Fences & Dehorning

First off... I'm feeling better... not 100% yet, but darn close. I still have a few days of antibiotics so the healing trend should continue. Not sure that Shawn will be so lucky... he may need another trip to the doctor yet... we'll see.

Twas another busy weekend around here... Shawn pounded a bunch more posts.. all of them, in fact, except a couple corner posts that get done when the fence goes up, so no big deal. We also got a bunch of the fence up and secured... in the dog area along the back and up the side to the corner right behind the white building. We still have to come across and up towards the house, but that run of fence is over half done.

We also moved the goat enclosure a bit so they would have grass and leaves to eat again and give the ground a break where they've been all this time. Its a nice system the dog kennel fence and the 2 part shelter, makes moving the whole shebang easy and it takes us about 30 minutes to do it.

Speaking of baby goats, they went and got dehorned yesterday... it was very stressful for them and us!! We worried about them all day long. I called around 2pm and they told me they were awake and nibbling hay, but that they needed another hour before coming home. We didn't end up getting them until about 530pm, which was ok, the clinic is open til 6pm.

When we loaded them in the morning, they were very good and just jumped right in the back of the van and into the dog crate. (We used pixie's old crate this time, to save some time and effort first thing in the morning and they fit ok this time, but probably not again.. at least not together.) When we got to the clinic, I went in first to find out where they wanted them and then I went back out and we put on their leashes and out they jumped.

They were so good, walking on their leashes in a strange place... they just followed us, no problem. We put them together in a dog kennel, after I pulled out the newspaper that lined the bottom. It was just too slippery with the paper in and I didn't want them to EAT the paper either :)

When we went to pick them up, there were other people there too picking up their pets that had been there for the day, to have procedures done. We paid our bill ($127.56) that included both dehornings, the sedatives, the local anesthetic and a shot each of long acting antibiotics. Oh and a can of blue wound spray and taxes. I thought that was really reasonable.

Once the paperwork and payment was done, then they brought the boys out (after I made sure no dogs were expected to be in our path!!) and they lead them down a hallway around the corner from where we were. The walked kinda hesitantly as they were still kinda sedated... not their normal curious and energetic selves! Just before they came around the corner, I crouched down and called them and they both recognized my voice and walked very quickly over to where we were standing. They seemed happy to see us after their tough day!

They looked like little sad goats... their horns missing with silver spray over each area to help clot any blood and help prevent infection.

We got our after care directions and then started to leave the waiting area. In the waiting room they had various plants, hibiscus and some other tropical looking plants I don't know the names of. The goats were very interested in nibbling them, but we managed to get out before they got any of them... luckily as I think some of them are poisonous.

Out to the car we went... they didn't want to walk down the steps in the dark... and they were kinda wobbly still, but we got them down and out to the car. This time they couldn't jump in... they were tired and didn't have the coordination required so I lifted each one in and put them in the crate.

We headed home in the dark and they traveled pretty well. When we got home, we went and got flashlights and then unloaded them by lifting them out again... I didn't want them to hurt themselves when they were unsteady on their feet. We clipped their leashes on and headed out towards the enclosure. They both got really excited when they saw their fence and were enthusiastic to go right through the gate. (After we take them for walks around the yard and put them back in their fencing, neither ever wants to go through the gate and have the fun end.)

I tucked them right into their shelter with some hay and water... no grain until this morning, after the sedative had totally worn off and their tummies would be functioning normally again.

We went back to the house, exhausted and tired and hungry and we showered and ate some dinner. We watched a show on dvd while we ate. Then we decided maybe we'd go to bed early so we got ready to go outside and take the dogs out. I decided I also wanted to check on the babies before bed, to make sure they were ok.

We went out in our jammies, with coats and hats on, as it was raining. When we got out there we saw with the flashlight that Bert's one horn wound had bled quite a bit and he had congealed blood hanging in sheets / chunks from his face and his one eye was almost glued shut from dried blood. So much for going to bed early! I sent Shawn in to get some clean up supplies and I got a collar from the white shed to help hold him still.

I picked the chunks of partly dried blood off his face and then started to soak the dried blood off around his eye and pick off what I could. He wasn't thrilled with this process, but tolerated it remarkably well. In the mean time, Shawn and I got soaked and cold in the rain. I applied the blue wound spray to both of them. Bert's bleeding had slowed down to just a seeping bit of blood.

The whole time we were out there, in the darkness, cleaning up goat blood.. we could hear the coyotes not far off yipping and howling and moving around in the night. I don't know how close they were, but to hear them moving, they couldn't have been too far. Creepy.

We were all ready to go back in the house and then Bert scratched the site with his back leg and opened it up again. ARGH. So we untie the gate and I go back in and hold pressure to it until the bleeding slows down... I reapply the blue spray and then we get them locked up and off we go back to the house.

We were both really worried about whether they'd be ok or not, especially with the smell of goat blood and the coyotes nearby, but we went in anyhow and headed right to bed. I woke up once in the night and thought I should go out and check on them, but talked myself out of it because if they were resting quietly, I didn't want to disturb them and get them moving around.

I woke up early, about 30 minutes before the alarm and I got dressed and took the dogs out, leaving Shawn in bed. I started dog food and then went out to check the goat babies. I went into the white feed shed to get some hay and other stuff I needed and didn't see them peeking out of their shelter. I was a bit worried about what I might find when I got there. By the time I was done gathering everything in the shed though there were 2 cute little faces looking out and they were calling to me.

I took them some hay and a small amount of grain. Ernie's wounds looked good... Bert's one was ok, the bloody one from last night had seeped some more and needed cleaning up... but nothing near so bad as last night. They were much brighter this morning and really happy to eat.

I wasn't out there that long when Shawn came out to check his babies too. He was really relieved they were ok and we finished up out there and then came in, fed the dogs, made his lunch and then off to work we went.

I'll have to go out in a bit and finish cleaning up Bert's face now that he's had a chance to eat a bunch... he'll likely be a little more patient to stand still with a full tummy.

So, as of now, all is good and I hope they heal and recover quickly and without any further incident. I'm glad we had their horns removed, but it was also scarier than I thought it would be... whether they'd be ok and stuff. Maybe I'll take a couple pics of the boys when I go out and post them. It doesn't look very nice, but once its healed and the hair grows back, should look alright AND be much safer!! I can worry less now about losing an eye!!

That's it for now!