Recuperating goat
I find it easiest to
assess Artemesia's
return to health by taking her out and watching her graze. Three
days ago, she was so weak that it took a major effort to cut off leaves
of wheat, oats, or grass. She ended up gumming most of them instead of
eating them and soon gave up.
Now she's able to eat
overwintered oats...even though still
considerably more slowly than her daughter's gorging approach to
grazing. She didn't fall asleep in the middle of dining on gathered
honeysuckle either, which is also a good sign.
Two days ago, Artemesia
almost couldn't make it back up the small hill to her pasture after
grazing in the yard. Only after I let her nap for a couple minutes at
the midpoint did she finish the trek. This time, she still got tired
near the end but soldiered on through...planning for an
afternoon nap in the dry comfort of her barn.
All told, our poor, sick
doe is looking considerably better. You can tell from her coat that she
finally has enough energy for a little self-grooming. She's able to eat
on her own when I gather garlands of honeysuckle for in-barn
consumption. And she's even wiggling away from the needle during her
daily shots (which the vet has recommended extending for another week
to ease her back into full health). I'll continue to temper my optimism
with caution until Artemsia is a dancing picture of goat vitality
again, but I'm much relieved to see my beloved doe back on her feet and
back in her life again.
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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