USK SHOW & THE ADVENTURES OF BRAMWELL

I need to take you back to the beginning of this story so that you can understand the true effects.On Thursday 8th September,the day before we were to leave for the show,three of the goats had escaped from their pen; we put them back in & all seemed fine; they were also fine at feeding time.Friday morning we found Eleri dead; no sign of vomit or the runs. At this time Ffiona was also unwell but no sign of either of the above. We gave her medication & lots of tea as we believed the symptoms to be poisoning. She was up on her feet & not in a state of collapse. The day was spent administering medication when needed & we prepared to go to the show in the afternoon.
Unfortunately, we did not get away on time as there was so much to do to prepare for leaving all the animals in safe hands overnight & for most of the next day.
When we entered the showground it was dark which was not ideal but we thought we would be alright......how wrong can you be?!
Bramwell,the eldestof the three goats we were going to exhibit,decided that she did not like the look of the competition & ran off into the night. She was cornered at one point early in the proceedings,but managed to evade her capters! The next four hours were spent searching for her.The show site was shut down with all gates closed for the night to ensure that she could not get off the showground.The stewards on the site helped search and the other goat exhibitors turned out, but to no avail.We decided to call it a night & continue the search at first light. We did not have much sleep as we were really worried for her especially as the weather forcasters promised rain & they were not to be dissappointed.
At first light we went in search of her again before the show opened to the public.We walked around miles of hedges searching for her, but she had not even been seen by anyone.I was convinced that she had been really frightened by all of the noise & activity & had just run far away never to be found again......but still we searched.
About 8.30am we went back to the motorhome & had a drink & some breakfast & saw to the other goats who were safely tucked up in the marqee.We had no intention of now showing,but Nigel was persauded to in order to support the show itself. Our minds were not really on the job in hand but we came away with a couple of rosettes for 2nd & 3rd places.
The weather was really good so we felt sure that Bramwell would come out somewhere & sunbathe or take a nibble as she would be hungry by now.We continued our search after lunch & retraced the path which by now we knew very well indeed.We decided to look deep into the ditches as there was alot of cover & indeed we spotted her not far infact from the marqee where she escaped from.But as we got closer to her,she bolted & ran off at high speed across a field of cars, clearing some of them! The situation looked hopeless.....a young goat which could run faster than any quad bike would be difficult to catch! In the corner of the field there was a ditch with water in it & lots of nettles,thistles & all things that hurt. There were a couple of drainage rings for the water to run into from the adjoining road. We established that she had not gone any farther than this area & i went to get as many bodies as i could so that we could surround her.As i returned with help, Nigel & our friend Gary, appeared with her; she was really scared,coughing,panting & was really dirty & with blood pouring from her ear. They had managed to drag her from the hedge along the roadside by the only means they could.....her ears!!
Everyone was so pleased to see her( none moreso than me); i was so relieved; i really did think that she had gone forever.
We took her to the marqee & put her in a pen with her friends.....she did not resemble a show goat at all. She had alot of attention & soon settled down & had something to eat & drink. I did not get over the ordeal quite so quickly!
We were very careful on loading the goats back into the trailer to bring them home. I think she was really pleased to be home & warm & dry.She cleaned up well & her ear is much better.
I do not think that Usk Show 2011 will be forgotten very quickly by any of us who searched the fields for a goatling called Bramwell.

Sadly, Ffiona, poorly at home, did not make it.....sweet dreams.  

Brecon Show 6th August 2011

This was to be our second year showing at Brecon. It is a nice country show with lots to see & do & with quite alot of livestock to look at. There were quite a few goats but unfortunately not as many as last year. We had entered two kids & a goatling so we missed out on the pressure of milking!
We arrived on the Friday evening just as it was getting dark which was not helpful as there were no lights in the tent! We managed to fumble about & get the goats into their pens & settled them down for the night; the two kids were a little nervous as this was their first outing but they soon went to sleep. We did not have to be up quite as early as those with milkers in the show so we could stay up a bit later, which was good as it took us a while to prepare the Landrover for sleeping in. The matresses work very well but there is no room for changing or storing anything.

The morning came & fortunately the weather was to be kind to us. The British Alpine goatling was our first goat to show which fell to me; i am still nervous about showing & find it confusing trying to follow the correct format. Bramwell did very well & received good comments & infact went on to win Best Alpine in the show & so we took home the trophy for the second year. Bronte, the BA kid did not do so well as there was stronger competiton. The Anglo-nubian kid, led in by Nigel, was unfortunately the only AN in the show. She did receive 1st place & Best AN with another trophy. We were pleased with our goats & we had a good day.

Manuka.....Best Anglo- nubian!

Bronte did not do so well!

