We brought home a new goat on Saturday—a five-week-old Snubian we’ve affectionately named Baby Doll. For the uninitiated, a Snubian is a mix between a Saanen and a Nubian, meaning she’s got big floppy ears, a milk line to be proud of someday, and the ability to steal hearts just by blinking.
Unfortunately, she also has the ability to break her leg 24 hours after arriving.
Yep.
On Sunday, Baby Doll decided to test the physics of staircase navigation. She leapt off the bottom step like she was trying out for the Olympic goat team. Unfortunately, her leg got caught—and she kept going. Her leg didn’t.
Cue the panicked humans and one very confused baby goat with a new limp and a whole lot of trust issues.
It’s been a rough weekend for the little gal. She left her old home, her mother, and a posse of playmates to come live with us—a brand-new place with only one other baby goat for company. And just when she was starting to settle in, bam, she breaks a leg.
But don't worry—it’s not all sadness and despair.
After the initial trauma (and several emotional support cookies for me), Baby Doll got the royal treatment. She spent the evening cuddled up on the couch with “Daddy,” soaking up snuggles like a pro. She even slept in the house that night, tucked into a cozy dog crate right next to my bed like a true goat princess in convalescence.
This morning, we loaded her up and took her to the vet. I’d wrapped her leg in a makeshift cast before we left, fully expecting to be politely scolded and professionally corrected.
But the vet? He was impressed.
Turns out, my farm-fix-it cast earned me a few gold stars. (Who needs vet school when you’ve got baling twine, vet wrap, and pure motherly panic?) Baby Doll now has a proper soft cast that she’ll need to wear for four weeks.
And it absolutely cannot get wet.
…Which is adorable. Because this is a goat.
A baby goat.
On a farm.
Where water comes from not only the sky but also buckets, troughs, water bottles, and a mysterious puddle that wasn’t there five minutes ago.
So we’re on official "Operation Keep It Dry." Expect rain. Expect puddle-seeking behavior. Expect this goat to somehow dunk her cast in a water bucket I’ve already moved twice. She’s that kind of girl.
Still, she’s on the mend, she’s getting spoiled rotten, and she knows exactly how to milk it (pun fully intended). If anyone deserves a little extra love and attention, it’s a brave baby goat with a bum leg and a heart full of hope.
Hang in there, Baby Doll. We’ve got you.
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| AAAHH, the life of a "house goat"! |
2 comments:
It's great that you new how to do that!
And good that you have a vet nearby, too.
Hope your goatie heals quickly!
I have had 3 goats break legs.. 2 were not so smart wethers!.. Bad breaks too. But they healed up really well! The other was a doeling that caught her pastern and there was nothing to do for it.. It healed up with out being splinted and she was just fine..
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