A Lesson in Disbudding

Well another week has flown by here at Olde Oak Farm. We only had one momma (Sunny) kid and that was on Monday. We're already gearing up for our next wave of births which could start today or tomorrow if Clarece goes on schedule. We sold some of the kids this week and we're back down to 7.

This week I spent a lot of time with the kids. I've been feeding them 3 times a day and they are ravenous little eaters! Mostly. Jen noticed midweek Black and Tan (one of the kids) had lost some significant weight. She's been constipated and dehydrated. We aren't sure what the reason is, but we've been spending a lot of time with her and trying to get her re-hydrated and back up to good health. Also, when the goats are looking a little slow and not as vibrant as we would like, we will give them an injection of Vitamin B which gives them more energy and helps them perk up. We've given Black and Tan a few Vitamin B shots throughout the week and last night she drank almost a full bottle. 

 Go Black and Tan!

Wednesday evening was rough. Something I've sort of been dreading in the back of my mind ever since I learned about it. Wednesday evening we disbudded 8 of the kids. Don't worry, they are all doing fine now. ( It was probably more traumatizing for me in the long run. )  

If you are one of the folks who asked me if we cut the horns off the goats...Pay attention! Cutting horns is dangerous because they bleed a lot. Disbudding is much more humane. 

* So What is disbudding and why do we do it?? 

Disbudding cauterizes the growth plate of the budding horns on the head of a kid goat, which causes the horns to never grow. Scott used an electric disbudding iron--sort of like a curling iron in that you plug it in and wait for it to get nice and hot. Then he held it to the buds for 8 to 10 seconds each.  All the goats here are disbudded and it's a very common practice in most dairy goat farms. We do it for the safety and health of the goats. Goats are aggressive with each other. They rear up and butt heads. I've seen one specific goat in our herd plow another right in the side several times. With horns, it would be quite easy to tear an u

dder or hurt an eye. By removing the horns, we're giving them a safer environment and reducing the risk of injury to our herd and the milk supply. 

I will let Scott continue to do the disbudding until I feel comfortable trying it myself. We still have quite a few that will need it. In fact we're doing another round tonight. 

And one more note before I have to get back to work: We have started using the milk machine and we'll be making chevre (goat cheese) on Monday! Up to this point, we have been milking by hand and using it just for feeding the baby goats. Between the 7 ladies that we're currently milking, we have about 4 gallons of milk a day. By Monday morning we should have enough for a good sized batch of cheese! We're making the cheese in preparation for a market and a festival next Saturday.  Two

 weeks ago Nate made 75 little rounds of camembert that have been aging and growing the fluffy white mold that makes them so delicious. By the end of the week, the cheese plant will be bursting with cheese to sell!!