My buck broke his leg this morning

harvestmoonfarm · #1 07/20/13, 03:29 PM

I went out this morning to milk and, as I passed the buck pen, saw my buck, Jack, standing at the hay feeder eating hay. While I was milking the third doe, I heard my buck yell like he had hit the electric fence, so I finished what I was doing, came in the house to strain and put away the milk, and went back out to let the chickens out and water the pigs. As I passed the buck pen on the way back to the house, I decided to check on Jack. I saw Tucker, my wether, over toward the back of the pen, and then caught movement near the ground. It looked like Jack was rolling, but then he laid back down on his side. I unplugged the fence charger and took off through the pen to see what was wrong. When I got close, Jack stood up on three legs, with his right front leg hanging and obviously broken. I immediately called my vet while my husband went to check the leg to make sure it was still warm and that Jack didn't have a compound fracture, and then I got online asking for help while waiting for my vet to call. After talking to someone on FB and figuring out how to splint the leg, I sent hubby to CVS and Southern States to get what we needed. Right before he got home, my vet called and said to use PVC cut in half and rounded to splint the leg, and wrap with vet wrap and duct tape to keep it stable. We got a temporary splint on using paint stir sticks and vet wrap, and then hubby went to Lowe's to buy the PVC. The photo here is of Jack with his temporary splint (doesn't look the best, but it kept his leg stabilized until hubby could get back), but he now has his permanent splint on and seems to be doing fine. The vet recommended duct tape over the vet wrap because the vet wrap tends to give too much and allows movement of the bone. I walked out through the pen to see if I could find how he broke his leg, and found a forked tree next to where he had been laying. Needless to say, that tree is becoming firewood!

This was "thing" #3 with the goats since we moved - may I be excused now, please?

Minelson · #2 07/20/13, 03:42 PM

Oh no!!! Poor guy!

Hope it heals up quickly!

libertygirl · #3 07/20/13, 03:48 PM

Good thing you were home when it happened, and good job getting him fixed up! There's always a new challenge waiting around each corner isn't there? What a handsome guy!

nehimama · #4 07/20/13, 06:45 PM

Oh, wow! I wonder how he did THAT? Good job fixing him up. We *never* know what goats are going to present us with next, do we?

fishhead · #5 07/20/13, 06:53 PM

Good job! I hope he heals quickly.

mary,tx · #6 07/20/13, 06:57 PM

I've splinted a couple of broken goat legs. Front ones like that are easy and should heal up well. Yea, you never know what goats are going to do.

Personally, I wouldn't be taking a tree down, unless of course it's a weed tree anyway. A goat can break a leg for no good reason at all. Once one of my bucks broke a rear leg jumping over a four foot fence to share a feed bucket because I fed the other goat first.

Another time I had a goat jump up on a feed can and back onto a concrete floor, breaking a leg.

Pony · #7 07/20/13, 06:59 PM

Tree crotches, poorly designed milk stands, gopher holes... these and more lie in wait to snap goat legs in two.

So sorry your boy has a broken leg, so glad you were there to comfort and splint him.

Thanks for the reminder that we need to keep ALL materials on hand for when goats break or otherwise hurt themselves.

Hope your gorgeous guy heals quickly and completely!

Backfourty,MI. · #8 07/20/13, 08:24 PM

Poor Boy, hopefully he's not in a lot of pain & heals up nicely for you. Looks like you did a good job fixing him up in the picture even if that was the temp. splint.

harvestmoonfarm · #9 07/20/13, 10:22 PM

Thanks everyone. I can't take credit for the splint. All I did was hold him and a feed bucket containing Chaffhaye while hubby put the splint on, and then my son did the same when the permanent splint went on this afternoon. My sappy husband fed the boys tonight and, since he didn't want Jack to have to get up, carried the feed pan to their shelter so Jack could eat while lying down! LOL

Jack was in some pain tonight (he was breathing harder and faster than usual), so I dosed him with 30 mL of baby ibuprofen. I'll be glad when my buddy is feeling better.

Bret4207 · #10 07/21/13, 10:16 AM

Glad you got to him quickly. I believe there's a very good chance in a month or 6 weeks he'll be back on 4 legs.

I try to keep and eye out for forked trees and other areas goats and sheep can get in trouble with. Lost a goat once to forked tree in a gulley. Had a lamb bust a femur in a cattle panel feeder one too. Had to amputate that leg, not an event I wish to repeat, but the lamb came through fine.

Sometimes these things just happen no matter how hard we try to prevent them. Kind of like the saying, "All the safety engineering in the world hasn't got a chance when confronted with your average fool." Works the same with livestock.

harvestmoonfarm · #11 07/21/13, 10:49 AM

I prefer the saying, "A sheep spends its life waiting to die, while a goat spends its life trying to find ways to kill itself." LOL

Taylor R. · #12 07/21/13, 12:16 PM

We had a bottle baby whose front leg was snapped cleanly in two and it healed up just fine. I hope your sweet guy heals up well! He's a handsome fella!

