Felt it today when I woke up. Lots of kneeling, up and down. I felt bad for my holders. That is the hardest part in my opinion. Holding the animals properly until the blood can be drawn.
Poor Thunder had to be stuck probably 7 or 8 times in three different sessions before I finally managed to get blood from her. Most of them went smoothly though.
It ended up being a family affair. Younger brother, Zeke, Dad and I did the first group of 52 (including Thunder). Dad milked cows and fed goat kids. Hannah brought her three kids up (Sam-8, Zemirah-6 & Hezekiah-17 months) and helped me and Zeke with the next group of 26. That included the 6 bucks and the 10 year old Nubian wether. Zeke held for the doe herd and Hannah was a big help in holding the bucks (Boer and Nubian). My bucks are not weak bucks. Most in the 2 year old and up range. Well mannered and it went fairly smoothly all around. Sam and Zemirah helped by loading the needles into the needle holders, tossing the used needles (all capped of course) and writing the names and tube numbers down on the paperwork. Hezekiah managed to be a well behaved little angel throughout it all and did not insist on being glued to mommy's hip the entire time. Rudy (6 year old Nubian buck) did at one point realize little Hez was holding a bag of cereal in his hands within reach through the fence. Kudos (yearling Nubian buck) had noticed it but wasn't being too aggressive about getting them. Rudy knows what he wants though and he was trying to get the bag..lol. Zeke and I moved Hez back. He was oblivious.
Dad, Zeke and I pulled blood on another group of 24 a few hours later. There are still the kids to pull blood on today, but no huge rush on them.
Not too shabby for a guy who fought the farmboy description his entire life. He is happy to come back and do grunt work now, even if he never really got as into as Hannah and I did.
Zeke and I were/are burnt to a crisp. My neck feels like it is on fire and my arms are red.
I have noticed there are big differences in how willing people are to literally throw themselves into catching goats when needed. I have a friend who would never throw herself at a goat to catch it. Rather let it run by. Hannah, however, threw herself on the ground when she caught Giselda's leg. It didn't work but she was more than willing to get physical. Giselda is an absolute nutcase and the hardest goat on the farm to catch.
You can tell in this picture just how much she loves being handled.
At one point I had French Kiss (5 year old) and X43 (4 year old) tethered together with an extra collar in one hand and Geneveive (coming 5 year old) in the other hand. I managed to control them to 3/4 of the way across the pen to the other pen and at that point they finally tripped me. I threw myself to the ground and hung on to their collars for dear life. I figured they wouldn't get far trying to drag 200+ pounds of dead weight. I was right.
Zeke and Hannah ran over and grabbed them at that point. never a dull moment when working a large herd.
Kim, I hope things went well with your mom. I didn't really need much more practice...lol. Now, cows, maybe. Goats? Not so much. I've been drawing blood for two herds beyond mine at this point.
