Tragedy of the garden

Goats and gardens don't mix well.  We had, key word here is had, a lovely garden fertilized by goat manure when the goats busted out and proceeded to devour the lettuce, sunflowers, broccoli, and beans.  The tomatoes were untouched.

More goat play time!

More pictures of all the baby goats enjoying their playground!

Goat Playground

In preparation for the baby season we put together a little playground from scrap wood and tires AND a slide we found in the woods.  Once we found the slide I knew we had to make a goat slide and voila!  All the goats, big and small love it!

The Move

I have finally moved the goats to Florida!!!!  After extensive land searches involving the worst luck ever we found the perfect place.  The land can't really be compared to Maryland but it's great for our Florida area.  We hired Athena from Horse Jitney based in Maryland and she did an amazing job babying the goats and our guard dog Leksa down to Florida.

And the next best part? I have a barn.  An absolutely authentic barn.  No more goat shacks that get destroyed-eaten-stomped on by the goats as fast as I can build them.  It may be overkill but it's sooo nice.  And one day we'll get electric and water out there too.

Goats like round bales

I am an awful blogger.  First post since October 2012.
So here goes...

Winter in Maryland.  A foot of snow coming tonight but the goats have been enjoying their new hay bale.  We spent the money once on a $90 bale of alfalfa, but after they consumed it in three days, we were forced to return to less expensive grass hay.

Fixing Jeanie's Ear

Last month, Jeanie caught her tag out in the woods and ripped her ear lengthwise.  At first we left it alone to heal but then the lower portion of ripped ear became necrotic and Jeanie was very sensitive and painful.  Intervention time!  This is where being a veterinarian in training comes in useful.

First step: Sedate Jeanie with the appropriate dose of xylazine.  I gave Jeanie a "standing" dose meant to make her only a little sleepy but Jeanie is apparently sensitive and went down like a rock.

Next: Clean and examine ear.  I gave a local lidocaine block to desensitize the ear.  Use sterile instruments to cut away the dead tissue.  The larger part of the ear was healing well so I left it alone.  Cleaned the infected part thoroughly and applied triple antibiotic ointment.

The great thing about alpha-2 agonists like xylazine is that they can be reversed. So I gave Jeanie tolazoline and she perked right back up.

All the other goats had to watch what was going on.

Jeanie gets some grain as a reward.

Goat Cheese on tomato slices

At the end of the summer, there's plenty of goat cheese and plenty of tomatoes from the garden.   A very easy recipe that's yummy and works great as a snack or appetizer.  Simply slice tomatoes then add the cheese.  I used three week aged pressed goat cheese.  Then I added some fresh oregano and a few drops of extra virgin olive oil.