Looking for a special needs blind bottle baby goat kid!!! Please help spread the word!

[AmberRaif]

Hi All,
Our little blind goat is doing well but is lonely. He can't assimilate to the herd and everytime he runs into another kid he gets butted, sometimes very unkindly and repetitively, because he doesn't know that he's being rude by running into the others. Especially the ones at the top of the totem pole.
He needs a companion (he's soon going to be too big to live in the house) and I'm following my gut to search for another blind bottle baby kid. Nigerian Dwarf or Pygmy or Fainting goat. A mini breed.
We live in the DFW TX, area, does anyone know of any farms to put me in contact with who might have a blind but otherwise healthy kid?
We are building a paddock for the blind babies and they will be pets. Taught to lead and maybe even therapy animals or pack goats. Please help put me in touch with someone! My Little Clippin' needs a friend.

Thank you.

 

[bethh]

Aww, poor little guy. Hope you find him a companion.

 

[chickens really]

Why are you getting blind kids? I don't understand?

 

[AmberRaif]

Why are you getting blind kids? I don't understand?

During our kidding season this year one doe kidded triplets, and one was born blind. He can't mix with the other kids who are all with their moms much, and gets abused by the more aggressive/pushy kids. His mother has completely rejected him and I'm just looking for a goat kid that shares his handicap to put them together and raise them together as companions.

 

[animalmom]

How is the search going for a special buddy for your special goatie?

Have you heard of Goats of Anarchy https://goatsofanarchy.com ? Their "mission" is to take care of special needs animals. They may have some helpful suggestions for caring for your guy.

Please keep us posted on his progress.

 

[Ridgetop]

The mother realizes something is not right with him. That might be why she is rejecting him. Animal moms are not like us and don't nurture crippled or disabled babies. They usually abandon them after a day or two, taking the healthy ones away. Remember that in the wild a disabled kid would immediately have been eaten by a predator as the mama and other kids fled or moved on with the herd. That is nature's way.

Try keeping him separated where he can hear the other goats but not mix with them. Keep his pen small and always put his feed and water in the exact same pIace so he can find it. Blind animals can memorize the location of permanent objects in their pens. I would not bring in another blind animal thinking it will help It probably won't, it will just provide more stress for this one. He will have the stress of adjusting to another new but unseen situation. The new one won't be any more able to play with your current blind goat than this blind goat can play with the healthy kids. You will just end up with 2 blind kids. The new blind goat will be extremely stressed too with having a completely new surroundings and pen layout to memorize. With 2 blind goats moving around in the pen they will still bump into each other. A second blind kid in the same pen would be stressful for this one.

Contact Anarchy to see what you can do to help this fellow, but please don't rush into getting another blind goat for him to "play" with. I commend your kind thoughts about this situation, but animals are not human and adding another blind kid will not be the fixer you think.

 

[AmberRaif]

Thank you for all of your thoughts etc.
I did look into the goats of Anarchy, and it looks like they keep blind goats together, but perhaps I will ask about that. However we have a very gentle buckling here who has been making friends with him and spends time with him very willingly, almost acting like a seeing eye pal. As far as needing a very small pen, we are finding the opposite to be true for him. He wants to explore. He finds pen walls and tries to escape to gain more space. He walks in circles to "clear" his space, slowly widening them, and then goes faster and faster until he is kicking his heels up and spinning and prancing in the happiest fashion. At present he's four weeks old and lives in the house with us and in the backyard. He's found the patio steps and has learned how to go up and down. He is obviously handicapped, but he is an overcomer.
Yes, we fully understand why his mother rejected him. She took very good care for the first week and then stopped. It makes perfect sense since the one week mark makes a huge transition in a healthy kids abilities to run with mom and follow her in the pasture.
So, he is now a pet. We are teaching him to lead easily and socializing him with many people. We hope to make him a therapy animal and in our community he is already becoming a celebrity, complete with his own Instagram page. And he loves his stuffed animals.
Thankfully, I'm not brand new to raising goats (been doing this for seven years now) just new to blind ones. But he is quickly teaching us that while he is limited he is no quitter. He will be moved soon to a barn stall that is connected to his own private paddock that's in the middle of the main grazing pasture. So he'll be with the herd, but safe. His future is assured, and he will have many friends.

 

[animalmom]

Sounds like your young buck might make a good companion for your special guy... you might want to put a distinctive sounding bell on the buck so your special guy can find him if you put them in the same paddock.

Is Clippin' his name?

 

[AmberRaif]

Y

Sounds like your young buck might make a good companion for your special guy... you might want to put a distinctive sounding bell on the buck so your special guy can find him if you put them in the same paddock.

Is Clippin' his name?

Yes, the blind one is Clippin' and his buddy is Tumnus. They will both be wethered and kept as pets. I love the idea of the bell! Thank you!

 

[Sheepshape]

Sounds like your young buck might make a good companion for your special guy... you might want to put a distinctive sounding bell on the buck so your special guy can find him if you put them in the same paddock.

Good idea...but he'll probably know his companion by smell. When I had a totally blind sheep he always knew when I was approaching , even if I said nothing. His sense of hearing was good....but I guess he smelt me first (I do shower at least once a day, but most animals have a MUCH better sense of smell than us).....