Posey’s story started in March ‘09. I had a 1st time freshner due in a few days. I checked on her, with no signs of labor – I headed off to town for an errand. When I returned from town I had two surprises waiting for me. As soon as I pulled in the driveway, I could see a wobbly bay/brown kid standing next to my doe. As I walked closer, I could see a little black mass hidden in the straw. This kid was so small, I had never had a preemie sized kid before this. I scooped it up, had a look under the hood (had to find out what my surprise was, lol)… A doe, a black doe. She was the second black doe born here last spring! I ran her into the house to dry her off and weigh her. Her dam was tending well to the other kid (a good sized buckling). He was already up, dry and nursing.
I look back and wish I would of taken pictures of her that first day. She was so tiny and frail. I could hardly believe how small this doe was. She weighed in at an even 3 lb. I could tell she had been squished by her bigger buckling twin - she had a slight horseshoe bend to her. No matter how hard I tried, I could not get her to stand. Immediately, I could tell she had a very sweet personality and was complacent with my care. I knew I could not take her back out to her dam, as she could not walk yet. I tried her on the bottle of warm colostrum with no luck. Her mouth was unable to grasp the nipple. I ran her back out to her dam, held her up to the teat and viola! She nursed like a champ. For the next couple of days every couple hours, I ran this tiny kid back and forth between the nice warm house and the barn. After two days of the back and forth the dam grew weary and refused to let the doeling nurse. The Best part was she had a good two days of her own dams colostrum.
I once again tried the bottle with no luck. I contacted one of my dear goat friends (Denise), she told me that if I could get her tube fed she would probably make it. As I tube fed her, I continued to work with her – trying to get her to stand/walk. She seemed so healthy and full of life, the only thing missing was she was unable to get up and around.
On day three, as I was tube feeding her, I noticed a bit of brownish fluid leaking from her front right hoof. I instantly thought, maybe her leg is broken and that is why she cannot stand (I had noticed nothing unusual about her leg before this). I had invested so much time and energy, not to mention emotions in to this little peanut, I decided to hall her into the vet. I know many folks would not bother with a vet, but there was something so special about her and her will to live.
Two different vets looked at her. They said she had a pretty bad break above the hoof. They told me that they could brace her leg, but didn’t think she would make it, being less than 50% of normal weight. There was concern because she was still an even 3 lbs. I looked at it as – she hadn’t lost any weight..lol. So, with her leg in a full cast/splint, we headed home. That splint was all she needed to get up and go. The same night we brought her home she was up and running around literally. By the next day, she was even trying to frolic. My heart found great joy in knowing we had made the right decision.
The vet told me to bring her back in two weeks to change her splint (if she was still with us.. that was a real vote of confindence, not!) Within a day or so of being up and around she started taking the bottle and was a ravenous little kid. At this time, I picked out a name for her – Posey. I was looking for a name that meant ’small’ - Posey means, “small flower”.
To make a long story shorter, I called the vet to see if we could get the splint changed early because she was doing so well. They told me to wait the full two weeks. A few days before out appointment, I noticed a foul odor. I went ahead and took her in, saw a different vet who took off the dressing. It was a horrible site, her leg was rotting from the knee down. It was unbelievable! She was so healthy and vibrant, yet her leg was rotting? Her little hoof fell off shortly after taking the dressing off. The attending vet was shocked, as was I. The vet saw the light in her eyes, her will to live. She asked me NOT to put her down and said that if I allowed her to amputate her leg, she would charge me nothing for her services. She stated the only charges I would incur were from the clinic. I had been up around the clock for two weeks with her… we had a bond. I was trying to consider everything, money – even though we were getting a great discount, it was going to cost us (which we didn’t have much of) and what her quality of life would be. I was thinking, I raise dairy goats for milk and wasn’t sure she could ever be bred and freshen. In the end, my husband agreed that we could not put her down after all we had been through with her.
The next morning, Posey went in for a full right leg amputation. She did Great! She was up and walking the next morning, as if she still had all four on the floor.
Posey has thrived since. She has to occasionally wear a leg brace on her front left leg, to help support her weight. To all of my families disapproval, I went ahead and disbudded her (they thought that would do her in). Nah, she flew through it with flying colors!
Now a days, Posey’s cheery face and greeting is the first thing I see as I get to the barn. She is always sticking her head out around the corner to say, ‘Hi Mom, Happy To See Ya!”. She has gotten so big, I can hardly pick her up. Her future as a milker is uncertain. At the very least she will just be our pet.
