Latestarter's ramblings/musings/gripes and grumbles.

[Latestarter]

I tried banana chunks today without anything in them. The only goat that ate one is the fattest one. The others all turned up there noses. So much as others have written about how well that works, not so much here. Maybe I'll try peanut butter tomorrow. Wish there was a way to conceal the stuff in animal crackers or froot loops, they love those.

 

[Alaskan]

froot loops would hold paste


paste in fruit loops would hold a pill

 

[Latestarter]

Haven't received the paste yet... just ordered it so wasn't sure of consistency... I also bought a plastic balling gun, so I can do the boluses the old fashioned way if it comes down to it. The copper boluses have already arrived. Just waiting on better weather over the coming days to do them. Debating on a cup of molasses to dip the end in to hold the bolus from falling out, or peanut butter. I guess I better get them addicted to peanut butter first huh?

 

[Hens and Roos]

We had picked up a plastic balling gun but found it didn't hold the pill well enough, let me know how the one you picked up works. For now DH just gives the pills when needed.

 

[Mini Horses]

Mine love bread!! You can squeeze bread around a pill. Cinnamon/raisin is quite popular and they beg for more. In fact, I have to be careful with it as they will crowd & stand up on the fence, with tongues wagging for it. With only a few you can be fast enough to give each one....here, wow! some would get several before others got one. It's like the fence gate from Goat Whisperer's beet pulp begging.

AND -- another pic in avatar?!

 

[greybeard]

Cut a slot in a marshmallow or in part of a marshmallow and put the pill in the slot.
Believe it or not, some animals don't like molasses by itself. Tried it with some calves and a dog several times and they just spat it out.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

What type of bolus gun did you get?
We used one for the first time this year. LOVE IT!
For us, it worked so much better than trying to hide it in food/treats. Our goats can by picky, and if they think something is up, they won't eat it

Just a tiny drop of peanut butter keeps the bolus in place, and its such a small amount the goats don't get any/get it stuck in their mouth.

 

[animalmom]

I've used a raisin in the bolus gun to hold the copper capsule. It worked reasonably well, but I haven't found an easy way for one person to bolus a goat.

 

[Latestarter]

Thanks GW, the balling gun (really just a hollow plastic tube, hardly a "gun") I got is the small sized blue as opposed to a large(r) red one. I didn't see a brown one, not that color really matters. Geeze, with all those blood tubes and syringes in that pic, looks like you're running a hospital lab...

What size bolus is that in the pic? I bought 100/4 gram boluses and in actuality, I can probably fit 2 of them back to back in the gun. Price per gram, it worked out cheaper than buying the cattle sized ones, even more so as I'd have had to break each one down and buy new smaller capsules (or feed the rods free in something else) and just the extra work involved. Figured it would be far easier with the smaller capsules & I can always give them more frequently if needed. I could put 2 in the gun for the big ladies, and only one for the youngsters (over 50lbs). For all that I've read, OD'ing on copper is really not an issue with goats.

H&R, how does your DH manage to get them far enough into the back of the throat so they can't spit them out, while NOT getting his fingers munched by those very strong/sharp molars they have back there? My buck is still young and small, but pretty strong, and his mouth doesn't open very far... I have fat hands/fingers (& body).

@animalmom, I've given them raisins before and though they all crowd to get a bite, as soon as they've had one, they back away and aren't interested. Now when I offer them, they sniff, turn their noses up, give me stink eye cause they want their froot loops, and walk away... As for bolusing them by myself, I really don't have a choice, all I got is me. I'll figure something out. May turn out to be a great adventure for me and the goats.

I was also concerned about peanut butter clogging up their throats... I have given it on bread to my dogs on rare occasions... I leave the PB exposed and of course the whole thing sticks to the roof of their mouth and they get a week's worth of tongue exercise trying to finish it. Funny to watch, a treat for them.

Also bought a tube of vitamin E and selenium paste. According to the USGS there's no selenium in this county (it's white as opposed to any shade of blue). I imagine that has some bearing on the goats being thin. I have done some reading and also bought https://www.jefferspet.com/products/replamin-gel-plus-300cc?sku=VPAC as it has some copper & does have cobalt which I believe @Ferguson K determine was an issue with her goats. The reviews were all positive or neutral that I found. Didn't find any negative reviews of the product. I know that selenium can be toxic and the level is very low tolerance not to exceed, so I won't be using both simultaneously.

They get 16% pellets twice a day, basically all they can eat, high quality alfalfa 24/7 (I over the amount wasted), as well as the regular forage and grasses/weeds and poor quality hay. When this (alfalfa) hay is gone, I may try a bag of alfalfa cubes and see if it's more cost efficient/effective. Even if more expensive per bag ($12 a small bale for the A hay), if there's less waste it may be far better. The last A-hay I got was very stemmy & dry and my gals don't really care for the stems. This batch is very leafy, and as soon as they start digging in it's like raining green leaf flakes... like emptying a large container of parsley every bite... So I end up with a pile of leaf flakes as well as stems under the feeder.

The woman I bought RJ (the new buck) from recommended Chafhay but having read the problems folks on here have had with it, I just don't need the hassles. She sent 2 flakes of her hay home with me and the buck, as well as a grocery bag filled with the feed/pellets they were feeding him. The hay they sent, when I looked closely at it, wasn't even hay... it was woody weeds and sticks for the most part. He chose what I feed over what they gave me when presented with the choice.

 

[Goat Whisperer]

Lol the tubes and syringes were for the CAE, CL, & Johne's testing. Figured if were were bringing all the goats up one by one for bolusing, FAMACHA, etc. may as well pull some blood too.

That's a 4 gram capsule in the pic. Are you giving the does 8 grams each? How are they eating their mineral? Ours are brats and don't really eat the mineral.
I have heard really good things about the gel you ordered. I haven't used it, but I know others that are really happy with it. I thought about giving some to my bucks who are rutting very hard. Keep us posted if you give it!

Copper can be difficult. I know lately the interwebs has been saying that it's extremely difficult to OD with the copper…
I know a breeder up in VA that have the bolus 2x year/whenever the goats looked like they needed it. She lost 12 of her top does to copper toxicity (confirmed by a necropsy). So I think their still is a risk when you give high doses.