penny for your thoughts

This will always be one of my favorite snaps of Hazel.
(She's the tiny one.)

Well, this may not seem like major news, but this morning Hazel ate a carrot penny and then asked for another. I hope this means she's turned a corner, because for the past two days she has not wanted to eat or drink anything. More accurately, she would approach her water bucket or food pan and either brush her nose over it - in the case of her pan of chaffhaye - or take food and start to eat it, but spit it right out - in the case of apple slices or carrot pennies. 

As with many livestock injuries or illnesses, it's a matter of searching one's memory and imagination to determine what could be causing a behavior. Hazel wanted food, but not enough to pick it up...had she overeaten earlier and was simply full? She wanted a favorite treat, but could not or would not swallow it...was her throat sore...did a piece of alfalfa twig get caught in her throat or scratch the inside of her mouth? Was moving her jaw painful...did she get a bruised jaw from mixing it up with another goat? Was chewing painful...could she have a loose tooth that is uncomfortable to bite down on? I did my best to test these possibilities, but all I can tell you is this: you would be surprised how sharp goat teeth are.

Yesterday she was still peeing and pooping, so I decided that *if* I could get a bit of nourishment into Hazel, I would hold off on a stressful vet visit. When all the usual temptations were refused throughout the morning, I came up with the idea of blending a half-cup of oatmeal with a cup of warm water and a little salt, putting it through a sieve, and slowly hand-feeding the liquid with a 60-ml syringe. Hazel had mixed feelings about it at first, but did take about 100ml at lunchtime, and she seemed a bit brighter in the afternoon. When I hopefully offered a second serving of oatmeal smoothie at bedtime, Hazel was less willing to have it, which was disappointing. But she accepted 50 ml, and then a syringe of water, so I felt that she would be alright overnight. If she was no better in the morning, I would try to get the vet out.

Yesterday's all-day rain finally stopped in the wee hours of this morning, and Azalea and Hazel were both in the barn paddock when I went out for morning chores with a pocket full of carrot pennies. More like half-pennies, as they were sliced very thin to minimize the need to chew them. Hazel accepted one, and, while I held my breath, swallowed it. Then asked for another. And another. She was still not willing to even taste her alfalfa, and I didn't see her take a drink. But she ate about a carrot's-worth of pennies, and a couple of peanuts. And since it is not raining today, I opened the inter-paddock gates and Azalea and Hazel headed right down to the Upper West Side as usual, moving from rock to rock as much as possible, to stay out of the mud. So, fingers crossed that the worst is over and there will be continued improvement today.

So, how is your December shaping so far?

~~~~~