Part-time or full-time farmer?

goats4us

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Got the goats finally last Saturday. Five females so far, with another coming next month. (A late surprise.) Baptism by fire, or maybe I should say blood. Wednesday after dinner my husband found one of the goats bleeding profusely from her ear. She kept shaking her head so blood was EVERYWHERE! She was covered and we were soon covered. Looked like a heinous crime scene. Had to take her out of the goat pen to treat her because some of the other goats like to "help". Could not get it to stop bleeding and we couldn't find the clotting agent we thought we had. Apparently forgot to replace it after using it all. Tried flour and cornmeal, which were recommended to us. Slowed it but the first time she shook her head it started again just as profusely. (Pools of blood in a matter of seconds.) My DH drove to town for more clotting agent from the 24 hour pharmacy while I held her in my lap applying gentle pressure and keeping her quiet. (For over an hour.) The pressure worked well, and the clotting agent seemed to keep it in check for good. bandaged it all up and duct taped it to her head, which stayed on for more than 12 hours. She seems fine now, but still has a pink tinge to her from the blood. I had tried to wash most of it off so she hopefully wouldn't be too much of a coyote magnate (but by then our whole farm was) but it's not easy to bathe a goat. Here's her picture.
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Things we did wrong: ran out of clotting agent and failed to have our supplies (or at least adequate supplies for this kind of emergency) together and organized in one place. Our dogs were also out and we failed to put them away right away. Both puppies. They ended up getting into a fight and had to be pulled apart, had to actually pry one of them's mouth open. Thankfully, neither was really hurt. One emergency was plenty without having to deal with one or more injured dogs. They usually get along but I think all the blood set them off.

Things that worked well: we put a dog harness on her to handle her. It really help us hold her in place, since we don't have a stantion or stalls yet. It was much easier to hold the harness than hold her. To keep her quiet, I sat in one of those folding canvas lawn chairs with her front legs across my lap. She was standing on her back legs, but not having use of her front ones gave me the advantage. Was much easier to hold her still and applied pressure while talking soothingly. She soon calmed down and stayed quiet so I could easily hold her steady and apply pressure.
 

Mini Horses

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Anyway, ranching is a life of ups and downs. Too much fun especially when the kids were young. If you love it, if it is in your blood, nothing will seem too difficult. When we were younger, some of our corrals were held together by brightly colored hay ropes - we refer to this as 4-H fencing. :lol: We were exhausted, broke, and pretty happy! Ranching is in our blood - our great-grandparents, DH grandparents and uncles farmed, my uncle ranched and rode rodeo.

So true it hurts.....Yes, start small, it will grow if you love it, otherwise you are overwhelmed at once. Past 70 & still doing it!! Broke & happy. :old Hey, what else would I be doing? :idunno
 

Mike CHS

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Corn starch and baking powder are also good to use to stop bleeding and seems to stay on better than flour. I always used one or the other on my parrots feet when I would clip to much of their nails and I keep some on the side by side to use on myself.

But it sounds like y'all handled the emergency just fine.
 

Latestarter

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Grats on finally getting your goats! Sorry it all had to start with an injury. Life goes on though and you got through it!
 

Hippie hollow

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Well I can’t afford to quit my job. I work 40 to 60 hours a week have 4 goats Two dogs three cats two pigs and 18 chickens. It can be done but I’m worn out. Oh yeah I have a husband and a teenager. That’s probably the reason I’m worn out LOL
 

Hippie hollow

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Definitely congratulations on your goats. Maybe I Missed a post but what kind of boots did you get? As far as trimming hubs I found between keeping areas of gravel in their fenced area and attaching things like shingles two wooden areas they use help maintain their hooves without trimming. I personally because of this have only had to trim one time and that’s only got them and they have looked great for four years.
 

