Recent content by happyvagabonds

we're not so bad with the flies here. we do have some and i blame the chickens... but the mosquitoes... those are bad and pesky. my poor Doughnut sometimes has 5 or 6 perched on each ear when they are out browsing.

Does anyone use either of these products for fly/mosquito repellent for their dairy goats? Thoughts? Finish Line - rosemary oil, thyme oil, calendula oil, cedarwood oil, lemongrass oil, tea tree oil Equilite Ricochet - H2O, alcohol, witch hazel, sunflower seed oil, citronella, java oil...

do you mean iron toxicity?

for udder wash, i have been using Dr. Bronners tea tree castile soap and microfiber towels. i use maybe 1/2 to 3/4 tsp soap to about 64 oz hot water. i took a 12x12 microfiber wash cloth (made by Peak, found 12 at Tractor Supply for $5), cut the sewn edges off then cut it into quarters...

i was just semi-educated in this the other day, let's see if i can remember this correctly... i feed my goats straight alfalfa. there are only 2 haymen in this region who are able to grow alfalfa. one grows 'round-up ready' hay, the other does not. a crop of alfalfa can last as long as 8 or 9...

Good news! i finally got my Dolly goat to the vet (1 hour trip each way!) for her CAE, CL, Brucellosis and TB tests. Still waiting for the results on CAE, tho i am not really concerned about that. to my knowledge, there was no history of CAE in the herd she came from. the CL test was...

not her hooves... the dewclaws... the hardened/calloused knobs above the hooves on the back of the pasterns.

my mother, who has kept dressage horses and scrub goats at one time or another, bought me a bottle of red cell over a bottle of goat drench. she told me to use this anytime the goats seemed 'off' as is recommended for goat drench. is this wise? should i get a bottle of goat drench also? is...

sometimes i notice my doe chewing at her claws. i note that they are... flaky, for lack of a better word. is this normal? should they be trimmed or moisturized?

which is best to use? or is it a situational thing? TIA for comments& suggestions.

thanks for the reply :o) re: hay... i made a feeder that has a tray to cut down on hay waste... so i have that covered. they still manage to waste a good bit. i am just wondering if it is better to fluff the hay when i put it in the feeder, as i have been... or just leave it in the compact...

hay... do you find less waste if you fluff the hay before putting it a feeder? or just drop the flakes in as you pull it off the bale? minerals... currently using the manna pro goat minerals, fed free choice. it's gotten a little damp in the feeder. do damp minerals put goats off it? or will...

i totally understand about not cutting too much off. what i am asking is that if i persistently maintain trimming her horns, over a period of months, trimming to the quick and filing the edges, will i be able to shorten and dull her horns by another inch or so? does the blood vessel and nerve...

i use Fir Meadows DWorm-A and about to order some of the GI Soother for Coccidia and barberpole worms. Katherine is a certified Master Herbalist and has a very informative book out now about herbals for livestock and pets. (it's on my wish list!) she also has an amazing award-winning herd of...

So i talked to the vet about banding my doe's horns and she emphatically said "No!" she did not suggest it, was not a proponent of it, did not even suggest a vet induced dehorning procedure (so not just saying 'no' for a chance to turn a profit on vet procedure). She suggested that i trim the...