CAE and OPP

  So, the story in my last blog post was a very sweet one, but as is so often the case in farming, there is also a very sad side to the story. We made a very big mistake that night that we let Chance nurse from Thea that we didn't discover until a few days later.

  I was researching why Rue's udder would produce that strange yellow waxy substance when I came across information about Ovine Progressive Pneumonia or OPP. OPP is the sister virus to CAE, which you will recall is something that we have been struggling with here on the farm. 

  OPP has a lot of symptoms, one of which is a dry, hard udder at the time of lambing. The most common expression of the disease though appears when the animal reaches about two years old, and they start to waste away and have respiratory distress. The disease is fatal and has no cure. What we didn't know was that sheep can contract OPP by nursing from a CAE positive goat.

  Back when we got all those bottle lambs, we were using Thea's CAE positive milk to feed them. I swear at the time I researched and could find no evidence that the diseased crossed over. Well, this time around the research was pretty clear that the transfer of the disease was a distinct possibility. 

  We decided to test a sampling of the flock. We tested an older girl who came with our original group of sheep, one of the second batch we brought in a few months later, then Rue who was one of those bottle lambs that grew up drinking from Thea. All the older sheep were negative, but sure enough, Rue came back positive for OPP. (We also tested the goat girls, Francesca and Lucia, who were born to CAE positive Josie, but were never allowed to nurse from her. They were both thankfully negative.)

  So what does this mean for us now? For one thing, it means that Rue, Annie, and Angus, the three that we kept from that group of bottle lambs, all have the disease and will likely die from it if we don't process them first. (We actually lost Annie's lamb about a week before Rue had hers. Now we know why.) It also means little Chance will have OPP. It means that no matter how cute she is tagging along after Thea, the decision to keep her as breeder is out of the question.

One of the hardest things about farming is that the animals have to pay for our mistakes. It was highly likely that we would not have kept Chance for breeding anyway as bad mothering instincts is something that is probably at least partly inherited, but now the decision is out of our hands. The good news is that for now she is big and healthy and enjoying a great life as Thea's one and only "kid."

Thea's "kid"

This story is continued from this post.

  That evening Charger looked great. He was up and active, and his mother was doting over him. Little Chance was not looking so hot. She did not seem to have nursed much during the day so we decided to give her a bottle, but to leave her with Bonnie in the hopes that somehow things would work out.

  The next morning, we again gave the little ewe a bottle then we both left for work. When Big Onion got home that evening, he sent me a message saying it was clear that Bonnie was not going to adopt Chance. She was caring for and feeding her own son, but she just was not up for a second lamb.

  I suggested that Big Onion bring Chance in while he was milking and let her nurse from Thea. We've used Thea in the past to nurse other kids and lambs. As long as there is food in front of her on the milk stand, Thea could care less what is happening at her other end.

  I arrived home late from work. Big Onion had just moved Thea from the milk room to the goat room next door. Chance was milk drunk and happy to cuddle on my lap while I sat and watched Big Onion finish up milking the rest of the girls.

  We were sitting there chatting about our days when we heard a strange sound, a low humming coming from the next room. It was followed by soft, sad calls that made little Chance in my lap perk up and call softly back.

 Big Onion and I looked at one another. I said, "Is that Thea? Is she...is she calling for this baby?" He shrugged and suggested we try putting the two of them together and see what happened.

  I carried the little one next door and placed her in the hay right in front of Thea. To our amazement, Thea and Chance started doing the mother and child call and response that all sheep and goats do when they have a newborn. Thea started grooming Chance then miraculously the baby hobbled her way back to Thea's udder and started to nurse. We were both certain that this was where the whole thing would fall apart. Thea had never let anyone nurse from her willingly away from the milk stand, but no, she just stood there and let that baby drink! She even squatted to give her better access then swung her head around and started grooming her new kid. Amazing.

  Not knowing what else to do, we left the new mother and daughter together overnight and by morning it was clear that Thea had herself a new kid!

Guess we should have called her Second Chance!

Thea finally kids

 Thea was our last goat to kid. Finally, the morning after Josie had her girls, Thea started looking like it was her time. She was being very affectionate and very vocal. Thea is normally a very quiet goat so we knew something was up.