Madelaines kids

Well, she went & had three boys! They are lovely kids but i cannot help but be dissappointed that she did not have a nanny. I am pleased with the size; bringing in Dexter who is a small billy has worked with regard to the size of the kids.....i think they will make the perfect pets. They have already been castrated so that they are now "wethers" & they have been de-horned so that they will be safe with children. All three will be sold as soon as they are weaned from their mum.

This is the kids a few days old......

.....and this is two of the kids at 3 weeks old!



.....and this is Dad enjoying the sun!

WAITING!

Madelaine, the pygmy nannie is due to kid but seems to be holding on as long as possible....she is very large! I would just like to get it over with as it is getting late to be having kids. We will have to take them from her after 4 days & bottle feed them which is alot of extra work,but if we didnt they would be wild as Madelaine would not let us near them! Fortunately, she does get bored with her kids quite quickly anyway & will not be too bothered.
The other kids are growing well.....two Nubians & one Alpine; the two billys were killed last week as i could not manage to sell them. It is really sad but unfortunately there is only one other option & that is to kill them at birth which i find too difficult; atleast this way they have a few months of life & are very well looked after during that time. I always hope someone will want to buy one but then you can never be sure if they will look after it.

Madelaine with her kids last year!

Looking forward to a couple of shows soon: Brecon in August & Usk in September; Talybont is a farely local show at the end of August so we will probably go there with goats & poultry.

The Show

Sorry for the delay in writing this....no excuses!
The Tregaron Goat Show went very well with 35 goats entered, 16 of which were milkers. The competition was very high so it was quite suprising that we came away with anything!! The best bit for me was that our eight year old 1st kidder who we rescued last year along with her sister, won Best British Alpine against our own 4 year old milker & also Best Veteran which we were really pleased with as we have worked hard to get her back to health. Mabel or rather Garlin Efa,as she is registered as, is a really lovely girl; it was her first show & she behaved impeccably. Her kid was 1st in her class with some good comments from the judge; our other Alpine won a rossette for the highest yeild milking through. We enjoyed the show which is the main thing.
Madelaine, the pygmy nannie is due to kid any day; not quite sure of the date as we just had to leave Dexter the billy with her....he was having a problem with reaching as he was only 7mths old at the time!Really looking forward to the kids being born; hope she has nannies.
Looking forward now to getting the goats in season early if possible so that we can have better grown kids for next years shows. We do need to find an Alpine billy at stud to go across Bramwell as we only have her dad at present.

This is Mabel with her sister Dilys ( Garlin Eurem) in the background.

Benji has settled well & enjoys going out on the field with the girls.

SHOW

Making the final preparations for Tregaron Goat Show this week. It is held on Sat/Sun & includes a milking competition. We are not expecting to do very well as the competition is quite high from exhibitors who have been showing for many years & have goats of a very high standard......but we all have to start somewhere!
We are showing two milkers, a goatling & a kid. We arrive at the show on Saturday & have to milk the goats empty at about  6pm & then bed them down for the night. We then start very early the next day with an udder inspection & then milking which is recorded & samples taken to be analysed. The other goats are then shown for the various classes & prizes awarded. About 6pm the goats are milked & recorded again & the winners are announced. This is quite a simplified version of events but it give an idea of what happens. During the rest of the day we admire everyone elses goats & wonder why ours dont have udders that big!!

It is good to keep these shows going in order to promote the breeds if nothing else; too many shows have folded & there does not seem to be the interest in goats any longer which is a real shame. I am fully aware that alot of keepers are put off by the ever-increasing price of feed along with all of the regulations controlling disease, but all hobbies are expensive & come with a list of rules & still have support. Goat keeping aswell as being a pleasure can provide quite a degree of self sufficiency & you do not need lots of land to keep a pair of goats. I think it will be a great loss if goat keeping declines any further. Trying to encourage young people is really important.

NEWS!

Both of the crossbred nannie kids have gone to a new home which is really good; the billy however is still with us if anyone is interested in him....he is a really nice,easy to handle boy. The little British Alpine kid has now been registered with the British Goat Society as: Tangarn Bronte & will be off to some shows this year, the first of which being Tregaron Goat Show on May 28/29th. I have also entered her mum in the milking competition, Bramwell who is a goatling now, and  Anglo-nubian milker( Patch or Guneryhite Bhangra!). Hopefully we will do well! The kid will have to be worked with to get her to walk & stand correctly but she is very sweet natured so i do not think she will be too much trouble.
All the goats were tested for CAE last week which is Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis & they are all Negative which is really good news. CAE is a virus which is highly contagious & kids can catch it from older goats.It becomes evident in kids in the form of paralysis but in older goats as arthritis which obviously will cause a lot of pain & usually death. All goats have to have this test done before they can be shown at a BGS recognised show & also most other shows will put non-tested goats in seperate areas so that goats do not come into contact with infected ones.
We are really keeping our fingers crossed that Danaa kids on the 20th May or close to as we have had disasters with two of the goats not turning out to be in kid! It was quite difficult to tell with Annie who is a goatling,which means that she has never had a kid yet; she has always had quite a round stomach which was deceptive.She did not return to service after her mating so we hoped she would have kids....better luck next time! Snowdrop, who is an 8 year old milker, also should have been in kid & wasnt. Alot of goat keepers have their goats scanned but this is just another expense in an ever increasing invoice!!
I really have high hopes for Danaa as she really is a very well grown goatling who did quite well last year the couple of times we did show her. She has got a very good pedigree & hopefully will produce good stock.
I shall post again when she has kidded!
Please take a look at this link for some further information on goat keeping http://www.allgoats.com/

