Pregnant doe looking poor...LOOK AT LUCY NOW :) UPDATE WITH PICS!

[EggsForIHOP]

Let me add...because I realize I skipped a crucial part of "the plan"...sorry...dinner was burning when i posted....


I do NOT intend to fully milk her out each time...mostly get her up there and let her eat, maybe take a cup or 2 for the kiddos. I basically intend to milk like I was a single kid nursing...a tad each time enough to relieve pressure(but evenly from each side of course), not a full pail/empty udder milking...I do need a good little back up on the colostrum over the next 2 or 3 days...and enough milk from her to mix 50/50with vitamin D cows milk for her boys would please me. But I have no lofty expectations beyond that.

Also..really...I just want to boost her for about a week with the magic syrup....she REALLY does look like Skeletor...but that added boost of energy tonight seemed to help her feel a little feisty - when she was done on the milkstand she went back to Camp Dairy Doe and actually FOUGHT her way to the hay for the first time in a while! She needs a little...BAM! Like Emeril says you know? To get her jump started and feeling better right now.

She REALLY is a lover - not a fighter - and the other goats need only look at her crossed eyed most times for her to back down. I'm hoping if we can keep her energy boosted a little, she'll stand her ground more often as it has been working so far today.

Am I WAY WAY too worried about this? Probably...but I LOVE HER! She is the sweetest, most gentle goat out there HANDS DOWN and I want her to start bouncing back ASAP! But I do need to milk her some...when I realized this morning my colostrum was toast in the Great Freezer Disaster of 2011 and I still have 2 does left to kid that are FF this year...well...I had a minor heart attack.

 

[Queen Mum]

Ok, relax. She is doing fine. Just the individual attention alone on the milk stand is going to help a lot. Go ahead and milk her out in the morning and use that milk for the babies. Then let her nurse her babies the rest of the day. She will be fine (get that FINE). Just make sure she has her own place to take care of her babies by herself. She doesn't need that much space and as long as she isn't having to fight for space and feed, she will bulk up pretty fast.

If you have pulled the babies and she is stressed about it, make sure she is where she can see them. Stress is a big cause for weight loss.

Also, maybe your vet can give you some injectible Valium. (Yes Valium, Mothers Little Helper) It is indicated for goats. (We gave it to my doe, Mama, when she wouldn't eat because a bear killed one of my other goats. Worked like a charm. If the vet has questions I can refer you to my vet in Issaquah Washington.) 1/2 cc three times a day will REALLY increase her appetite. It won't hurt the milk and she will eat like a pig. She will only need it for about 5 or 6 days.

 

[EggsForIHOP]

The kids live in the house and are bottle fed...she doesn't seemed stressed about that as much as she is HOT LIVID MAD about the RAIN we keep getting! She grumbled about the rain in the short walk through it to the milk stand this morning every step "meh...meh...meh" every time a drop of rain hit her! EVERY goat is out there having fits right now actually! It came down so hard, long, and fast today that they all got stranded by a flash flood river (4 inches deep, not enough to drown anyone, but they ACTED like they would float away) and couldn't get under cover - I went out to the hollers of several MAD goats and had to DRAG each one through the gate under their shed area because they wouldn't cross the giant puddle! Kids? what kids? she has moved past that and is more worried the sky is falling (because it IS in BIG wet sheets of water right now)

Valium huh? Reeeaalllyy.....hmmm...this is good to know Will keep that in mind and call the vet if I need to tomorrow. Though she has certainly perked up today - I think she CRAVES people time and is more content with people than the goats. She just enjoys being on the milkstand, being brushed, munching hay without the rude snobby goats to push her off of it - today we sat there for a while because it decided to POUR as I finished milking this morning and so I plopped down a flake of hay we just hung out until it let up - then she looked at me like "Where are you going?" when I left her with the other goats.

I'm not stressing...not stressing...BREATHING....no stress...making sure she gets her one on one time, apart from the others where she can chow on grass hay and alfalfa pellets to her hearts content right now. I SWEAR no other goat ever has held my heart like Lucy does. But she is just so...well...squishable loveable and sweet! I gotta worry a little, because when I talked myself out of worrying, she got this way. But I'll try not to...really...I'll try....