 My friend K, Big Onion, and I were all home so we along with our number one goat cleaner farm dog, Rialey, all pulled up stools and prepared to wait.

 Thea's last kid, Amelia, now a mother in her own right joined us for the wait.

 And wait we did.

And wait.

And wait some more.

Finally after much pacing around and pawing at the group and getting up and laying down for what felt like the hundredth time, Thea settled down and started to push. Since I had been the lucky one to "catch" for most of our kiddings this season, I let Big Onion do the honor while I sat back and got the first birth on video.

Obvious but obligatory warning: this is video of a goat giving birth...

Thea gave us two big, healthy boys! Both boys inherited their mother's healthy appetite and took to the bottle immediately.

  The first came out all white just like Thea, but with Gimli's blue eyes. We decided to name him Theo.

  The second buckling was also blue eyed, but he was a lovely light honey color. Big Onion's family got the naming rights on this one, so he became Kristoff. Both boys got the sweet disposition of the Saanen.

  And with this post, this is the last of the kidding stories you folks will have to endure for a while, but stay tuned in the near future for the harrowing tale of a double lambing that went terribly wrong with a surprise but happy ending.

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.

What's the Buzz!

  Everyone keeps asking us, "How's Buzz?" "How's that poor little sheep who got stuck in the fence?" I've been meaning to update everyone on the "little" guy, so here's the buzz with Buzz...

Do you like my new shoe?

  So the other day, I was out doing chores when Thea came around the corner walking a little funny. I thought it was just her CAE and the cold bothering her joints when I noticed that she had decided to make a bold fashion choice instead.

I have no idea how this happened. Best guess is Blaze, the barn cat, dug the empty can out of the trash and DumDum the goat (seriously, we love her, but Thea is not a smart goat) had managed to wedge her hoof into the thing.

  And let me tell you, wedge she did. I had to find a pair of pliers to cut that can off her foot! When it was removed, Thea had a small cut on the back of her hoof. Beauty is pain, I suppose. I gave her a good spray with Blue Kote and tried to convince Thea that blue is a much better color on her!

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.

It's a girl...finally!

  So we thought Thea's due date was some time around Wednesday of last week. Days and days and days of checking Josie and then Thea every 2-3 hour around the clock were starting to take their toll on Big Onion and me. We took turns on the night shifts, napping on the couch between trudging out to check on the girls and getting very little else done around the house and farm. The added stress of feeding, wrangling, and cleaning up after three rambunctious bucklings wasn't helping much either.

  Night before last I was on duty. Every time I checked on her, Thea was looking closer and closer to going into labor. Her vulva was swelling, and her udder was finally starting to fill up. It was about 11am. I had gone out to get a (late) start on morning chores while Big Onion was making us both some much needed coffee and breakfast. I came around the corner by the turkey pens to find Thea laid out on her side and already pushing for all she was worth!

Kid Watch 2013: Update - Still kidless!

  Josie started this afternoon with that I thought was labor. She was breathing heavy, looked very uncomfortable, and stretching a lot. That was about 12 hours ago. Well, since then I must have walked a total of miles and miles from the house to the goat rooms checking on her every couple hours.

  We are also running up on Thea's due date now and neither girl seems to be ready to get down to business. When I last check on them, Josie was downing hay like it was going out of style, and Thea was sleeping peacefully in the milk room.

  I just wish they'd get on with it already before I become too sleep deprived and delirious to deal with delivering and caring for two to god knows how many kids!

Kid watch 2013

Josie is due any minute now so we are officially on kid watch.

As you can see, she is roughly the size of a small aircraft carrier with a very full looking udder.

She is really waddling around these days, but being hugely pregnant in this blistering heat hasn't changed her temperament one bit. She's still full to the brim with piss and vinegar, and that's the way we love her.

Our Thea should be due just a few days after Josie.

As you can see, she is not carrying nearly as wide as Josie. Her gut is hanging low instead. If I didn't know this girl's normal shape or hadn't had her tested, I'd be wondering if she was pregnant at all. 

Both our mommas to be are still out grazing in the hot sun like nothing unusual is happening. Meanwhile, we've been checking udders and goat rears several times a day for any indication of impending kid-hood.

