Vaccine Booster

It's that time of year again!  Booster shots!  Woo!

Ah yes, being a responsible pet owner means that you do everything you can to make sure that your pets are as healthy as can be.  Even if that means forking over some dough and doing things that make your squeamish.

Ellie was first, so we brought her into the vet last month.  Exam + several vaccines= $200   Ouch!

Harley is this week.  Fortunately, I got a $10 off coupon in the mail, so maybe that might help take the edge off.

We give the goaties their vaccine ourselves.  This in total costs us about $10 including the cost of needles and syringes.  Last year was a little traumatic.  Our goat breeder told us to lift the skin between the shoulder blades and administer the vaccine Sub-Q (under the skin).  Sounds easy, right?  After all, you've probably seen your vet give your dogs/cats vaccines that way all the time.  Now try that with a tiny wiggly goat with no extra skin.  Not so easy, and I couldn't do it.  So I held down my baby goat while my husband gave the vaccine.

But I am 1 year older and wiser and have joined multiple goat forums and yahoo groups.  The trick?  Goats have extra skin at their armpit, not between the shoulder blades like a dog.  So this year it was my turn.

I asked my husband to distract Oreo by giving her some scritches.  I lifted the extra the skin right above her armpit, and then .... done!  No flinching, no fighting, no big deal!  She handled it like a trooper.  So we gave her a peanut and she was on her way.  Next was Butters and she also got a peanut.

You can tell the vaccine made them a little sore, but they are doing great!

All this reminded me that we need to expand our goat medicine cabinet.  Which should include:

1. Ivomec... we use herbal de-wormers, but this is good to have on hand.
2. Nurti-drench
3. Probios
4. Electrolytes
5. Sulmet
6. Thermometer
7. Triple Antibiotic Cream
8. Needles/Syringes
9. Drenching Syringe
10. Pepto-Bismal
11. Epi-Pen
12. Bo-se
13. Copper Bolus
14. And last but not least... our vet's phone number pre-programed and written down.

Take care of your critters!

Coccidia Scare

Since I have a lot of doggy friends, who tend to be animal lovers in general, I hear this comment a lot:

"This is amazing!  I've always wanted a little farm!  You are living my dream!"

Growing up in suburbia where the idea of growing and raising my own food seemed distant, I can certainly relate.  I love animals and the idea of a little farm with different animals running around seemed like heaven. 

The problem is, I didn't grow up around livestock.  I wasn't part of 4H or FFA (Future Farmers of America).  Heck, I haven't even taken a horse-back riding lesson.  The closest I got to a horse was the little pony rides in Pasadena.  How could I be a farmer?

But where there is a will, there is a way, and here I am, 29 years old with 1 acre to do as I please.  And what was the first thing I did?  I got my goats.

Please don't get me wrong.  I did a TON of research before I got the goats.  I made sure that I was capable of giving them a good home before I even started calling breeders.  But there are some things that only life and experience can teach you ... and maybe a 16 year-old 4H kid.

And here is where my story begins...

Some goat owners de-worm their goats monthly, some do it seasonally, some use herbal de-wormers, and others use chemical de-wormers.  De-wormers are a lot like antibiotics.  There is not just one de-wormer to kill all parasites, just like there isn't one antibiotics to kill all bacteria.  Also, parasites can grow resistant to de-wormers, just like what happens to antibiotics.  With that information at hand, I decided that the best way to de-worm my goats was to do it only when necessary and to pick the appropriate de-wormer for the parasite they have.  This can be accomplished by doing a fecal flotation. Since I don't know how to do a fecal test, I've made an arrangement with my doggy vet for them to do them for a small fee.  After all, poop is poop and a parasite is a parasite, it doesn't matter if it is coming from a goat or a dog. 

I've been doing this regularly and so far all my lab results have come back negative for any parasite load, until Friday.

On Friday, I got an email from the veterinarian with these results:

OVA&PARA: OVA & PARASITES
 EIMERIA OOCYSTS PRESENT RARE (1-2)

Okay?  What does that mean?

Coccidia.

I go to my goat reference book to figure out which de-wormer to use, when I read that Coccidia is one of the main killers of goat kids.  Coccidiosis is fatal. 