This is Strudel who was rehomed by us; she had once been savaged by a dog which ripped her throat & left her with bad scaring. She is a Saanen x boar goat which is why she is so chunky! 

Hernia

On Tuesday,our one kid who i have called "Bat ears" as she is an Anglo nubian x Alpine,had to have an operation as she had a hernia. It was an umbilical hernia as the naval had not closed properly after birth. She will be left with a bit of a lump but otherwise will be fine in the long term.
We are waiting for Snowdrop,our Anglo-nubian nannie to kid. She is 8 years old & is a really sweet girl. She was due today which is 150 days since service but can go another 5 without a problem.
We also have Annie due on the 10th.
The kids from Kenya who we lost with mastitis are doing really well; they like to go outside on the yard now for a run around.
Madelaine, the pygmy is huge & she is not due to kid for a long time. She does look really funny with two great saddles on her sides! She never has any problems kidding but quickly loses interest in the kids; i think she has had so many she gets bored!

This is Madelaine with one of her kids last year.

Update

The kids are all doing well except the one that i have called "Bat ears" for obvious reasons! As indicated in an earlier post,she was up for sale & has actually had a lady offer to buy her along with the other female kid. However, she has developed an Umbilical Hernia which means that the wall of her stomach has broken through her skin. This is often the result of the naval not closing up properly or an infection around the naval. After the kids are born we spray iodine onto the naval to reduce any chance of infection. The result of this is that she has to go into the vets on Tuesday for an operation to close up the whole. We have been assured that there should not be any long term problem & that she will be alright to breed from, so fingers crossed. The lady is still going to buy her which is good news as she is a lovely kid with a really sweet nature. She will have the stitches out 14 days after the operation & be running around in no time.
Benji has settled really well & is eating us out of house & home! He is very much in love with Snowdrop who is a nannie housed next to him. They share a hay rack now as Snowdrop will not use her own.
Patch & Mabel are both milking well so hopefully they will be going to Tregaron Goat show at the end of may along with Bramwell (British Alpine goatling) & Bronte, a BA female kid off Mabel.

We are now waiting for the next run of births: 10th May & 20th May both Anglo-nubian first kidders.....could be interesting!!   

Yonderwood Benjamin

This is Benji, our new Anglo-nubian billy goat. He has a really nice character & is a gentle giant! His breeding is really good & he is actually the grandson of our nannie Guneryhite Bhangra. We are now looking forward to next year to see the kids that he will produce.

We have been having a bit of help the last week from a young helper; he has had a go at milking & has even tasted some goats milk. It has been encouraging that a 10yr old is interested in the goats & also the poultry. He has shown no fear of the goats & has been in with Benji giving him some cuddles!


This is Christopher milking Guneryhite Bhangra!

Kenya

Kenya died at 10.10pm on Wednesday 6th April.
First thing in the morning she had her antibiotic injection but there had been little change in her. We gave her some more fluids, arnica, & fed her some porridge oats warm with some natural yoghurt to try & keep the rumen working. We massaged her udder to try & break up the mastitis but it did not seem to improve.It felt very cold & remained very blue.
Later on that evening while feeding & milking the other goats,i could not help but feel that something more was going onwith Kenya.I sat with her as she cried out in pain. We treated her with arnica again to help with the pain but she was getting worse so we called in the vet.Unfortunately,she had died when he got there.
Obviously,we went through with him what had happened. Her udder had become gangerous because the mastitis had effectively killed half of it.Usually,goats will then form a sort of wall & fight the infection going anywhere else with the help of antibiotics. Kenya couldnt do this & so her blood became poisoned & that is what finally killed her in a horrible way.My only consolation is that she wasnt alone.
It really has been an awful experience & i hope i dont see it again but it has to be said that keeping livestock can be totally heart-breaking. Kenya was the first Anglo-nubian that we bred ourselves,we showed her last year & she had the makings of a good milker & it breaks my heart to lose her like this.
Today,we had to arrange for her to be taken for incineration which is what now happens to all dead livestock & of course you have to pay. It is not pleasant to see your beloved animal piled on to a lorry of dead carcasses but it has to be so to avoid anymore outbreaks of disease.
Goodnight Kenya.