 

[Queen Mum]

The kids live in the house and are bottle fed...she doesn't seemed stressed about that as much as she is HOT LIVID MAD about the RAIN we keep getting! She grumbled about the rain in the short walk through it to the milk stand this morning every step "meh...meh...meh" every time a drop of rain hit her! EVERY goat is out there having fits right now actually! It came down so hard, long, and fast today that they all got stranded by a flash flood river (4 inches deep, not enough to drown anyone, but they ACTED like they would float away) and couldn't get under cover - I went out to the hollers of several MAD goats and had to DRAG each one through the gate under their shed area because they wouldn't cross the giant puddle! Kids? what kids? she has moved past that and is more worried the sky is falling (because it IS in BIG wet sheets of water right now)

Valium huh? Reeeaalllyy.....hmmm...this is good to know Will keep that in mind and call the vet if I need to tomorrow. Though she has certainly perked up today - I think she CRAVES people time and is more content with people than the goats. She just enjoys being on the milkstand, being brushed, munching hay without the rude snobby goats to push her off of it - today we sat there for a while because it decided to POUR as I finished milking this morning and so I plopped down a flake of hay we just hung out until it let up - then she looked at me like "Where are you going?" when I left her with the other goats.

I'm not stressing...not stressing...BREATHING....no stress...making sure she gets her one on one time, apart from the others where she can chow on grass hay and alfalfa pellets to her hearts content right now. I SWEAR no other goat ever has held my heart like Lucy does. But she is just so...well...squishable loveable and sweet! I gotta worry a little, because when I talked myself out of worrying, she got this way. But I'll try not to...really...I'll try....

Hmmm, sounds like you need the valium more than she does. LOL. I am giggling while I write this. Perhaps SHE should be in the house. Nope, wait, that would NOT work. Poo would be everywhere. Darn. She does sound sweet.

Don't you just hate that Texas rain? It is so gross. Once it starts to rain, it just doesn't STOP. And then next thing you know the rain stops and there you go, everything dries up and the dirt turns to rock and nothing but juniper grows. I don't blame the goats for refusing to walk through it. I think they would float in the rain. Really, they will, Honest! I went out in the rain and the rocks were floating down the hillside right into the barn. I swear. I spent hours cleaning out the rocks and the mud.

Poor Lucy. She is lucky to have you. But you should explain to her that you will NOT carry her across puddles. Bad habit to get into.

 

[EggsForIHOP]

I didn't carry anyone...I DRUG them one by one...I said we were WALKING and I meant it! And yes...I HATE the rain! No wonder people call this the "armpit" of Texas! It's sweaty and nasty and stank and wet!

And yes...I think after this last 6 months or so I DO need that Valium! Moving, trying to rebuild stuff, a touch of cabin fever...yup...I'm next...is that injection IM or subQ?

 

[Queen Mum]

Sub Q. I'm pretty sure it is not indicated for people who are dragging goats through puddles, even if they are rivers of floating goats and rocks. It would make you fat and way too happy.

 

[EggsForIHOP]

Sub Q. I'm pretty sure it is not indicated for people who are dragging goats through puddles, even if they are rivers of floating goats and rocks. It would make you fat and way too happy.

LOL...I'm already fat and happy! So it can't do any harm then right?

 

[EggsForIHOP]

WEll...it's be almost 2 months and I think my Lucy Goosey is starting to look pretty sharp...not perfect...but MUCH BETTER ALREADY! She got a bath and a trim today - all that extra fluff was keeping her too warm already - just knocked enough off with the clippers to cool her off a tad, but still be warm at night.

Camera1:

Camera2:

I am still milking her, like I would any other doe, and worrying less...she's asserting herself more within the group, taking her stand at the hay and such...and of course still spoiled rotten! She did SO good today getting her bath and never even made a peep...though she did try to eat the soap a little...

Anyways, thank you always for being supportive when I worry too much to everyone! Ding dong the ribs are gone

 

[ksalvagno]

 

[nuts4goats]

Wow! She looks much better! What a difference! Great job!