This is about the point when I start flipping out.

I do some quick research (super fast), and figure out that I need either Corid or Sulmet.  A lot of goat owners are not big fans of Corid because it can deplete the thiamine in the body, so many use Sulmet to treat (not diluted).  So I started making calls to all the local feed stores.

I call Livermore Feed, Alamo Feed, Concord Feed, Western Saddlery, and Rowell Ranch Saddlery.  Every single one of them are out of both Corid and Sulmet.  Something about it being back-ordered from the manufacturer.   So finally I call the large animal vet.  This is what she tells me:

"Well Coccidia tends to kill the strongest animal first.  You may come home to a dead animal.  Do you want me to treat them?  Well no, I don't have the treatment.  I will have to order it."

UGH!  Super unhelpful!  

So I call my goat breeder and she is not immediately available. 

Who next to call?  How about Nicole?  

Nicole is my 16-year old goat sitter.  She is so worldly and wise beyond her years.  Right now she is away at college.  Yes, college.  She is going to a junior college and then plans to attend UC Davis veterinary school.  This is where I wish I had her experience.  She is active in her local 4H group and has been raising and breeding goats her entire life.  She calmly explained to me that it is normal for adult goats to have a small number of coccidia present in their intestinal tract.  That adults have a strong enough immune system to handle the parasite, but that goat kids are very susceptible to it.  

Wow, nothing is more humbling than calling a teenage girl for advice.  But thank goodness she is there!

I confirmed this information with a few websites and with the goat breeder, who finally called me back.  
   
Why am I telling this story?  To let you guys know that it is not all a walk in the park.  That despite my crazy hoof-trimming schedule, testing, meticulous cleaning, grooming, I still don't know it all.  And I panic. Once Sulmet becomes available again I am going to keep it in my goat medicine kit.  But I am learning and I am researching and dammit, I am going to eat that goat cheese!

Wild Black Berries

Can you think of anything more quintessential "American Summer" than sun-ripened black berries?  You just get that image of a blond 7-year old with purple juice smeared all over their mouth while smacking their lips.  If you can take that image of a blond 7-year and add 21 years you have my husband Kevin.  Every chance he gets, he is out there picking ripe black berries right off the vine and popping them in his mouth.  Pop! Pop! Pop!  (Which happens to be a very similar habit I have with cherry tomatoes.  Shush!  Don't tell anyone!)

Not only is he enjoying the blackberries, but so are the goats.  Very much like a honey badger eating a rattlesnake, the goats don't give a shit about the thorns.  They walk right through them and eat them, thorns and all!  They LOVE those leaves.  So on a nice sunny afternoon you will see both Kevin, Butters, and Oreo out there eating the blackberries.

So, to take advantage of all those black berries I went out there and picked about two cups and made some black berry sauce for a pork tenderloin. Here is a modified version of Martha Stewart recipe for Black Berry Chutney over Pork Medallions.

The black berries below are all washed and clean in my salad spinner.  If you have fresh berries, do not wash them until right before you are about to eat them.  

Cut up a couple shallots and cook them for about 8 minutes in butter until soft and golden.  Add your blackberries, cider vinegar, and small palm full of brown sugar.  

Let it cook down so it is nice, thick, and syrupy and the berries have started to collapse.

While your berries are cooking down, take your pork tenderloin and slice it into medallions.  Salt and pepper each medallion and pan fry each side so it is light pink on the inside.

When it is all cooked, pour that beautiful purple sauce over your pork and serve with a yummy salad.

Delicious!

DIY Warriors!

Kevin says I don't blog enough, so here is a quick recap of what's been going on:

We had our pool removed, finally!  Kevin and I never wanted it, just another thing to take care of and we didn't have the time for it.  So I put an ad on craigslist stating that it was free to whoever could pump the water out, dismantle, and haul away.  You would of thought we were giving away the lottery!  I got over 50 responses in the first 15 minutes.  Based on some of the emails I wish I had more pools to give away!  Well, we gave it to the first responder.  He came that Saturday and worked 7 hours.  By the end, he deserved it!

Also, my handy husband made a mineral/baking soda dispenser for the goats with some PVC pipe, plumbers tape, and PVC cement.

