Jacque Ence

This was our first birth of anything aside from our own children. I had no idea what I was doing. We noticed one of my grandmother's pet goats (we bought grandma's farm, but kept her here. That means we're taking care of her pets as well) was going into labor. I had been told by people with tons more experience than me that she wasn't due for a month. Still, no mistaking it, she was definitely in labor. The goat "Angel" hadn't settled down yet, and these were her first babies so I just assumed it would take her some time. We went in the house and started researching. About 11pm we went back out to check on her, and we discovered she was presenting with a tail. I had just researched abnormal kidding positions and what to do. Crash course! I had to reach in and discovered she was having 2 at once, and one was breech. I had to push them both back in, and pull out the breech baby's legs one at a time. We lost the little breech baby, but she gave birth to two healthy bucklings after that without further complications. I got a crash course in banding them this week too. What a week.

John Polk wrote:Run a crappy extension cord through her paddock.
Keep it live.
She'll either learn, or die trying! Then eat her. LOL

She has chewed through 2 live cords. They were still live when I found them. It scares the pants off me, since my kids go into those pastures everyday to feed them.

Alfrun Unndis wrote:Problem might be hormone linked.
Won't breed, eats plastic cords, ornery. Estrogen levels are low maybe. Plastic is said to leach estrogen(like) chemicals.
Research goat food that raises estrogen levels in goats. Just a thought.

Now that's something I hadn't considered.

Tracy Kuykendall wrote:
If I had a goat that caused that much aggravation if wasn't going to eat her, I would give serious thought to putting it in the far back pasture----you know the one where the coyotes like to visit.😇

Believe me I've considered it. That stupid goat has caused more problems than I can document here. Yesterday she let out my chickens, to which grandma's equally awful cattledog began killing for pleasure. Those two deserve each other.

There is a particularly pernicious goat in our pasture that has a knack for trouble. She won't breed (not can't, Won't) after 5 years of trying, she is the most clever escape artist you've ever met, she persistently attacks any child that comes near her fence line, and she has a talent for locating and destroying even well hidden extension cords within her enclosure. I'd eat her, honestly, if she wasn't my elderly grandmother's dearest pet. Most of it I can work around, but when it's below freezing outside and our nearest unfrozen water source is my kitchen sink more than an acre away, I could use those nice water heaters I've got. So my question is this; How do YOU protect your power cords from goats like this holy terror? Or am I doomed to pack water all winter, one 2gal bucket at a time, half a dozen times each day, to keep my chickens watered?

Very helpful, thank you.

My colony is under construction for spring. I have a question I'm hoping more experienced rabbit raisers can answer for me, as I'm finding it difficult to find any info on the internet. I would like to harvest my kits for both meat and fur. I'm willing to feed them a little longer if that's what it takes for better pelts. I'm not looking to sell my pelts at first, but I would like to turn them into twisted rabbit fur blankets. I'm hoping the twisting would give the young, thin skin more strength. Are kit pelts viable for such a thing? If so, what age or size would be optimal to harvest?

I'm afraid we're new to the farm this year, and are mostly observing. So no, no mint growing on the farm to harvest just yet. I know it's widely used to mask unsavory flavors in animal feed, and make it more palatable. Still, aside from training them to eat it, I don't see how else to go about it. Around here people have been convincing their cattle that sage brush is a good source of protein with rousing success, where they previously wouldn't touch it.

A friend's horse died of colic the week I brought my horse home. So I was on a hunt for colic cures. Mint came up several times as an anti-bloat, anti-parasitic, digestive aid to help prevent colic, or relieve the symptoms if caught early on.
http://www.brookbyherbs.co.nz/webapps/i/90632/232059/horses-with-colic
Then again here on permies.
https://permies.com/t/9650/critter-care/Grazing-plants-deworming-livestock
Sorry for the awkward links, I'm not terribly technically savvy. It is the menthol oil in peppermint that makes it antiparasitic, as I understand it. There are so many in the mint family, however, that your mint may be a less desirable plant. Do you know what type you have?

I have read, recently, that mint has some deworming properties, when fed to livestock. I imagine that is when it is routinely part of their feed, but, nevertheless, you may be able to market it to your customers as such.