  Since both the girls are CAE+, we plan on pulling and bottle raising babies. We just got a negative CAE test back for Gertie, and we have a freezer full of her milk ready and waiting. Today I taped up both girls' teat just in case they decided to go all ninja and kid on us without any warning.

  Before I taped Josie, I milked out her udder in hopes of keeping her from getting congested like she did with Gwen. I was also hoping to get some colostrum from her that we could heat treat and have ready for when the little ones arrive. Unfortunaly, what I got was white and salty. I guess the real colostrum doesn't come until momma is really ready to kid.

  The next few night will be very short on sleep as we will be checking on the girls every few hours and keeping our fingers crossed that we will be there with the catcher's mitt ready when they  decide to kid.

Who's in charge here?

"Um, Gwen. 'Scuse me."

"Sorry, I need to get through ... pardon me ... um ..."

"Ok, I'll just squeeze through ..."

Princess Gwen needs her beauty rest and cannot be disturbed. 

Doing my best impression of a human scratching post. 

Happy Birthday Gwenny!!

   Friday was Gwen's 1st birthday. I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday....

Runaway goats

I've been feeling under the weather for the last week or so. I managed to catch a cold that just kicked my butt. Yesterday, I was feeling particularly icky and decided morning chores be damned, I was gonna get a little extra sleep. With one thing and another, I was quite late getting out back to release the poultry and milk the goats.

 I guess the goat ladies got impatient and decided that I was never coming out to give them their breakfast because four of the girls decided to up and run away from home!

I've had to retrieve the ladies from the back pasture for their morning milking before when I was running behind, but this was the first time that they decided to fly the coop so to speak.

See those black and white dots on the other side of the fence? 

Yeah, that's our goats in the neighbor's field. 

Luckily, our goats seem to like me a lot and like getting their morning scoop full of tasty goat chow even more. I started calling their names, and I had a mini caprine stampede on my hands complete with Gertie and Thea pulling off some ridiculous happy goat hops and dances on their way to the front. I'm not sure which is more hilarious, Thea's prancing that looks like a drunken camel falling down a sand dune or Gertie trying to fly thru the air with about two feet of pendulous udder flopping around underneath her. Meanwhile the youngsters, Gwen and Eve, are running behind trying to headbutt everything in sight!

Thea photobomb! 

On a much sadder note, Big Onion and I are pretty sure that little Jenni is not going to be with us much longer. If you will recall, Jenni is our CAE positive girl. Since she came to us she has suffered with almost debilitating arthritis. I tried a number of different supplements and medications to try and help her, but nothing seems to make much of a difference in her quality of life.

Lately she has started rapidly dropping weight. We tried worming her repeatedly with very little success  She's very weak, and her appetite is odd. She only wants to eat certain things. Turns her nose up at goat food and alfalfa, but last night she literally almost choked to death to trying to scarf down cracked corn.

This morning she was going after spilled chicken feed which is really odd for her. Normally she will not go near any feed that has touched the ground. I walked away for a second and came back to find that she had fallen down in a heap with her head under her body. Poor girl.

We are not sure if it is just the CAE finally catching up with her or something else going on, but Big Onion and I have made the hard decision not to take any major steps of intervention in her case. Her quality of life was never good. She was always in pain, and anything we do at this point will only prolong her suffering.

This was a really hard choice for us to make. Working for a vet, it's against my instincts not to try and fix this poor old girl, but I think we have made the right choice. Tomorrow, I will give her some pain meds, let her eat whatever she wants, and hope for the best.

Goat heaven

 Look who I found out in the back pasture all by themselves for the first time! All 6 goats have finally decided to take advantage of the massive amounts of brush out in the third pasture. Up until now, the girls would follow us out there but would not stay out there unless we were there working on something. The minute we headed back up front they would hightail it across the bridge back to the barnyard area.

 Josie and Jenni in goat heaven.

Jenni, who has an advanced case of the arthritic form of CAE, got a big dose of Banamine today. It was nice to see her walking almost like a normal goat and out grazing with the rest of the group.

 I suspect we will have a much smaller blackberry harvest this year thanks to these girls.

Unfortunately, goats love blackberry bushes. The girls were very happily chomping away at any hope of a future berry harvest. Oh well!