Puffy Face
I went out this morning and saw that this little 3month old doe kid had a slightly swollen jaw. At first glance I thought that she had a mouth full of 'cud' but on closer inspection decided it was a swelling of some kind, or that she may have been developing an abcess. She was not bothered at all by it and got stuck into her breakfast.
I came out a few hours later and was horrified to see that her whole face had swelled up and her eyes were little slits and her mouth seemed to be smiling in an awful grimace. I then changed my mind to an insect or ant bite of some description. She still was not at all worried or in any apparent discomfort. It was not hot or painful when I poked and prodded her. She was bouncing with her mates over the rock wall and nibbling away at leaves and weeds that I was throwing over the fence.
By early evening when it was time for them to go to bed and have tea, her face was almost back to normal. So I just have to reason that it was an allergy of some type. She certainly is none the worse for her little experience!
*photos taken late afternoon, when the swelling had started to subside.
and just for comparison, with her 'normal' friend - (so obliging, don't you think?)
Goat with a Humpback
We purchased 'Little Paddocks Martika' and she kidded triplet bucks about six weeks later. They were all very healthy but one of them had this very unusual hump on his shoulders. Although he could move about, he could not feed. We put him on a bottle to see if he would get any better, which he did, although it took about two weeks. After this he appeared absolutely normal and it was hard to imagine anything was ever wrong with him. We could not find anyone who could tell us what was wrong and we hoped it was just because he got 'squashed' in mum's tummy.
We have just had another kid born with the same defect and are still in the dark as to why it happened. This strong girl can actually suckle, but gets pushed to the side, so have been supplementing her with a bottle. Hope that she comes good like the other boy.
Just 7 days later - A normal kid....
Goat with Contracted Tendons
We had this robust little boy who tried so hard to get up and suckle but he could not stand at all. He would try to get up on his knuckles on both his back and front legs. I gave him a day to try and sort it out himself and just held him up to his mother to feed. After a day I put splints on his front legs made from water poly pipe and vet wrap bandages. He instantly stood up like a ballerina en pointe but within minutes was able to jump and run and feed by himself. It only took 24 hours before I took them off to find that he could fully support himself.
1. Will somebody please help me.
2. Standing all by myself.
3. All better now, no problem.
Goat with Dwarfism
As with any breed of animal, this is a heriditary defect. I came across these two goats, a doe and a buck, with dwarfism in my travels and was taken with their unusual appearance. They were both healthy, robust and in good condition. They were running with other 'normal' goats and did not appear to suffer any setbacks due to their dimished stature. I believe the doe had normal sized twins. The buck had apparently served several normal sized goats and I would be interested to see any offspring. Will keep you posted!
