Dead Goat. Learn from my mistake!

Ark · #1 10/01/05, 06:35 AM

I made a deadly mistake which I am going to share with all of you in the hopes that it will prevent something like this from happening to someone else.

We got 5 FB Boer does a few weeks ago. We are selling all of our percentage does and replacing with reg. stock.

The BEST doe had feet that REALLY were awful so I had been trimming her feet once a week to try to get them back to where they should be.

Just two days ago I thought how much easier it would be to restrain her if she had a collar on.... to make a long story short, she died from strangulation by that collar. Got in a fight with another doe whose long horn got stuck in the collar...

Please no flames!!!

I feel TERRIBLE about this and am removing all collars from my goats. I have mostly dairy goats and need those collars to get the girls in and out of the milkroom.

I have ordered plastic chain collars that break under pressure. PLEASE BE CAREFUL FOLKS!!!

I couldnt sleep last ngiht...

Countrygirl1 · #2 10/01/05, 06:52 AM

I am so sorry this happened to you. I have those collars on my dairy goats as well. It makes it easy to get them if they are being stubborn that morning, lol. Most impotantly because they are the ones that break free under pressure, I don't worry so much. I hope that you can get some rest tonight.

Jillis · #3 10/01/05, 12:50 PM

I am so sorry to hear of your loss! Thank you for sharing the painful experience in order to help the rest of us.
I have collars that are called "break away" collars on my goats---they are not the plastic chain ones you mentioned, though. Was this the kind of collar you had on the goat that you lost? It's a regular, medium-sized dog collar, but it has a plastic squeezy clip that is supposed to open if there is enough pressure, say the weight of an animal in distress from being hooked up on something strongly enough to strangle it.
None of my goats have horns, but I know that there are other things they could get hooked up on...
Thank you again, Jillis

vtfarma · #4 10/01/05, 01:09 PM

We were farm sitting a few years back and the farmer had one of his prized rams tied up - we questioned him - it was necessary. Well we showed up one morning to do chores and it had hung himself. We felt awful so did the farmer. I am so sorry that you went through this - but bless you for letting the rest of us know so that it could be prevented in the future.

Ark · #5 10/01/05, 01:24 PM

Thank yall for your kind words.

The collar was a regular dog collar with a metal buckle....

We did have collars on some of the goats with that plastic snap together thingie - I'll have to go test one and see if it does pop open under pressure... thanks for that idea! I took all the collars off this morning, wondering how much trouble I will have at evening milking time... They do wait at the door for me, but when it is time to leave AFTER milking, sometimes they would rather stay in!

The plastic chains that I am talking about can be seen on the various caprine supply websites. They are supposed to break away under pressure.

[IMG] Dead Goat. Learn from my mistake! - Goats

Dead Goat. Learn from my mistake! - Goats

[/IMG]

Ark · #6 10/01/05, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vtfarma

We were farm sitting a few years back and the farmer had one of his prized rams tied up - we questioned him - it was necessary. Well we showed up one morning to do chores and it had hung himself. We felt awful so did the farmer. I am so sorry that you went through this - but bless you for letting the rest of us know so that it could be prevented in the future.

How sad!! Poor ram. I just feel so terrible and responsible. Waaah!

dbarjacres · #7 10/01/05, 08:35 PM

Sorry about your doe. I had a scare today too. We just brought home our new boer buckling and the guy met us halfway and he had 7 other goats to deliver too, so he thre "baler twine collars" on them so he could handle them easier. We got home and I put "Deuce" out with my other buckling and went to the house to get Probiotics and a scissors and was gone about 2 minutes tops. "Spot" who only has 3 inch long horns was completely tangled in "Deuce's" collar and it was tight. Could barely get the scissors in to cut. Both are fine, but glad I didn't dillydaddle in the house. Scarey thought.

Hey, those of you that use the plastic chains, I did that last year on 3 does and they all got chewed off. Yes, chewed. I found them and they had teeth marks in them. I did have kids in with them and think that's who did it. Any ideas? Is this common?

mary,tx · #8 10/02/05, 07:36 AM

I've been using the break-away collars since I've had goats, about 7 years, and have had good luck with them. We've lost some over the years, for whatever reason, but usually they last a long time. If a goat gets it hung on a fence or something, it will break. But they are good for leading the goats. I don't believe I've ever had any chewed off.

My does have always preferred to be in the barn at night, which is safest, anyway, since the coyotes and such only come out at night.

mary

Goat Freak · #9 10/02/05, 07:43 AM

I'm so sorry to hear abut your loss. We tied one of our bucklings up once, to give him a shot, and he almost hng himself, got all wrapped around th tree, and I have not tied another goat since, other than for milking.

dlangland · #10 10/02/05, 08:35 AM

[QUOTE=Ark]Thank yall for your kind words.

