On Sunday night, when I went out to feed the goat girls, I discovered that Heidi was bleeding from one of the disbudding spots on her head. She had torn off the scab/cap. This was very disconcerting for a first-time goat owner! I ran back to the house and grabbed my “goat tote” (a plastic container full of my goat care items) and George joined me to help hold her still. We applied Blood Stop powder, and then some Blu-Kote antiseptic. It’s worth mentioning, despite the “Handy Dauber Applicator,” Blu-Kote will get everywhere when you use it. I still have some residual stain on my hands this morning. No amount of soap, Go-Jo, detergent, Sea Breeze, etc., is going to remove that stuff! It just has to wear off, I guess. If someone out there has a suggestion of how to remove it in a more timely fashion, I’ll take it!
Heidi was less than enthused about having her photo taken last night, but I finally got this shot to show you the difference in her disbudding spots. The affected one is on the right, and is healing nicely.
We believe that she hurt herself by sticking her head through the stall door and scraping it on the wood frame of the door. Our barn had a stall that the previous owners used for their pony, which works out great size-wise for our girls, but the door is designed for horses, and their heads would not fit through the openings. Not so with goats! So we have taken a plastic liner from one of our pet cages that was of sufficient size and attached it to that section of the door to prevent this from happening again. The girls aren’t thrilled with it, but it is for their own good. Our plan is to expand their area in the barn beyond the stall, so that they have easier access to the outdoor pen anyway, and once that happens, we won’t have to worry so much.
I thought I’d share this story in case there are any other new goat owners out there who encountered a similar problem, perhaps this information would be helpful!
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