Isn't he handy?  We leave these minerals out for the goats to self medicate.  We have also been busy getting them all healthy for the year with de-wormers and vaccinations.  This week we are going to try to wean them off the milk.  Say your prayers that our neighbors don't go out there to kill the goats, or us!

Since this is a goat post.  How about a video?  One of the perks of working in construction is that I got to take a couple large spools from the site.

I hope you enjoy.

County Fair

How fun is a county fair?  I just love it!  I love everything from the smells of BBQ, cotton candy, and livestock, to the lights on the ferris wheel, and the sounds of a rockin country band.  It all just goes so well with a warm hot night spent strolling with my hubby looking at all the sights and sounds.  It just feels so American and it makes me happy to live in such a wonderful country where we get to enjoy things like the county fair. 

I mean, check out these canned goods!  They all look so yummy!

So Kevin and I headed out to the county fair to check out the goat show and it was so much fun!  We only stayed around to watch 4H kids do their thing, but as they were learning, so were Kevin and I.

Aren't they cute!

You could hear the judge helping the kids along.  She would tell them how to hold the head better, how to stack their feet, and what side of the goat they needed to be on.

We also went and checked out the goats from the professional handlers.  

Look at this guy!  He has 4 horns!  I am not even sure if he is a goat or a sheep, but either way he was totally cool.  I just had to take a picture.

And it has finally happened.  I bought cowboy boots.  Can you believe it?  Now I really look the part!

Hazardous Waste

Goat Update!


The girls are now a little over 7 weeks and they are getting bigger by the day.  It is getting to the point where I can not visit them while wearing flip-flops in fear of them stepping on my toes (ouch!).  I am trying to teach them not to jump up on people, but it is not going very well.  I guess dog training methods don't work so well on goats?

So this last weekend it was time for their CD/T vaccine.  Unlike dogs, you don't take them to a vet to get their vaccinations, you have to do it yourself.  So I ordered the vaccine, syringes, and needles from a goat supply website.  Once the vaccine came from UPS I promptly put it in the refrigerator.  On Saturday morning, I brought all my supplies down to the barn to set up my "lab".  When I was ready for my first patient I called in Oreo (who doesn't come when called.  Again, nothing like a dog).  These vaccines need to be administered subcutaneously (under the skin), not in the muscle.  Which just means you pull up the extra skin between their shoulder blades and administer the shots there.  This is easier said than done with a squirming baby goat.  So I called in Kevin.  I held the little goat and whispered sweet nothings into her ear while Kevin gave the vaccine.  What a team!


So now I have two dirty needles.  If any of you guys know me, I will NOT put these in the trash.  I don't put batteries, electronics, paint cans, light bulbs, etc in the trash.  In fact, pretty much nothing goes into the trash.  So I will definitely not put dirty needles in the trash.  After so many years working at HEP, I thought it would be easy to dispose of them since in California there are locations for clean needle swaps.  Not so!  


I call my local sanitation company and they will only take them on certain days/times in an approved container, which I do not have.  So I call CVS, they will not take them.  So I call Rite-Aid.  The pharmacist there told me to put them in a mayonnaise jar and bring them to the hospital for disposal.  Great!


So I hop in my car with my little jar of needles and happily go to the hospital.  I walk through the front office, who sends me the lab.  Nope, they won't take them.  At this point, I am having a serious internal debate on being a good citizen.  Is this really worth it?


On the drive home from the hospital, I stop at Walgreens, who sells the approved containers for used needles.  I grumpily fork over the 15 dollars.  As I am walking out, the pharmacist hands me this:

Really?!  Really?!  I was just there!

I almost lost it on the pharmacist, but she was tricky and got a phone call just in time to avoid my whole diatribe.

So I go home and put my two tiny needles in the world's largest landfill filler.

Fortunately, I came home to these happy healthy baby girls and they made it all worth it.


This is a video of the goats doing what they are supposed to... eating weeds!  I am sorry if this video is totally boring to you, my dear readers, but it makes my all excited and giddy.  We have a LOT of weeds and I need these goats to eat them.  They haven't really been eating them since they are still being bottle feed, but soon they are going to be taken off the bottle and they are going to have to learn to eat those weeds!