Amy's pony Maxi has a very lovely owner, Robyn who, over the weekend, organised us a couple of milking goats and we collected them late (very late) last night. Their names are Little China Girl and Penny and they are such sweethearts. They will supplement Silas' milk by providing him with super fresh goat's milk.
This morning I milked my first goat! Well, goat's plural actually. Penny has a much better stream and is happier to be milked whilst China is going to need a little more gentle persuasion before she really gets the hang of it. She's pretty young and has tiny teats - she also doesn't really appreciate being milked so much but, we'll get there! I managed to get just shy of 3 litres by hand out of the two of them - I need practice but it's a start!
Here are some pics!
Penny reposing
I'm a milkin'
Little China Girl strikes a pose
China says 'Hi!'
One of the important things for invalid/convalescing animals, or animals under a lot of stress, is managing their digestive system/gut so, from the beginning we have had Silas on ulcer medication to help prevent ulcers, which can really set an animal back. We upped his ulcer meds last week as well as introducing a new product and starting him on PROENZ, which I have had success with in the past.
Silas also had a visit from Sarah Linton and I am looking into some homepathic remedies for him but need to make a few phone calls there. He's getting so much stuff it is going to be impossible to pipoint one solitary thing although I believe that everything is playing a part in his overall improvement.
Hopefully the vet will bring his xray machine out in the next couple of days so we can have a closer look at that stifle and maybe get some answers. The pronounced toe drag needs further investigation too.
Things are pretty busy with mares and foals at present too - not really enough hours in the day at this time of the year and it doesn't help when the maiden mare we have here for Reilly refuses to stand to be served, even after sedation and twitching. We've missed out this time around so she gets a few weeks to think about it now and then we'll have another try. Poor Reilly, very frustrating for him.
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