Sunday, March 13 2011

Good morning everyone! Yes, this is my morning because I have been working all of Saturday night, and I just got home. Last night Mike and I had to stay on the ranch to take shifts checking on the nanny goats (mothers) and their kids. We knew that 6 more goats in total were due to have kids, but they didn't look ready at all. So this morning, around 6am I got up to check on everyone and when I walked into the barn, I heard a baby goat crying, and I saw a slimy, cold little baby goat standing by its mother crying. I figured out that it had just been born a moment before I walked in, so I ran and got Mike so he could help me take care of it. The first thing you have to do is make sure that the placenta sack is removed from the kid's face so it can breathe, then you have to make sure the umbilical cord is severed by the mother and douse the cord in a thick iodine solution so there is no infection later on. Then you have to squirt a really thick, molasses-type nutrient syrup in the kid's mouth, then finally get the kid sucking on its mother so it can have the vitamin-rich colostrum (mother's first milk) that the kid will need to survive. Mike woke up and grabbed towels and the iodine and nutri-drench, and we took care of the first kid. He seemed really healthy and started feeding immediately, so we knew we were okay with him. Then I walked around the barn to the outside just in time to see another kid drop (just born, drop out onto the floor). As I was walking over to tell Mike and grab another towel, another kid dropped from his mom. But this mom just walked away from him and left him out in the cold. So I ran over and cleaned his face off so he could breathe. Then I had to put him in an isolated warmer with a heat lamp because he was too cold and his mother rejected him. I left him in there for a minute and walked over to the mother to pen her up and saw her deliver the other baby, which makes the kid's twins. That was why she walked away from the first one, because she was getting ready to have the second. So I cleaned that one off and put him in the warmer too, along with another kid that was too cold. The next most important thing was to get the kids to drink from their mothers. If we waited too long, the mother would reject the kid and not feed it. So we put the kids with their mother, and both of the twins wouldn't drink. The other 2 singles started drinking right away, so they could stay with their mothers. But the twins were too small and cold, so I put them back in the warmer and milked their mother myself so I could get her colostrum out. I had to force feed each twin with a small syringe so that it could get colostrum in its system. Then I placed them back with their mother and she accepted both of them, so I knew they would be okay. All of that took place in about 1 hour in total. All 4 kids were born one after the other, so it was a very busy morning for us! After that event, I went to work with all the usual chores of changing water and food and cleaning up all the kennels and barn. Then I had to medicate one of the puppies because he has a respiratory infection. Then I discovered one of the goats had a problem with one of her teats, and it was filling up with milk so much that it was getting really painful for her. So I had to insert a plastic teat dilator, which seemed really painful, but it opened her up and hopefully stopped whatever infection or mastitis she may begin to form. Then I had to give her 2 injections of penicillin to help kill the infection. I used a new needle and syringe so it was sharp, and I was able to inject her very fast this time and she didn't even move. I felt a lot more confident this time, and was able to successfully treat her with her medication. After I worked today, I got to come home and shower and get ready for dinner and bed. I have to leave at 8am tomorrow to pick up something with my truck, then drop it off at the ranch. I will be staying at the ranch by myself tomorrow night, but I feel fairly confident that I can comprehend and handle whatever happens by now. All my muscles are sore and I am exhausted every night, but I am having so much fun and learning so much in the process, that it makes it all worth it! The more that I work with the animals and learn from them, the more I can really see myself becoming a vet and being very happy in that line of work. Every day is exciting and all the animals are so sweet. I get to play with puppies and baby goats all day and they are adorable and follow me around and get excited to see me. They are really developing their own little personalities as they grow and they are so cute and sweet! I want to take all the puppies with me on the rest of my road trip! I am going to eat dinner now and go to bed. I am exhausted and look forward to going to sleep as early as possible now. I miss you all and wish you could see what I get to see every day here. Keep working hard and enjoying your job and family and friends, and I will be home before you realize it!


Love you all, Sam

P.S. Sorry no pictures, but I have been really busy. I will try to post new ones by Tuesday hopefully. But I am trying to get my new phone by next week, so I will try to call you all asap. I need phone numbers again, I lost them all!!!!