Bittersweet Goat Update

 I want to get the bad news out of the way first.  Rebel died.  I'm still very upset and I don't really want to talk about it so let's move on.

Yankee, Pearl and Jade are loving their new home and their new owners love them.

We got the test results back on the blood work and Coral, Topaz and Jasper were clean.  Garnet came back positive for CAE (Caprine Arthritis Encephalitis).  It is a virus that affects goats, but can't be passed to humans.  Goats spread it to others through their milk, colostrum or blood.  It can't be passed through feces, breeding, food or water.  The problem is that they pass it to their babies and although most goats are asymptomatic, it can be crippling if symptoms do show up.  If you're interested you can read more here (LINK).  Most people manage it by taking the babies away from their mom as soon as they are born, but I really don't like doing that.  We are going to retest her with a different lab since false positives can happen.  If she is positive we have a home already lined up where she can retire for as long as she is asymptomatic and comfortable where she will never be bred again.  I'm very upset about this, but I'm hoping that we get lucky and it was a false positive.  Fingers crossed.

She's so weird sucking on the bars.

You might have noticed I said she will never be bred again, but I don't remember if I ever even mentioned it on the blog.  Jasper was out with them in January which means they will have kids sometime in June. So it's exciting that Jasper will be a daddy!

Jasper is so funny, he stares up at the tree limbs hoping we will pull them down so he can eat leaves!

Jasper is getting so big.  He is over 135 pounds now and last we measured him he was 28.5 inches tall.  He's going to be a decent size when he's grown.  Jasper has finally tamed down and we can approach him in the pasture to pet him and he even stands still for us to put medicine on him or to measure him.  I'm glad he is getting friendlier and staying laid back and manageable.  Wild bucks are a pain to deal with.

Now a happy update full of cute pictures.  Amethyst and Apatite!

 Coral is doing a good job of self weaning Amethyst and she's eating solid food really well.

 

We have stopped letting her try to climb on us or sit in our laps since she's getting so big and she has accepted it.  She is starting to act more like a grown goat.  I still spoil her and love her though.  The last time we weighed her was on 4-15-17 at ten weeks and she weighed 36.5 pounds already!!  We forgot to weigh her last weekend because hubby was sick, but we will definitely weigh her on Saturday.

 She is still super friendly and adorable.  I love her half mustache and her ear "racing" stripes!

I don't know if you remember, but Apatite was pretty skittish when we got him.  He is now friendly...

... and likes to get up close and personal!

He still runs or faints if startled, but for the most part he is a love bug.  He loves horn scratches and having his back scratched.  He's a little flinchy about his belly, but he's getting better.  He is growing well.  His horns are getting big.  I wish I'd gotten them in the picture.  Oops.  I will update more on him when I can.  He is soooo soft and I can't help petting him constantly when I'm out at the barn.  I love him!

That's all for now.  I'll update when I can on the other critters, but they are doing great too.  Later guys!