful eye on her babies!

 Gwen still thinks that she is the baby around here. She has no patience for these newcomers. This picture was taken seconds before she gave Lucia a good headbutt. You can see she even has her hackles up!

 Rialey was not going to let her babies get pushed around for long! Any time the kids are out around the other goats, Rialey keeps a watchful eye and shoos away anyone she thinks might be a threat to them.

 My mother came for a visit recently and aside from buying the world's largest watermelon from a local produce stand...

 and collecting old bottles from the creek bank while looking cute in her new boots....

 she also helped around the farm! She loved bottle feeding the babies...

 and acting as a baby goat jungle gym! Good thing they are still little!

Gwen's hard life

  Our next door neighbor finally hayed his field that's right across the fence from our pastures. This means we have lots of square bales of hay squirreled away in various places. I accidentally left the door open to one of the pens full of hay one night after chores.

  I came out the next morning to find Gwenny laying on her own personal edible lounge chair. She was actually scrawled out there nibbling on the hay right under her chin. The kid has such a hard life.

Gwen and the gang

 Just thought I'd share a couple pictures of our pretty girl, Gwen.

 Look at how well her beard is coming in! Such a grown up lady!

I have no idea what the Big Onion was doing here, but it sure was making him popular with the goats.

  Despite how looks in this picture, the newest girl, Elenore, is really fitting in well with the group. I think she and Thea have bonded over their lack of horns as we often find the two girls taking turns using each other as scratching posts for their head nubs. Goats are weird.

Long stays are boring

Luna and Rialey practicing long stays out in the pasture. 

Rialey thinks long stays are boooring!

Gwen, on the other hand, has mastered the art!

By the hairs on her Gwenny chin-chin

Our little Gwen is becoming a Lady!

Look what just sprouted on her chin!

  Her mother, Josie, has a pretty fantastic beard. Not all breeds of goats have beards, but we were hoping Gwen would grow one herself some day. We try not to make too many teenage boy with new whiskers comparisons. She is less than amused by that kind of talk.  

Muddy Rialey

  We finally have a little break from the rain so the fields and pens are just starting to dry up. These pics are from a week or two ago. Thank goodness Rialey is not phased much by mud and water. We certainly have a lot of it around here.

It's hard to look dignified when you are soaked up to your elbows.

As usual, Gwen is less than amused. 

Farming in the Swamps

 Our pasture after all the recent wet, nasty weather. 

  We aren't supposed to have any significant rain for a little while. Hopefully the great lakes will start to dry. There's some serious patches of boot sucking mud out there!   

 Bonus picture of Gwen giving her opinion of all the mud. 

Actually, she's chewing on a chunk of alfalfa cube, 

but trust me when I say that the attitude is properly represented. 

Gwen and the apple

Thanksgiving

Here are a few more of the pictures that Big Onion took on Thanksgiving morning. Many of the animals got special treats in honor of the holiday. The turkeys just felt like showing off. 

We have so much to be thankful for, but today I'd like especially thank everyone who takes the time to read this blog. Even though I don't always find time to post regularly, I love being able to share our incredibly fortunate lives with everyone. Thanks!!

Goats in coats

 We've had some very chilly nights here on the farm recently.

 Here in South Louisiana when the temps drop below freezing and we get a good frost cover on the ground, it might as well be a snow storm for us.

  I finally prevailed over the Big Onion and put a coat on Gwen during some of the colder nights. Big Onion is of the opinion that if we put coats on the goats, they'll never grow proper winter coats to protect them from the cold (and he's probably right about this though I'll never admit it to him!).

   My poor little Gwen has a terrible cough though that we just cannot get rid of. We've been to the vet twice and tried antibiotics, herbs, homeopathics, and vitamins, but she just cannot shake it. The coughing comes and goes in fits and seems worse when she overexerts herself. Otherwise, she seems to be a happy, healthy goat. I'm just afraid that this is a manifestation of her CAE that will only get worse over time.

  With that in mind, I put my foot down and bundled my little girl up in one of the Sheltie's nice warm coats overnight. Goats are much deeper in body than dogs so it wasn't a perfect fit, but it got the job done. We also set up a couple nice cozy areas with a deep beds of hay so that all the goats could snuggle down for the night.

Happy Gwen hanging with her auntie Thea after a cozy night in her goat coat.