Wouldn't you know it. Just when there is something really interesting to tell, the internet goes down, and stays that way for almost 5 days. I complained and a fellow was sent out to appease me, though he did nothing and I still had to wait for the next day and the tower climber. As it turns out, the radio receiver at the top of the tower was gone and needed to be replaced, which the second man did and all is well now. Thank you, thank you. I did not quite realize how important the internet has become to me.
There I was soap making and wanted to check an essential oil and could not because there was no access. I have it in a book some where, but which book and where is that book? We don't use books as we once used to.
In the meantime, one of the new Angora goats had a kid. The weather was decent, cold, but not frigid. He cried out loud, so I went to look for him and she had already cleaned him off. He was a little wobbly, so I helped him nurse and he did a good job, but just after that, he became floppy and could not get up. I ran to the house and got a shot of selenium and Vitamin E, in case he has white muscle disease, which has symptoms like no muscle tone and weakness as a result of not enough selenium. He did not perk up, so I moved him to the barn and then went to get the mother. Normally, they follow their babies, but she didn't no matter how loud I made him cry.
He also lost the ability to suck, so I milked the mom, still with colostrum, and painstakingly force fed him with a bottle, about two ounces in total. This I did again and again every 4 hours, also each time putting him back to his mother in case the urge to suck returned. Finally, after two days, he did manage to drink from mother, but he had to be held up to do so, still with no tone in his back legs especially. The third day, he was drinking well, but still needed to be held in place. His right back leg was terribly weak and the foot turned backwards when he attempted to stand. Then, thank the heavens or stars or the Creator, or whomever helped, thank them all, he could stand, not long enough to nurse, but it was a start. Another day of assistance and he was up and on all fours and to my surprise, his little tummy was round and he was warm , which meant he fed all by himself. I still was there every four hours to be sure and when I was confident he could do it on his own, I only went to hold him and pet him and feed and water mamma. She allowed me to milk her quite a few times with no problems. I am not familiar with Angoras and milk production, but she is sure quiet for milking. The little fellow is on his way to being a big strong buck!
Then the fellow who smashed the window on the new skid steer brought it back fixed and bolted it in place for me. Now I have to vacuum the shattered glass out of the cab, since it is finally unstuck and moved close to a receptacle.
Today was spay and neuter day too and I also picked up the new laser printer to print labels for the soap and other farmer's market products, since it is now a requirement that each article has to be labeled individually. When I returned with two little Maremma puppies and one border collie, they were sore and miserable and not happy. Scared, Jenna tried to bite me when I wanted to get her out of the back of the truck. All three dogs have cones on their heads and are worse than bulls in china shops, knocking into everything and getting stuck. One thing I hadn't counted on is the girls do not fit in their dog houses with the cones on, so Jade took Ofcharka's house and Jenna took the spare and poor Ofcharka is sleeping on the ground. It is minus twenty tonight so I will go get him a nice bunch of straw to curl up in. He often sleeps out of his house, even on cold nights, so this is not going to be hard on him at all. Harley is sleeping outside again tonight, still recovering from the dog fight wounds with the neighbour dogs that keep crossing the highway and coming here. Robbie is inside and will not quit whining. I am trying to be patient, but three cone heads is hard to take.
And that was the eventful last few days! Whew! Robbie, shut up!
There I was soap making and wanted to check an essential oil and could not because there was no access. I have it in a book some where, but which book and where is that book? We don't use books as we once used to.
In the meantime, one of the new Angora goats had a kid. The weather was decent, cold, but not frigid. He cried out loud, so I went to look for him and she had already cleaned him off. He was a little wobbly, so I helped him nurse and he did a good job, but just after that, he became floppy and could not get up. I ran to the house and got a shot of selenium and Vitamin E, in case he has white muscle disease, which has symptoms like no muscle tone and weakness as a result of not enough selenium. He did not perk up, so I moved him to the barn and then went to get the mother. Normally, they follow their babies, but she didn't no matter how loud I made him cry.
He also lost the ability to suck, so I milked the mom, still with colostrum, and painstakingly force fed him with a bottle, about two ounces in total. This I did again and again every 4 hours, also each time putting him back to his mother in case the urge to suck returned. Finally, after two days, he did manage to drink from mother, but he had to be held up to do so, still with no tone in his back legs especially. The third day, he was drinking well, but still needed to be held in place. His right back leg was terribly weak and the foot turned backwards when he attempted to stand. Then, thank the heavens or stars or the Creator, or whomever helped, thank them all, he could stand, not long enough to nurse, but it was a start. Another day of assistance and he was up and on all fours and to my surprise, his little tummy was round and he was warm , which meant he fed all by himself. I still was there every four hours to be sure and when I was confident he could do it on his own, I only went to hold him and pet him and feed and water mamma. She allowed me to milk her quite a few times with no problems. I am not familiar with Angoras and milk production, but she is sure quiet for milking. The little fellow is on his way to being a big strong buck!
Then the fellow who smashed the window on the new skid steer brought it back fixed and bolted it in place for me. Now I have to vacuum the shattered glass out of the cab, since it is finally unstuck and moved close to a receptacle.
Today was spay and neuter day too and I also picked up the new laser printer to print labels for the soap and other farmer's market products, since it is now a requirement that each article has to be labeled individually. When I returned with two little Maremma puppies and one border collie, they were sore and miserable and not happy. Scared, Jenna tried to bite me when I wanted to get her out of the back of the truck. All three dogs have cones on their heads and are worse than bulls in china shops, knocking into everything and getting stuck. One thing I hadn't counted on is the girls do not fit in their dog houses with the cones on, so Jade took Ofcharka's house and Jenna took the spare and poor Ofcharka is sleeping on the ground. It is minus twenty tonight so I will go get him a nice bunch of straw to curl up in. He often sleeps out of his house, even on cold nights, so this is not going to be hard on him at all. Harley is sleeping outside again tonight, still recovering from the dog fight wounds with the neighbour dogs that keep crossing the highway and coming here. Robbie is inside and will not quit whining. I am trying to be patient, but three cone heads is hard to take.
And that was the eventful last few days! Whew! Robbie, shut up!
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