Last night, Capri did not want to get up from her cozy spot to be milked. With the temps at freezing (not usual for our area), I didn't push it as she gives only a cup or so in the evening so waiting until morning would not be a big deal. I would not have wanted to leave my warm cozy spot to stand up on the milk stand either.
Because I have to be at work earlier now, I leave work mid-morning to milk the girls. Because it was so cold last night, I did not night-separate so Summer had little milk, if any, so I did not do more than strip her to be sure. Then Capri did not want to get up at all. I did finally get her up enough to get on the milk stand and take enough milk to relieve any pressure but it was clear she really didn't want this. She is coughing and had a runny nose so with the threat of pneumonia, I did my mom-panic and called the vet. He will be by later, I am his next call, but, as you can imagine, I am going nuts! She is up and around now, sort of, no interest in eating or drinking but seems to enjoying being in the sun so I am leaving her alone to be. When she coughs, she stretches out her neck and I have felt a round lump under her chin back on her throat. I am starting to wonder now if she may have cud stuck in her throat. She keeps chewing like she wants to chew cud but there is nothing there. The way she moves her jaw side-to-side while stretching her neck, I am really wondering if it is cud stuck there somehow; is that even possible? Because my thermometer is "in transit" preparing for the switchover to the new barn as soon as it is finished, I have no idea where it is so have not taken her temp. She does seem to be breathing okay now that she is on her feet.
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Capri seemed to be feeling better today and is drinking and eating though I am not sure how much, but I am being generous with the alfalfa pellets as well as carrots. She does not seem to be eating hay from the manger but there are lots of times I don't watch but she was doing a lot of leaf browsing today. She did go after the kelp tonight which had been very low (I filled it about a week ago) so I refilled it tonight. She is still coughing and one side of her nose is runny. Because of our cold weather, she has spent a lot of time just standing in the sun soaking it up, thankfully no wind. She got her second shot of Nuflor today with the third one due on Tuesday. She didn't object to being milked though I felt so very guilty taking her milk to just dump it; it seems so very disrespectful but, of course, to do differently would lead to mastitis. It is good that she actually likes the Probios as it makes it so much easier to give it to her. She and Ginger (last year's daughter) are still bedding down together. Ginger stays very close to her all the time which is quite touching.
I just hate that she is still coughing and "wheezing" but she certainly seems to feel better. I had fenced off the garden area including the raspberry bushes but I let her in to have all she wanted today. She was so delicate about it, only ate leaves and not the branches so they will re-leaf, so considerate. My son and girlfriend cut blackberry vines for them so she had those today as well.
I wish the vet had told me that they *like* the priobios! I was trying to get it into her and finally gave up on the applicator and put it on my finger to drop it down her throat as it was just something I could not get coordinated. She licked it off my fingers! She likes it which simplifies that part completely. My eldest son will be here tomorrow to give her the second shot. She is definitely livelier today than yesterday so, hopefully, the antibiotics are doing their job.
Yes, I was really disappointed about Crazy. I had been so thrilled that the first VanEden goat was a doeling. Knowing Crazy's sister was a champion milker her first year and his first daughter did so well last year made me hopeful that this little girl would be an exceptional milker, especially after Summer was such a delightful surprise as a FF. But it was not to be. I don't even know if Joann had a doeling from him. I was certain that with Summer as mom and Crazy as dad that a doeling from that mating had an excellent chance of being all a home dairy could possibly want. Interestingly, I almost bred Summer to him last year as well; now I kick myself for not having done so. I missed a wonderful opportunity, but who is to say that Summer and Legend won't produce someone as great; this little girl (Dancer) from this year will give me a clue a year from next spring. Summer's dad is CRF Castle Rock Woodstock so breeding Capri to him should, in theory, produce another great milker, but I doubt they do outside breeding as so few do even if I decided I wanted to go that route, and he may have been sold to someone out of reasonable driving distance. I think the buck who Capri visited will do well for us; his owner milks for sale also and is from whom I was buying milk last year. She has great does!
