Friday, November 9, 2012

Knocked up

So I took the goats out to their birth farm.  There they met their baby daddy and we hope that both are knocked up.  I guess we'll know in a week or so when they will go into heat if they aren't pregnant and won't if they are.  Cross your fingers.

You want to know where I screwed this up?  I'll tell you so you don't do it....  I wormed the goats a couple of weeks before the scheduled breeding.  Unfortunately, the wormer I am using - Safeguard - doesn't seem to be effective any longer.  So with the stress of the breeding and the car travel really impacted Zinnia.  Stress can make the worm problem a lot worse.  So she came back to me lethargic and with her eyelids very pale.  I called and the vet said not to use any wormer for a month to give the wee embryo(s) a chance.  With a LOT of advice and guidance, I think we have her on a stable track until we can get her wormed.

The barber pole worm makes the goats anemic.  So I have been giving them molasses water (1c. to 1.5 gallons warm water), free choice kelp, raisin treats and for Zinnia, 2.5 ml of Geritol each morning for 5 days.  She has gotten her frisk back.  She is head butting Ella as usual and now reliably jumping up on the trash can that holds the grain.  This is a big change from when I got her back and it feels pretty good to know that we were able to bring her back from the edge of what could have been pretty serious illness. 

We'll cross our fingers that all will continue to be well until we get her on the right wormer.  For now, I am happy to not be waking up in the middle of the night worrying about her. 

1 comment:

  1. I've heard that copper boluses can help with barberpole worms, plus they are beneficial to the fetus. Just don't OD her.

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