Recent content by Pinecones

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    Diagnosing a Goat Death

    It seems like, from what I read, the discoloration in the liver and lungs could be from the heart failure. Still perplexed and in shock, somewhat. I can keep the extension office might be helpful in the future, but yeah, not so much for this case right now...
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    Diagnosing a Goat Death

    I have no idea, really :/ I'm in Western WA, USA
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    Diagnosing a Goat Death

    Purebred American alpine doe. I've had issues with people poisoning my livestock in recent years. I guess I was -really- hoping to find an answer that was 'natural'...
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    Diagnosing a Goat Death

    I turned two of my does out into the grassy meadow, where my goats regularly graze, and 1.5 hours later one was dead. She was 5 y/o, the picture of health. She just delivered healthy twins 5 weeks ago. I found her nearly cold on a mildly warm evening, so she probably died within an hour of...
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    Goat halters too small... What next?

    The halter is a success! I can see why people didn't like them for miniature horses. The straps are only 3/4" thick or so. Maybe 5/8". But the metal links are solid, and it has two points of adjustment. It fits all of my boys very well. I love that the neck strap sits quite low on the...
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    Goat halters too small... What next?

    Excellent to hear! If this mini horse style doesn't work, I'll look for llama halters :D Still waiting on "Prime 2-day shipping" to arrive, 7 business days after I ordered.... lol.
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    Goat halters too small... What next?

    I prefer the buckle halters as I pack with them and the secure connection and aesthetic is nice. They wear their halters for long periods sometimes. I did find some charts for measurements on individual species, various sizes of each. It seems like "cow calf" or "newborn horse" might work...
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    Goat halters too small... What next?

    I wish there was some kind of chart! The halters all seem about the same price range; $16-$18, but I'm just puzzling over sizing; is a new born calf's head bigger or smaller than a llama? A mini horse? A yearling horse? How big is the yearling calf size? I just wish I could find...
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    Goat halters too small... What next?

    My 250lb+ pack goats have outgrown their XL goat halters. What's the next size up; llama? Miniature horse? Anyone figured out a good step up? Thought I'd get some input before throwing money at experiments :)
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    Opinions on when to dry milk doe before she kids again?

    We work from home and enjoy milking twice a day. We use all the milk we get. So there's no pressure on us to stop milking. The does are fat and happy and their hair is soft and in good condition. Only one is being milked right now. She's due second week of March. So we're 3 months + 10~...
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    Dealing with the cold?

    Speaking from Montana with no electricity, the animals just eat snow. They're fine. If it gets into the negative teens or below we light a wood stove in the barn to take the edge off. The barn isn't insulated, but has enough bodies in it and no drafts that it stays at least 10º warmer than...
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    Opinions on when to dry milk doe before she kids again?

    Title pretty much says it! What do ya'll do? When do you personally dry off your does before they kid again? I've read anywhere from 3 months to 2 weeks with a variety of methods for drying off. So obviously there's some wiggle room here. Just curious for first-hand experiences with it...
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    New milk doe - pregnant - not sure how far along?

    I need some tips other than "know the breed date" and "watch for tail ligament"! I got a new milk doe last week of August and have been milking her steady, but she's got kids kicking and rolling around in her. No, it's not her rumen. It's the distinct and autonomous kicking of kids. She...
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    Troubleshooting sow abortions

    We're in the process of trying to figure out what might be going on with our herd and farm. We're inclined to suspect the feed we switched to last fall is the culprit, but I figured it'd be good to ask some opinion on the matter. This year we had 5 of 6 sows abort, 4 of those within the last...
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    Herniated boar?! Something big and unwelcome in the scrotum.

    As far as we can tell teh sows are bred. We've seen no signs of heat. So far he's done a good job of that! We stock up on a year's supply of feed in the fall, we only leave if we need to go to town for supplemental groceries or something specific in the winter. But our vehicle we have to...
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