Ever get the idea that you're just not supposed to do something? Yeh, me, too, and it must be that these two goats are supposed to be here, at least for now.
A few days after I sold them, I got a phone call asking if I'd take them back. These two does are CAE positive, but pretty healthy for all that, and I sold them with full disclosure. The buyer was okay with it at first, but was scheduled to have surgery just about the time Leah was due to kid. Too much in too short a time, and second thoughts about the CAE.
So, they're back, and I'm in milk again. Hooray! I might not let Sanuba go again. I had second and third thoughts about it, and though she will never give me any registerable kids, I could breed her to a Boer and have meat goats.
Leah, bless her pea-pickin' little heart, still has an udder that I don't like, but until I find the perfect home for her, she's here to stay, and keeping Violet company. They were SO glad to see each other! Once in their stall together, they immediately butted heads, again, and again, and again! Bam! Bam! BAM! Then they cuddled up together for the night, and they've been hanging out together even more than before Leah left. Goats are so strange. Or maybe, absence makes the heart grow fonder?
Beatrice is CAE+, too, but she's not going anywhere. Too good of a milker, bloodlines too good to let go of, and a wonderful udder. CAE+? Fine, I just pull the kids and feed the pasteurized milk. I started that last year and was surprised to find it wasn't a hassle at all. Feeding was more of a hassle than pasteurization.
I'll continue my CAE protocol: giving CAE nosodes monthly, giving Apis mellifica during labor to deter congestive udder, and making sure they're well mineralized and as stress-free as possible. So far my does are symptom free. I plan on them remaining that way, and if no one else wants them, so be it. As for their kids, they'll be bottle fed heat-treated milk and live in separate quarters until they're weaned or sold.
The CAE crowd is divided into two camps: those who think it's a horrible thing and goats should immediately be culled, maybe even euthanized; and those who wonder what all the fuss is about. I'm convinced that the first camp consists of those who have never had CAE in the herd, and the second is those who have. One vet called it "an economic disease", because no one wants to buy them. He wonders why it's blown so out of proportion. So do I. There are so many serious diseases to be cautious of, to really want to eradicate, like Johnes, Caseous Lymphadenitis (CL), Brucellosis, and Tuberculosis, that can wipe out a herd, or even be passed on to humans. CAE, on the other hand, becomes symptomatic in only 10% of goats that test seropositive, and often very mild symptoms at that. The worst thing it can do to humans is give them immunity to HIV. Hmm. Come to think of it, that's not such a bad thing.
A few days after I sold them, I got a phone call asking if I'd take them back. These two does are CAE positive, but pretty healthy for all that, and I sold them with full disclosure. The buyer was okay with it at first, but was scheduled to have surgery just about the time Leah was due to kid. Too much in too short a time, and second thoughts about the CAE.
So, they're back, and I'm in milk again. Hooray! I might not let Sanuba go again. I had second and third thoughts about it, and though she will never give me any registerable kids, I could breed her to a Boer and have meat goats.
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| Violet and Leah |
Beatrice is CAE+, too, but she's not going anywhere. Too good of a milker, bloodlines too good to let go of, and a wonderful udder. CAE+? Fine, I just pull the kids and feed the pasteurized milk. I started that last year and was surprised to find it wasn't a hassle at all. Feeding was more of a hassle than pasteurization.
I'll continue my CAE protocol: giving CAE nosodes monthly, giving Apis mellifica during labor to deter congestive udder, and making sure they're well mineralized and as stress-free as possible. So far my does are symptom free. I plan on them remaining that way, and if no one else wants them, so be it. As for their kids, they'll be bottle fed heat-treated milk and live in separate quarters until they're weaned or sold.
The CAE crowd is divided into two camps: those who think it's a horrible thing and goats should immediately be culled, maybe even euthanized; and those who wonder what all the fuss is about. I'm convinced that the first camp consists of those who have never had CAE in the herd, and the second is those who have. One vet called it "an economic disease", because no one wants to buy them. He wonders why it's blown so out of proportion. So do I. There are so many serious diseases to be cautious of, to really want to eradicate, like Johnes, Caseous Lymphadenitis (CL), Brucellosis, and Tuberculosis, that can wipe out a herd, or even be passed on to humans. CAE, on the other hand, becomes symptomatic in only 10% of goats that test seropositive, and often very mild symptoms at that. The worst thing it can do to humans is give them immunity to HIV. Hmm. Come to think of it, that's not such a bad thing.