She is definitely not wanting to be milked which makes me feel even more guilty knowing that her precious milk she produced isn't even going to get used. (I even thought that maybe if *I* drank it, it would clear up my annual winter sinus infection.<g> NOTE: Folks, do not do this, I am joking, absolutely!)
Eating is a great sign, so sounds like the antibiotics are working. I still have to remind myself that if they're walking, eating, drinking, and chewing their cud, it's all good.
I know how you feel about not being able to get a kid from a buck that you really liked. It appears that my oldest (and favorite) buck is sterile now, as the four does he bred this year are not pregnant. Part of me understand why some people collect semen from favorite bucks, but on the other hand, I also think it's interesting and fun to try to new bucks and see what you can get.
Thank you, Deborah. I was going to do the drying up over the next week or two, just not milking her out all the way. Right now, it's almost a non-issue as she had nearly none yesterday. This morning, however, one side seems almost full and the other side not so much so I am going to milk her around noon then again late tonight. I just won't be trying to get every little bit out like I usually try to do. She has been averaging 7-12 oz. in the morning and 6-10 in the evening so is not producing a lot, about half of what she did at her peak this year (but far more than last year when we were *both* milking newbies).
Yes, she was at someone else's farm. She was with multiple goats for about an hour while the owner finished milking, etc. Then it was just the two of them in the very nice breeding pen. I sure hope she is bred after all this and that the one goat's aggressive behavior towards her initially didn't change anything. (Of course, right now all I care about is her getting well!) She, as is Summer, a more timid goat. She did, however, come home very stinky so I'm thinking when they were alone all night and morning that things changed a lot. All looked good when I picked her up. I realized this year that Capri comes home very stinky but Summer only a little. Last year, Capri was loving up to the buck as soon as he got in the pen while Summer was more standoffish when she went out. Then I figured it was because Capri had been this route twice before but Summer was the same this year, same buck. When it was only the two of them, Capri's attitude towards him changed but she was not as forward with him as she was with Crazy last year, at least while I was still there. However, she knew all the goats last year and knew no one this year as well as it not being "home" like last year. (Did I mention that Crazy died a few weeks ago? For me, this means I don't have the option of breeding Ginger to him and will never have a Crazy doeling as mine died this spring at ten days.)
I took Capri there this fall because this buck seems to come from a smaller line. Sadly, since Joann tragically died in June, I didn't have an opportunity to ask her about Capri's first kidding. Ginger, a single birth, was 4.5 lbs. at 145 days. I am hoping that when I go back through our emails that there will be a clue there. If Capri has trouble again, I won't be breeding her anymore.
Capri did get up by herself this morning while I was taking care of Summer's milk. She is outside in the sunshine browsing on leaves, fortunately no wind. She refused the warm water (with a tiny bit of molasses) I was giving her while she was still resting first thing this morning (she drank it and ate alfalfa pellets last night while laying "in bed"). Ginger, last year's baby, is staying very close to her; they often pair up, but this is different as she is nuzzling her, etc., like she knows mom doesn't feel good. She is still coughing which, of course, concerns me. It's almost as bad as having a sick baby since they cannot tell us how they feel.
Was she at someone else's farm for breeding? I am surprised they would have her in a pen with any goats other than the buck. That is definitely stressful and would make me worry about her getting bred. Hopefully she is bred, but if she isn't, that could be why.
Hugs and prayers!
Thank you. "Lump" is a large adam's apple so relief there. Temp was 105.5 so elevated temp (s/b 103). She is on antibiotics for the next few days, respiratory infection in one lung most likely but not bad at this point. He said I most definitely did the right thing to call. It could be a "by-product" of her trip last weekend and the extra stress of going to a completely strange place combined with our sudden cold weather. Before she went "home" to be bred but she knew no one at this farm and was overwhelmed by the number in the initial pen she was in. So all will be well. It decided that she will be dried up now so I hope she is, indeed, bred.
Thank you for your positive thoughts and prayers for this paranoid goat mom and her charges.
Hope she is gets to feeling better. I will say a prayer for both of you!
Wow, hope she is okay!