Restraining goats for blood draw

[Our7Wonders]

For those of you with full size goats, how in the heck do you guys do it? I wrestled my poor pregnant doe trying to get her still for my husband - wasn't happening.

I'm pretty sure we can handle the blood draw itself but I can't figure out how to get them to be still for the procedure so that we don't kill them trying to get the vein. We tried on the milk stand - that wasn't working and it put her head too far up for me to keep it still and she danced all other the stand. Then we tried pinning her against the wall while I held her head still and that ALMOST worked but she was still jerking around too much for us to feel confident enough to do it!

Is there some sort of trick? After seeing the pics of the little girl online drawing blood from a goat I figured "No Problem"! Yeah, right! I really don't want to transport my girls and stress them out this far into their pregnancy and the vet charges an arm and a leg for a farm call. I'd REALLY like to be able to do this on my own if at all possible - then again, I don't want to kill my does either.

Tell me your tricks.

 

[julieq]

It'll be good to see what other breeders have to say. We're wimps so we have our vet draw blood (while they're on the milk stand). He's a pro and does it very quickly. Fortunately it's only 35.00 for a farm call. And of course, we're wrestling ND's and mini's, not standard size!

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

Wonder if she can sense your anxiety and reacts to it?

 

[20kidsonhill]

We halter them, then we put them next to a sturdy fence or solid wall, with a post or beam, and tie them tightly to the post so their head has no room to move. Then we lean on them and pin them to the wall. We wear head lights if the lighting is poor so our hands are free. This way their head is allready under control and all you have to do is keep them to the wall. We have gone so far as to wrap a rope or chain around their horns and even tie their horns right to the post with the halter on and the halter tied tightly to the post as well.

Good luck.

 

[SDGsoap&dairy]

I had one of the techs at work do it while I restrained. It was her first time drawing from a goat (or from anyone's jugular for that matter) and it was easy peasy. I think it's probably a "less is more" type of situation- the goats tend to react worse to being restrained than being poked. I also did clip a small area with a #40 (surgical) length blade so it was easier to see. My suggestion would be to try it with the least amount of restraint physically possible to keep the goat still. The vein is really just below the skin, so if you're comfortable giving SQ injections I think you could handle drawing blood.

 

[julieq]

Wanted to say also that DH built our steel milk stand for the ND's and mini's so that they stand at waist level (they go up a ramp). So it's much easier for our vet to get to the neck and draw blood at this level.

 

[freemotion]

My dad simply straddled each goat, making his legs into a stanchion, and used both hands to hold the head up. It worked great, we did five goats in a short time.

Of course, one of those goats has grown a lot since then so I am looking forward to seeing if he can hold her. I had dh try this method so I could trim her feet, and she just walked away, with my very large husband sort of riding her and grasping at fence posts before finally giving up..... She is ginormous.

 

[Horsefly]

I haven't drawn blood before but I use the straddle method whenever I have to do anything with their head or ears. I stradle them over their neck and pull their head up against my chest. They can't move much and usually give up once to you get the head under control. Of course if the goat has horns this may not be the most ideal method. I have given shots and stuff while they are in the milk stand, once they see grain in front of them I could saw a limb off and they wouldn't move

 

[aggieterpkatie]

My husband stands behind the animal's head/neck and holds the head with both hands, sort of tilting the head back and at an angle. Usually they stay pretty still. Can you put your goat on a stanchion with the halter on, then turn the head to the left and tie it back? The body can still move but that will hold the head still.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Well I was trying to upload a pic to photobucket, but it's taking a ridiculously long time. I did a blog post about it last year and here it is if you're interested.