Busy day on the farm

What a day yesterday. I mean, WHAT.A.DAY.

The day started off great, I did my morning chores, feeding the chickens, chicks, and baby guinea chicks, giving everyone water. Hung out 3 loads of laundry and then straightened up the yard so it wouldn't look too redneck for the vet. He was coming out to check over the herd and do a few tests. How does all this crud accumulate in the yard? Tools, boards, assorted project pieces, there was stuff everywhere.

The mister (my hubby) had brought home a metal crate thing to use as a hay feeder, so my daughter, C, and I loaded it onto the trailer and took it into the goat pen. As we were getting the goats corralled into the shed, the vet pulled up. Super nice guy. He answered my million stupid questions, showed me how to trim their hooves, and impressed me with his goat wrangling skills (he said he's the goat whisperer).

Lucy and Patches had blood drawn for the various diseases that goats can get: CL, CAE, TB, ADHD, oh wait, that's not one. He also tested for brucellosis. It doesn't get cool initials like the other diseases, I'm sure it feels left out. He also drew blood for a pregnancy test on Priscilla. All the goats looked good, no parasites.

He did give me some advice that I should have already known. If you are getting a goat, have it checked out for CL and CAE before you buy it. If that's not an option, when you pick up the goat, take it directly to the vet and let them draw blood. Once you get them home, keep them in a quaratine pen until you get the results back. The nasty stuff in CL can stay in the ground for 100 years, so you don't want to bring that on your property if you can help it.

It only took him about 30 minutes to do everything, and that included all the advice. I like a doctor that asks questions and listens to the answers, whether it's for animals or humans!

Once all the inside and outside chores were done for the day, I decided to try milking Patches. Dummy me waited until after Brown Sugar had her fill, about 5 pm, so there wasn't much to get. This was still practice anyway, so I wasn't worried about how much I would get from her. I don't want to use the milk until I get her results back from the TB and brucellosis, as those can be passed to humans. The idea was that if I did manage to get an acceptable amount to keep, I could freeze it until the results come back next week. Turned out to be a moot point anyway, as milking was an udder disaster.

Don't roll your eyes at me. You would have said it too.

I started off good. Set my pot on the stove to sterilize, along with a jar to put the milk in. I was still optimistic at this point.

As the water heated in the pot, I mixed up the udder wash recipe I found at Fiasco Farms. Then I heard a soft pop.

Oh no. I knew then what I had done.

 



In my excitement, I had put the jar straight in the pot, without a rack. Like a dummy. I'm a newbie at milking, but I know how to sterilize a jar. Usually.

So I got another jar out, and sterilized it the right way.

Then I grabbed the milking pail, bowl of udder wash, paper cup to dip the teats in afterwards, cloth to wash the udder with. That's more than my two hands can carry. I manage to get it all out there, and then had nowhere clean to set everything while I got Patches up on the stand. My youngest daughter brought the brush to brush her off with. See, in theory, I know what to do. In practice, though, I'm hopeless.

We finally got her up on the stand, and she went ballistic when I washed her udder. She said nope, not gonna do it. After we fought and she kicked, and I swiped, we settled down to milk. I managed to get a few ounces before she started kicking around again. Of course the milk was filthy, and then her foot went straight in the bucket.

Ugh. I'm done for the day. I know what to do next time though. Get some foot hobbles so she can't fight me so bad (thanks to a FB friend for suggesting that!)
Milk her when she's been separated from Brown Sugar for several hours, and make sure she's hungry so she will stand there and happily eat her grain.

The other goats were watching warily while all this was going on.

Molly was hiding and praying I wouldn't get her next.

 

 

Friday we'll take Lucy and Patches to the vet's office to have their TB tests checked. They are both easy going, so HOPEFULLY they will behave for me. The vet is about an hour away, so taking them there is much cheaper than a trip charge just to check their skin. Oh, and by the way, be glad you're not a goat. Humans get a TB test on their arm. Goats get them just under their tail.

 

I'll leave you with that thought.