Peaches is doing really well here at Goat Song Farm... Right now she's quarantined in one of the kidding pens. A little 6'x8' stall all to herself... She wants out though; I can see that! But she's becoming very sweet and gentle in her small home. She moos when she hears me coming, and yesterday she ate her breakfast out of my hand. Today she learned was a back scratch feels like, and she's decided that she likes them. Her favorite spot seems to be the neck, but she doesn't like her brisket to be touched. The valbazen dewormer worked quickly, and her pot belly is improving each day. Her mud scald is rapidly disappearing as well, now that it's being treated and she's on dry ground. Her hindquarters still need to be cleaned up, as she's not tame enough yet for me to touch her that much. But it can wait... It can wait.
I love her big brown eyes... She politely comes up to me when I enter her stall, and flirtatiously bats her eyes at me. She's knows she's pretty. ;) I give her a gentle scratch on the neck and then give her some grain. She's only eating about 2-3 lbs. of grain a day right now, but she's consuming 15-20 lbs. of hay!! For a little lady, she knows how to pack the food away!
My kidding stalls are made of solid wood, but we've cut a small hole in each one so that the occupants within can see out. Peaches' head is much too big to fit through such a hole, but I can never help but smile when I walk in the barn and see her pink nose poking out. That's her greeting. I walk in and say hello to everyone, the goats sing, the cow moos. Goats walk up to fence and cow sticks nose through hole. It's the same every time.
A cow-loving friend is coming out on Monday to take a look at her and see if there is something that I am missing, concerning Peaches. I'm looking forward to hearing an opinion from someone who has actually seen her, and I am definitely looking forward to hearing her consensus on her horns! They are both about an inch long, and are seriously wiggly. I'm thinking that they're scurs, but we'll see...
I still chuckle when I think about the fact that I have a cow again, and that I actually like her... She's not so bad, this cow... Kinda' makes me want to get another one... Hehe. ;)
Ahhhhhhhh, how cute! I see a little pink nose looking out :) Keep osting photos of her progress. We're pullin for ya peaches!!!
ReplyDeletecows are like goats..highly addictive. Seems that any animal I have for a bit, develops a personality I like.. then love. Hopeless I am. They just touch your soul! Sounds like your moving in the right direction. On my cattle, I use a really good high salt loose mineral. It is a MUST! It stretches the hay they eat to be more beneficial and saves you on hay and it is what they truly need. High in protein and its relatively inexpensive. You can feed it free choice and they eat like mad when they need it and nibble at it when they don't. Itss magic with their coats, their build and their health all around! It runs around $17.00 a bag and it would last you a long time. It can be left outside in a tub, (I wire my tubs to a fence line) and if it should get wet, it develops a crust when left in a tub and the cattle still love it! Just a suggestion, but boy oh boy does it help! Peaches has found a good home!
ReplyDeleteDebH, I will look into the mineral. :) I feed my animals free choice kelp which works wonders, but I recently ran out. And with a 50 lb. bag being $62.00 I may look at getting a bag of minerals for the animals. The hard part though, will be making sure that they each get their own, as the cow mineral usually doesn't have enough copper in it for the goats, and the goat mineral tends to have too much for cows. :-/
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