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- #31
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. 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.
The old days of running herds on pasture and selling for a big profit died with John Wayne.
Lots of good advice! Thanks!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!
MOST IMPORTANT! Have a couple chairs where you can relax and watch the goat kids play! Enjoy life!