Anyone else notice any of their goats wasting away? Pics Added

[misfitmorgan]

Yes they have always had access to a trace mineral block that does contain copper and whenever i started this thread i also bought a bag of loose minerals with copper in it and gave them that but it hasnt made much of a difference. I'm looking at ordering some of the Ultracruz goat copper bolus so i can dose everyone every 6 months or so.

 

[misfitmorgan]

Our water is heavy in sulfur and i read that sulfur blocks copper absorption...anyone have any idea if sulfur in water would have the same effect? We have been on this property for almost a year now and the major problems didnt start until we moved them here.

 

[misfitmorgan]

Copper Bolus are suppose to be here today, Blood for testing got mailed out yesterday...fecal collection and CDT vaccines today. Hopefully we get some answers or more improvement out of that. I also bought some noble goat pellets to feed Ella and her daughter Cassiopia separately from the herd and then they get to help clean up some oats/corn after that. We have some alfalfa hay coming so we can mix a few flakes in to the grass hay...hopefully all that and the copper will get their weight back up. Phoebe the Boer/nubian cross needs a little weight too but she just got done nursing twin bucks 3 weeks ago and she always gets a bit thin while nursing. Hopefully Sunday will be hoof trimming day. We have also decided to top dress our hay field with alfalfa lightly so this years hay will have a small amount of alfalfa in it which hopefully will help with weight on all the does.

 

[Latestarter]

Sounds like you have a whole lot going on there. Hope the testing provides some clearer picture and an idea what direction to take. Improving the quality of the food is always a good thing IMO... Hope they all improve.

 

[misfitmorgan]

The worst off goats got their Copper on Friday evening....because the pill gun didnt arrive yet. I used the marshmallow trick but they were not feeling the marshmallows lol. Had to thru the cram it into their mouths and hold my hand over so they would taste it before spitting it out. After that they wanted it just fine but wow what a mess, poor May ended up with her beard stuck to the side of her mouth so i can to take her to the trough and try to wash it off. So yeah all the alpines got done, Phoebe got done and Lucy got done just cause she was standing in the grain stall with me and liked marshmallows just fine lol. So i have Alice, Missy, Bella, and Moon left to do, pretty sure they were gonna be the worst because they always are. Moon doesnt like anything people food not even gingersnaps or molasses.

Everyone got CDT except the newborn kids and the moms who were due any day now. Lambs and the one kid we held back got their CDT booster. Fecals did not get collected i will have to do that tonight. A friend of ours needed a place to put his pigs asap so we ended up having him come over and helps build another stall in our barn. So that messed up our weekend plans and DH ended up having to work a 10hr shift on saturday.

 

[Latestarter]

Sorry your weekend got messed up... Hate it when that happens (all too often). But look at the bright side... You got a LOT accomplished, even some stuff you never planned to do (pigs). Maybe your friend will leave a couple of piglets for you in "payment" for your help and you can look forward to a fall freezer filling? Wouldn't THAT be nice?

 

[misfitmorgan]

Sorry your weekend got messed up... Hate it when that happens (all too often). But look at the bright side... You got a LOT accomplished, even some stuff you never planned to do (pigs). Maybe your friend will leave a couple of piglets for you in "payment" for your help and you can look forward to a fall freezer filling? Wouldn't THAT be nice?

He only brought over 2 gilts...we have 2 gilts, a boar and a meat barrow..they are about 5 months old so should breed in about a month. Then we should have all the bacon seeds we want to grow into freezer fillers. Yummy!! The barrow is for my mom he will be butchered hopefully in june/july before the hottest part of summer gets here. Having another stall finished is nice but it is already filled up with his gilts lol. We have enough maple to make one more stall though then we have to get more wood. This will give us 4 stalls on the north side of the barn...space/plans for one more on that side. Then 6 stalls on the south side. The stalls are 8ftX10ft so we can put drop in temporary boards down the middle to make 4ftX5ft birthing stalls for goats/sheep.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

Sorry some of your plans got postponed, but so happy you are getting it all done

Hoping its something that can be fixed and nothing major- fingers crossed for you

 

[misfitmorgan]

I hope so too. Got the pill gun in the mail yesterday so got the rest of the herd copper Bulus'ed too.

 

[misfitmorgan]

Upon reflection im not very happy with the pill gun we got...i dont think it is long enough as we cant really get it to the back of their tongue even on the mini/ND goats. Luckily all the standard size goats and our one mini La Mancha took the copper in a marshmellow. The others were a bit of a fight even with the gun.

Ella was actually looking perked up last night, standing better and actually being a bit bossy like her old self. Maybe i am being to hopeful but she does look marginally improved so i hope the copper is helping today will be day 5 after her copper bolus. Also day 5 on supplementing her with a bit of noble goat.