MASTITIS is so cruel.....

Our Anglo-nubian goatling kidded on April 1st; i will not forget it in a hurry! The first kid was coming out backwards so we tried to push it back & turn it but to no avail....it was already dead so had to be pulled out.It was a billy & quite big. The next kid came 15 minutes later & although Kenya needed help the kid was fine & she took to her straight away. After another pause another billy was brought out. Kenya was really tired but she licked the kids & fed them that all important colostrum. The second two kids are very small but very cute! They are a sort of silver colour, quite difficult to explain.
The next day all seemed to be well; mum was looking after the kids really well although she didnt eat a great deal herself, preferring to have just redigrass & some warm molassed water. We treated her homeopathically to make sure her insides repaired themselves. Sunday came & Kenya began to seem unsteady on her feet & look a bit confused so we gave her a calcium injection as the kids can drain their mums reserve & she cannot produce enough to cope herself. This seemed to help & again she seemed ok. Monday morning her udder was like rock on one side so we took the kids off straight away which did not bother her as she felt too ill by this stage. A partition had to be made to seperate these newborns from the bigger kids & a heat lamp set up over them. They were quite happy & took to a bottle straight away which was a relief. Next was to ring the vet & see what we had to do. We went to town & collected some serum to put into the teat to disolve the mastitis & relieve the pain & also an antibiotic injection for 2 days to kill any infection she may have got from the assisted kidding. By lunchtime the udder had turned blue & was really gold; this means it is gangerous & basically dead. We have to keep drawing off any milk/water or mostly blood & be really careful as it is highly contagious to the other goats.
Tuesday morning & i feel thankful she has made it through the night she is so poorly. She will not eat anything offered even her very favourite things. When a goat does not eat it can lead to all sorts of problems within the rumen so we shall have to try & boost it with the correct sort of bacteria. She is also not drinking so we have to give her fluids in the form of electrolytes which replace the salts & sugars which their bodies need to avoid dehydration. She is also having garlic to kill bacteria & we are massaging the udder with a natural deep heat cream. It is so cold to touch & she is in so much pain.She will have more injections tomorrow.....i just hope that they work......

The kids are fine on a good note. 

Dexter

Dexter has had to be put in solitary confinement( this is our pygmy billy) as he was caught sucking milk from one of the Alpines! We wondered why her milk yeild was going down no matter how much food was being given to her. He was weaned off the bottle a long time ago but i suppose if it is available he would not refuse!
All of the other kids are doing well; the older ones are eating concentrate quite well now so we have cut their bottles down to 3 a day now which is 3 pints of milk per day. The Alpine kids are 2 weeks younger so they are still on 4 pints but we still cannot get the billy to suck the bottle.They are also nibbling some concentrate & hay so hopefully he will catch up.

We are busy keeping an eye on Kenya, looking for any signs of kidding. Her udder is filling up quite well but there is no sign of any discharge yet which is what you can expect to see a few days before kidding.

Pottering!

A truelly gorgeous day & so warm! Have had a really nice morning just pottering about feeding the goats & watering the birds.The pigs seem happy basking in the sun.The birds are all so much more content when the weather is like this.
Billy,the turkey is strutting his stuff....not to be messed with as Tara,his woman,is looking for a place to lay.The Chinese Quail we bought have started to settle & are making sweet little noises of contentment;it was a horrible place where we "rescued" them from.
Kenya & Snowdrop,two Anglo-nubians,have been moved into a bigger pen as Kenya is due on April 1st(what a day!!!!).N igel has made new hayracks with smaller mesh so that they cannot pull all of the hay out over the floor & waste it!

The kids are growing fast & two of them need to be sold,a nannie & a billy.Its always a sad time but we cannot keep them all.

New arrivals

It is getting closer to Kenya"s due day,which is 1st April & she is quite large! It is her first time so i hope she is going to be alright;she is not very easy to handle so i hope that all goes well.Her udder is looking very good at the moment...lets hope it remains so & that we will be able to show her again this year.She did have some good comments last year in the few shows we entered her in. She is an Anglo-nubian goatling & is very stroppy!

Kids

We have six kids at the moment,three of which are unfortunately crosses,one Anglo-nubian billy & two British Alpines.They are all lovely in my eyes because they are healthy & happy! The little Alpine billy however,just cannot suck a bottle,he just chews it until the milk comes out! They all love to run around the yard playing in & out of things & jumping up & down.