Sunday, January 6, 2008

Lucy Auditions for Part in Exorcist Movie

Due to the fact that we were constantly hauling lumber in while working on the goat barn yesterday, the goats managed to find their way through the open gate into our yard more than once. We were tired of chasing them back in, and they were just milling around on the grass, so we didn't see it as overly pressing to corral them for the umpteenth time. Not until Lucy got brave and ventured up toward the house, where she apparently found the very last leaf on something that looks suspiciously like a day lilly. For you goat owners, you probably see where this is going. After that, we got them all back into their pen and then locked them in the back pasture to get them out of our hair for a bit while we were still coming and going so often.
Last night when Dustin went out to feed the goats, he said that Lucy, Harmony, and Sahara all refused to touch their grain. Hmm. He said everybody was acting normal other than that, and Tierra gobbled hers up like normal. I didn't think much of it, because lately they've decided something is off about their grain. I'd tend to agree with them if I didn't know for a fact that it's locked in an airtight plastic trash can and has not gotten wet or contaminated by any rodents or anything. Tierra pulled the same thing on me one day last week, sniffing agitatedly at her grain and looking overall pretty disgusted by it, but then went on to eat it anyway. The rest of them ate it like normal, but then today every single one of them acted disgusted by it, but still very hungry. Anybody have any ideas why they would do this? It's the same grain I normally feed them, Purina Goat Chow, and I just bought two 50 lb. bags, so I'm loathe to throw it out and start fresh. The only thing I can think of is that they started doing this about the same time everything froze a few days ago. ???
Back to my story, though. So this morning when I went out to feed them, and got a whole slew of glares from my apparently-connoisseur-livestock, Lucy was nowhere to be seen. When I walked around the side of the goat barn, I was greeted with something that made me stop dead in my tracks. Lucy was standing there with her entire chin and chest stained brown, frothing at the mouth and slinging orange vomit all over herself and her surroundings. Ahhhh! I ran to get Dustin and had him come watch her while I ran inside to see what the Internet had to say. Fias Co Farm was naturally my first stop. They had a recipe for rhododendron poisoning, so I ran to the store for Milk of Magnesia and rennet (which despite what all the websites say, grocery stores do NOT carry). I mixed up some Mylanta, olive oil, ground ginger, and baking soda, then Dustin held Lucy by the horns while I drenched her (squirted it into her mouth with a large syringe). After that we kept an eye on her, and it was heartbreaking to see her standing off by herself moaning softly, grinding her teeth, and looking just about as pathetic as a soiled little fluffy white goat can. Every so often she would scream (!) out a bleat, like she was having a stomach cramp or something. It was awful! After about an hour, though, she seemed to get better and stopped frothing and I even caught her coming over for a drink of water a few times. I cannot tell you how good it feels to know that I was able to help her and I now know for certain that that mixture did indeed sooth her stomach and help her get over what I can only assume is poisoning from the day lilly or whatever it was she found in our yard. My next mission is to eradicate anything in our yard that could even possibly be poisonous to my goats, just in case they were to ever get out again.

5 comments:

Danni said...

OMG - I can completely imagine the horror you felt when you saw her. But wow - quick thinking and execution on your partwith the mixing of the crazy concoction! BTW, where did you wind up getting rennet?? Really glad she's ok!

goatgirl said...

Every goat owner has done that before. Goats get out and eat the wrong thing........it's their goal in life. Am I not right Marigold?

You did just the right thing.

deconstructingVenus said...

Farmgirl,
Well, I was unable to find the rennet. I asked 4 different people at Bi-Lo about it, and even made them call the manager to see if they carried it. I told them it was an emergency, and at one point there were 3 of us walking up and down each isle, to no avail. I know you can order it from any cheesemaking company, and now I know it's a good idea to have on hand for poisonings, as well as cheesemaking.

Marigold said...

Oy. Just so you know, the goatmother keeps a tube of universal poisoning antidote on hand that she got from Hoegger's. Just in case. I confess, I did, one time, have a problem (minus the throwing up) and baking soda did the trick...along with a little salal (PNW plant).

goatgirl said...

I too have used baking soda for many years and it works.