3 lost to Haemonchus contortus

I confess. Learning how to take care of these goats has not been very easy. It is a lot of fun! We enjoy taking care of them. And as much as we try not to too much, we do get attached to them. But learning how to take care of them and keep them healthy has been difficult.

It seems like ever since we've gotten this sweet girl, Trixie, our goats have been sick. They've had eye infections and coughs, they've had runny noses and diarrhea, we've sought advice and treated and sought more advice and treated and googled and googled and googled. We're trying to learn but this month three of our goats died. We lost poor Charlotte, Heidi, and Bubba. So we knew it was time to say "We have no idea what we're doing!" And call a Vet.

 Now, if you have ever called a vet you know that they don't really come for free. They're quite expensive! But as we looked at our diminished heard of three we realize the investment that we had out in the field was dying. So it was either let our investment die or call in the Vet.  So call in theVet we did.

 Come to find out we have been treating our goats wrong. Poor things. We thought they had coccidiosis. We thought they had pink eye. We thought they had a gerneral worms. But, come to find out that raising goats in Florida is not quite the same as raising goats in other places. We have a humid wet climate. Especially during the summer months. And this summer has been VERY wet! There is a certain type of worm that likes to infect goats in a wet environment that is most common in Florida. And that's what our goats have. Haemonchus contortus

 There isn't anything over the counter that we were buying that would have treated it. So the goal is to treat the three remaining goats that we have. Jenna, Trixie, and Corduroy.

The Vet also recommended that our goats not return to the same area for 6 months until all those worms are removed and die off. Or we could burn their pens or till them up.  We decided to buy a propane torch and burn off their paddock.  My sweetheart worked and worked in the Florida heat to burn off their pen.  He's amazing.  And he's trying to make this work for me and for Silas.

 So, we're learning more and more about caring for our goats.  So far they seem to be doing better and we seem to be on the right track.  I'll keep you updated!