PG,

He did ridiculously well. This is not what I thought 4H would be. I just wanted him to learn the responsibility of raising farm animals and possibly build toward working with cattle. I have had friends that work cows in addition to their regular jobs. I thought it would be great for him to work up to having some of his own by the time he was in High School.

This is not 4H in our area. If he is going to have cows we’ll have to learn to raise them ourselves.

4H has some many great facets, but I am not a fan of the “show” scene.

Animals are not raised to be healthy nor is human treatment stressed. It is just about “showing off” and who can spend the most money to get the best head start. That is not my interest.

I thought there would be classes and clinics but not so.

He raised a lot of money. It’s in a fund for college, but that was not my intention. Money does not teach character. Hard work does. Luckily, I can teach that without the help of an organization.

We may do chickens because it is something I can handle on my own (basically a city girl - even though I try not to admit to it), and it is completely fair. Everyone starts with chickens from the same farm bought on the same day. Plus it’s only about a 6 week commitment.

P.G.
We gave our goats away after the fair but they absolutely loved the weather when it was cool. The first night it was cold, I thought something had scared them but soon realized they were just having fun. It was really neat to watch. It's one of those memories with my son that I hope I never forget. The goats looked like they were playing tag. We didn't raise any this last year. We are considering having chickens for next years project. It will be a horse if the shale ever comes in. He would also like some Highland Cows.

P.G. - There's an interesting topic in the Political Group re. HR 1622 - NGV study. Care to take a look & give your thoughts? It looks hopeful!
best - sesport :0)

Just dropping by to say hello. Have one "shale" of a day. Also, there some new profile questions. Check those out by clicking HERE. We are also coming up on our 10,000th member. Be sure to celebrate with me. Click HERE for more about that.

HI , got the plans. Little Star. I need to first make my shelter bigger/
2 weks or so. I live in south shreveport. Keep in touch, Susan

Hi P.G.,
He seems much better today. He is up on his own. For the past two days, he was mainly just up when I would pick him up. I've been hand feeding him hay, commercial feed and sweet gum branches. He has had an appetite the whole time. His bowel movements are normal too. The vet seems to think it could be an infection from the banding problem. The vet didn't think he was going to make it then either. But we babied him through it. He looks so good today. I really think he is going to make it now. I felt like last night was the turning point. I wasn't sure if the fever breaking was a good thing or not. I will try to feed him some plain yoguart today. Last time I tried buttermilk and he wouldn't have anything to do with it.

Hi P.G.,
I don't know if it is good or bad, but his fever seems to have broke.

Hi P.G.

I have a very sick goat and was wondering if you know of anything that I can do that they find particularly comforting. The vet. seems to think we will lose him, and I want him as happy as possible. I've been hand feeding him the past 2 days and giving him sweet gum branches along with coastal hay and alfalfa. He has an infected joint. The vet says he has about a 10% chance of living. Any ideas you can send will be greatly appreciated.
THANKS

P.G.,
He did really well and he gets to keep the goat, which is the most important thing to him right now.

Hi P.G.,

We sheared before we got to the fair and didn't bathe them.

I have seen some of them shivering.

Our guys seem to be doing good.

My son's goat made the sale, so we will have to keep him there until Wednesday.

I still do not understand how the sale works, because we have been told we get to keep him.

The last time we had them sheared it do grow back rather quickly.

They also have access to an almost entirely closed in stall in the barn. It stays cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

Hi P.G.,
The only time that they have been sheared was by someone else. But yes they will need to be sheared by the fair.

Yes he will. We almost ended up with a male goat like yours. We found out pretty quickly that they don't do as well on their own. I think the stress is why he got pneumonia in the first place.
My son liked that one the most because he was the friendliest. It was $75 and one to show was $100. I talked him into the show goat. Plus at the time we were going to sell them anyway. He was going to learn how to raise "stock" animals. Now we have pets. I new we would get attached, but I just can't bear to slaughter them shortly after getting over their health problems.

Everything that we have learned through 4H goes against any kind of common sense. I will let my son show at the State Fair. I doubt that we will show after that. We will try to gradually change their diet after that point. We thought 4H was about raising animals and the responsibility that comes with it. Obviously we were wrong, it is only about who can "buy" the best animals and "artificially" enhance them. It definitely resembles the facade of the rest of the world. I wanted an old fashioned home spun experience. I was not opposed to raising an animal that would later be slaughtered. I understand that when you raise "stock" that is what you are doing. Now I feel like we "owe" these goats some more time as pets for what they have been through.

Cute pictures.

They almost look like miniture deer.

Hi P.G.
We alternate every month between Ivomec and Safeguard. I'm sure that we are doing everything wrong as far as raising healthy goats, because we have been following exactly what the County agent has suggested for "show" goats. We feed mainly grain. It is a show goat feed called "intimidator". The state fair is over in two weeks and we will see then if it would be healthy to change what we are doing. Our little guy seems to be out of the woods. He is really starting to look healthy again.

The first one we got developed pneumonia within the first few days of getting him. Then we didn't know until it was too late that we had to cut his horns. We had to have them surgically removed. Then we were told not to castrate the smallest one until he grew. The agent said make sure we band him high enough so that both testicles would stay in the band. We went too high and nipped part of his intestines. He had to have emergency surgery to correct it. I'm just disappointed that 4H is about "SHOWING" animals and not about learning how to raise them. That is what we got involved to learn. My son wanted to learn how to raise goats and then work his way up to cattle. We have enjoyed them though. I've just been frustrated with the way things have worked out. But the little guy seems to be on the mend.