Pony · #13 07/21/13, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taylor R.

We had a bottle baby whose front leg was snapped cleanly in two and it healed up just fine. I hope your sweet guy heals up well! He's a handsome fella!

Yeah, I was thinking about the call I made to Ozark Jewels at 2 a.m. one morning, after Beaux Ty snapped his foreleg in two whilst jumping on the milk stand...

While they have quite the propensity to break legs, they do heal quickly!

Bret4207 · #14 07/21/13, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harvestmoonfarm

I prefer the saying, "A sheep spends its life waiting to die, while a goat spends its life trying to find ways to kill itself." LOL

HAR!!! Yeah, that's about right!

Suzyq2u · #15 07/21/13, 06:37 PM

youch - how's he feeling today? Hope he heals quickly. They're amazingly resilient!

harvestmoonfarm · #16 07/21/13, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Suzyq2u

youch - how's he feeling today? Hope he heals quickly. They're amazingly resilient!

Hubby removed and readjusted the splint this morning and, though poor Jack yelled while he was working on him, he's actually seemed much better today. I also discovered tonight that he's developed a taste for the children's ibuprofen; he about jerked the syringe out of my hand, trying to suck the medicine out of it, when I went to dose him!

Suzyq2u · #17 07/22/13, 07:46 AM

Sounds like he's doing well - good job guys

motdaugrnds · #18 07/22/13, 09:38 AM

Sorry that happened; and yes, goats are real adept at finding ways to demand out attention. You apparently have done a great job of tending to that leg.

Out of curiosity, I'ld like to understand better....

Was the skin broken? (When one of my kids broke a leg, the skin was broken, the vet wrapped it and when it was time for the wrap to come off, the leg was still broken because the bone had not fused together.)

Did you put the VetWrap around that leg "before" the PVC pipe went on? (Seems unless the VW was larger than the pipe, there could be problematic rubbing.)

I understand the duct tape holding the pipe together; but how did you keep the pipe from being pulled down the leg by gravity?

I've always heard it is best to keep an animal on its feet, maybe by use of a "body sling" while the leg heals. Did your vet mention this to you?

Sure glad you started this thread. I've only had the one experience with a broken leg and this is another great thread for learning. Thank you.

harvestmoonfarm · #19 07/22/13, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by motdaugrnds

Sorry that happened; and yes, goats are real adept at finding ways to demand out attention. You apparently have done a great job of tending to that leg.

Out of curiosity, I'ld like to understand better....

Was the skin broken? (When one of my kids broke a leg, the skin was broken, the vet wrapped it and when it was time for the wrap to come off, the leg was still broken because the bone had not fused together.)

Did you put the VetWrap around that leg "before" the PVC pipe went on? (Seems unless the VW was larger than the pipe, there could be problematic rubbing.)

I understand the duct tape holding the pipe together; but how did you keep the pipe from being pulled down the leg by gravity?

I've always heard it is best to keep an animal on its feet, maybe by use of a "body sling" while the leg heals. Did your vet mention this to you?

Sure glad you started this thread. I've only had the one experience with a broken leg and this is another great thread for learning. Thank you.

Was the skin broken? No, he didn't have a compound fracture. It was a very clean break and the bottom part of his leg was dangling.

Did you put the VetWrap around that leg "before" the PVC pipe went on? (Seems unless the VW was larger than the pipe, there could be problematic rubbing.) No. My husband cut the PVC pipe into a 4" piece, which he then cut in half lengthwise. He then rounded off the edges of both pieces. One piece is on each side of the leg and held on with vet wrap covered with duct tape (my vet said the vet wrap has too much "give" and would allow the bone to move).

I understand the duct tape holding the pipe together; but how did you keep the pipe from being pulled down the leg by gravity? See above.

I've always heard it is best to keep an animal on its feet, maybe by use of a "body sling" while the leg heals. Did your vet mention this to you? She didn't, but there's no worry. Jack is getting up and moving around on the other three legs to get water and eat from the hay feeder. My vet said she didn't want him to have Banamine because he needs to have some pain to keep him from putting weight on that leg. The ibuprofen he's getting not only takes the edge off, but also acts as a blood thinner to help prevent clots.

The PVC part of the splint is just long enough to cover the break, with an inch or so above and below it, while the vet wrap and duct tape go from just below the knee, around the bottom of the foot and back up again to hold the PVC and the bone in place.

Hope this helps

harvestmoonfarm · #20 07/22/13, 11:15 AM

This is how the PVC was cut for his splint. Hubby then rounded the corners and the edges to make them smooth, so that they won't rub and/or cut Jack's leg. I took another picture of Jack with his "permanent" splint so that you can see how it's put on.