The collar was a regular dog collar with a metal buckle....

Ark, I am so very sorry, but I wanted to thank you for sharing. I hate to admit, but this is what I always used on mine even though I should know better.

sancraft · #11 10/02/05, 09:12 AM

I use the same kind on my goats and have never had a problem. I used the plastic chains before and one nearly choked on a link after eating it off of another goat. I tried the dog collars with the break away plastic tabs and if they pulled away from me while I was trying to get them on the milking stand or to the barn or anywhere they didn't want to go, it would come apart and I'd have the darnest time trying to catch them again. Then once they knew the collar would come apart, they became impossible. They'd just jerk their heads hard, pop the collar and run off. Once we get on the land, I may take their collars off when I let them out to browse then put them back on when the come inside for milking and to bed down for the night. I'm sorry you had this happen to your goat.

Hank - Narita · #12 10/02/05, 11:02 PM

So sorry to hear of your loss. We almost lost a doe a week before kidding. I had the collar too loose and she got her nose in the collar and couldn't get it out. Found her several hours I guess later when we came home. She was extremely bloated but everything turned out fine. If you do use the dog collars make sure they are tight enough to not get hung up on anything or where she can get her nose stuck by playing with the collar.

kesoaps · #13 10/03/05, 08:24 AM

I'm so sorry! But thank you so much for posting. I've recently begun adding horned sheep and hadn't even considered that.

Ark · #14 10/03/05, 08:47 AM

Thanks again to all of you - I hope everyone will reconsider using those unbreakable collars and go with something safer. I did test the ones we have with the plastic snap together thingies, but they wouldn't pop open. So, there are about 20 collars hangin on a huge hook in my milkroom as a reminder to me.... what a horrible waste of a life.

I guess if I didn't have goats with horns it would not be quite so bad, but there are still plenty of tree branches for them to get caught up in.

Anybody have about 20 dogs I can send all these collars to? LOL

Hank - Narita - that was a close call. I'm glad your doe is ok!!

And I hope we dont have a problem with these collars getting chewed off. I guess we'll just have to wait and see, and deal with it if it happens.

moosemaniac · #15 10/03/05, 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ark

Anybody have about 20 dogs I can send all these collars to?

I'll bet your local animal shelter would be thrilled to get them! I've always used the breakaway plastic collars. I brought home a young doe once with a plastic collar, but the breakaway link had been replaced with a metal unbreakable link. She got caught on the fence, but luckily we found her there right away and replaced her collar.
Ruth

Ark · #16 10/03/05, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moosemaniac

I'll bet your local animal shelter would be thrilled to get them! I've always used the breakaway plastic collars. I brought home a young doe once with a plastic collar, but the breakaway link had been replaced with a metal unbreakable link. She got caught on the fence, but luckily we found her there right away and replaced her collar.
Ruth

Glad you got her off in time!!

You think the animal shelter would want the collars even though many look worn and faded? They are still holding strong.... obviously.

That's a pretty good idea - thanks!
Rachel

goatgang · #17 10/03/05, 06:53 PM

Sorry about your goat. Thank you for the post. I went out and removed the collars from our 2 pygmies. I was keeping them on because it was easier to catch them if they got out. Our doe is always getting caught in the fence or something that you would not expect. She works hard to get into trouble. Our goats do have horns. After your post - I figured it was just a matter of time before something happened with her collar.

Chris

Jan in CO · #18 10/03/05, 08:14 PM

Sorry to hear about the doe. I know it feels terrible to lose one. I had one pig out on minerals and salt after I hadn't put any out for a week, then moved her to another barn. In the morning, she was lying dead with her head tucked over her kid. I bawled for being so stupid and causing her to die, as I couldn't think of any other cause. Had to be one of the best ones, too. Glad you were able to figure out what the problem was so you didn't lose any others. Jan in Co

steff bugielski · #19 10/04/05, 08:02 AM

I have had that happen it is a horrible feeling knowing that I could have prevented ti. I now use the nylon collars with the black squeeze clips. More than once have had them break. I will never know under what circumstances, I just know that the goat was ok and the collar gave way. I also have had them get stuck on their noses, they need to fit like a dogs collar.
steff

trappmountain · #20 10/04/05, 08:40 AM

I use the dog collars with the metal clasps but I only use them in the morning to get them out to the feild. Then they are removed. In the evening they run straight to the barn to be fed so we don't need them then. Another choice is to use harnesses. I used them before the feild was fenced to tether them when I couldn't be right where I could see them. When I was able to be outside I would just let them run the feilds under my watchful eye with the help of my dogs.