There is a goat in the house

There is a goat in the house, and not for fun.
Calgary, AB was the second coldest place on earth today, right after the South Pole. Edmonton fell somewhere around 6th on the list, and one of our goats fell victim to the cold.

We were out most of the afternoon, and when we got home, we found poor Little Linus lying in the snow. He was right outside the barn, but since he still acts like a baby and never wants to be left alone, the best we can figure out is he was waiting for Romeo to come with him. So he got tired, laid down where he could still see Romeo, then got too cold to get back up.

Chris found him as soon as we got home, scooped him up, and came running for the house. He held him against his own body for probably 40 minutes with a blanket wrapped around him. Then we added an electric heater to the mix. For the last few hours he's been lying on the floor wrapped in a blanket next to the heater.


We haven't been able to convince him to eat or drink yet. So I know we're a long ways from being out of the woods. When he came in, he was limp in Chris' arms and since then, we've actually got him to bleat at us a few times and hold his head up. He'll turn his head to Chris' voice at some points. But it obviously takes a lot out of him and he curls back up and falls asleep again.

I don't know if he'll make it through the night or not at this point.

Most of the info I can find online talks about newborn kids getting hypothermia. Linus is nearly six months old. I read on one source we shouldn't be trying to force any food or liquids into him orally because...
when the temperature of the goat falls dangerously low for whatever reason(s), various internal organs begin to shut down as well - the rumen included. Therefore, it is never a good idea to try and orally stimulate a goat with food or liquid. Doing so can create equally dangerous (and often fatal) conditions by contributing to harmful bacteria build up within the digestive system itself. Always ensure that the goats temperature is within the normal limits before providing food or liquid orally. Any stimulation given to a goat suffering hypothermia should be administered intravenously.

I tried to shoot about 1tsp of molasses into his mouth when he first came through the door hoping that the sugar would help perk him back up and give him some energy. It obviously wasn't the right thing to do, but I'm not too worried about it because he seemed to let most of it run out the other side of his mouth anyways.
Right now, we have him in the kitchen in the big metal dog cage with the heater still going beside him, and blankets wrapped around him. He's twitching and shivering a bit. But I see that as a good sign, as his body is starting to try and generate it's own heat again. His breathing also seems to be deeper and steadier.

I wasn't expecting a half grown goat to experience hypothermia. I'm struggling if I should take advice meant for newborn kids that suffer hypothermia, or treat him like an adult goat. With him being right in the middle I'm not totally sure what to do?!?!

I read one article that suggested injecting them with a saline solution to ward off dehydration. I'm hesitant, because I can't find any other sources that suggest the same. So if he's still to weak to drink tomorrow, I'll probably have no choice. I need to ensure he gets his fluids somehow, but for tonight, I'm hoping he drank enough today to survive without more fluids for a bit.

So for now, cross your fingers that he makes it through the night.

A Birthday weekend for the Boy

 It's been an exciting weekend for everyone around here. Grandpa Zoom came up to stay, and help celebrate Nathan's 4th Birthday (which is tomorrow)

 Nathan had to take Grandpa on the "official" tour which apparently starts with Maxxie's outdoor pen.

 From there you must check out the goats. Whom Grandpa has never met, he told me later he was surprised they were much smaller than he had thought from the pictures I'd sent. He was also most charmed by Hopper. Stating "She seems like the one with most character". Of course the fact that Romeo attempted to pee on all of us, probably took him out of favorite goat running very quick.

And right at sunset. I tried to organize a family picture. I really need one for Christmas Cards this year, and it's rather hard to be in the picture you need to take. I'm really not happy with how any of these turned out. It seems like trying to coordinate 4 people and a goat is never going to work well. This is about the only shot where everyone is looking in the relative direction of the camera, and Hopper isn't mooning the photographer.

Then for the Birthday dinner tonight we roasted a chicken. Is still a luxury to me, to know that we raised these chickens that taste so darn good on the dinner plate.

Goat-a-rific

 One of my best friends came to visit us in early October. It was "Uncle Noel's" first time up here, and he quickly fell in love with the charm of the place and it's friendly creatures. We even beer can BBQ'd our first chicken. To rave reviews!

Uncle Noel is a dog person, and made quick friends with the whole herd. Again, reinforcing to me that goats and dogs are so similar that most dog people will easily adapt to goats.

And Nathan warmed up (or tried to adopt) Uncle Noel's goat that he came up in. The sweet '69 GTO- also known as the GOAT.