Ridgetop

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Congrats on your goats! First emergency handled just fine - you will be better prepared for next one. Every time we had a medical emergency I brought in special equipment to deal with it. Of course, the next emergency was total different! Keep plenty of vet wrap on hand, iodine wash, alcohol, (we buy it in the gallon size) Alumishield for horses is a good spray n bandage that keeps the flies off open wounds. Go through the vet section of the livestock catalogs and buy your supplies in advance. you have goats so you know you will need to give annual vaccinations - buy the disposable 3cc syringes with smaller needles in the box of 100. Sounds like a lot, but by the time your does produce 2 kids apiece and you have to give at least 2 vaccinations plus the adults annually, it adds up. With 5 goats (4 does=8kids) you can plan on giving 21 routine vaccinations after kidding season! That box of 100 syringes doesn't seem so big now. Especially if you are doing other medical stuff. Lengths of PVC pipe can be cut for splints, pieces of poultry wire folded and shaped into splints, keep gauze on hand, menstrual pads make good wound padding. For grinding up meds into drenches, use a coffee grinder, I have an old Water Pic for washing out puncture wounds. Large syringes can be used as drench guns in a pinch but the ones with a metal tube will hold up for years and are not expensive for small livestock. Dental floss and a carpet needle can be used to sew up prolapses, Prep H will take down inflammation. Liquid antibiotic soap is useful for lathering up to reach in and pull kids. Keep a book on goat birth handy too or copy the pix, put them in a plastic sleeve, and keep with kidding supplies to refresh your mind on how the kids might be tangled in case you have to reach in and untangle or pull kids. Check out large animal vets too in your area. If none, get a vet manual for first aid.

Put everything in a large plastic toolbox and keep it in one place and it will save you a lot of headaches and you will be calmer knowing that you have everything to hand. Plan for the worst and you will probably never experience it!:bow

MOST IMPORTANT! Have a couple chairs where you can relax and watch the goat kids play! Enjoy life!
 

greybeard

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The old days of running herds on pasture and selling for a big profit died with John Wayne.

You don't have to go that far back. Beef prices on the hoof in 2012-2015 were pretty dang high. It was easy to double your $$ in those years and lots of us did. Buy cheap, run on grass and sell when the market is in a high cycle.
 

goats4us

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Congrats on your goats! First emergency handled just fine - you will be better prepared for next one. Every time we had a medical emergency I brought in special equipment to deal with it. Of course, the next emergency was total different! Keep plenty of vet wrap on hand, iodine wash, alcohol, (we buy it in the gallon size) Alumishield for horses is a good spray n bandage that keeps the flies off open wounds. Go through the vet section of the livestock catalogs and buy your supplies in advance. you have goats so you know you will need to give annual vaccinations - buy the disposable 3cc syringes with smaller needles in the box of 100. Sounds like a lot, but by the time your does produce 2 kids apiece and you have to give at least 2 vaccinations plus the adults annually, it adds up. With 5 goats (4 does=8kids) you can plan on giving 21 routine vaccinations after kidding season! That box of 100 syringes doesn't seem so big now. Especially if you are doing other medical stuff. Lengths of PVC pipe can be cut for splints, pieces of poultry wire folded and shaped into splints, keep gauze on hand, menstrual pads make good wound padding. For grinding up meds into drenches, use a coffee grinder, I have an old Water Pic for washing out puncture wounds. Large syringes can be used as drench guns in a pinch but the ones with a metal tube will hold up for years and are not expensive for small livestock. Dental floss and a carpet needle can be used to sew up prolapses, Prep H will take down inflammation. Liquid antibiotic soap is useful for lathering up to reach in and pull kids. Keep a book on goat birth handy too or copy the pix, put them in a plastic sleeve, and keep with kidding supplies to refresh your mind on how the kids might be tangled in case you have to reach in and untangle or pull kids. Check out large animal vets too in your area. If none, get a vet manual for first aid.

Put everything in a large plastic toolbox and keep it in one place and it will save you a lot of headaches and you will be calmer knowing that you have everything to hand. Plan for the worst and you will probably never experience it!:bow

MOST IMPORTANT! Have a couple chairs where you can relax and watch the goat kids play! Enjoy life!
Lots of good advice! Thanks!
 

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