The goats have been on their glucosamine supplement for a week now and, as mentioned yesterday, all three (Curds, Cheddar and Gorge) are definitely walking better. HOWEVER, we don’t know whether this is because of the glucosamine and other ingredients OR because they are naturally getting better. A week is not a long time for the glucosamine to have taken effect really; two to three weeks is more realistic.
The supplement is in powder form so we mix it with a bit of their normal food and so what we can say for certainty, is that they are very happy to be fed again each evening and we have no problem getting them to come up to the barn. Pickle gets some too, (without the supplement) simply because it seems very unfair to feed the other three and not her!!
Goats are very good at routine so when we call them in, they already know which feed bucket to head for and will go to the same one each time. We clip their collar to the upright so they cannot go anywhere – they have enough slack to stick their head into the bucket and eat but not enough so they can turn and steal from the goat next door. If we did not clip them in, there would be much pushing and shoving and head butting in an attempt to get into each other’s buckets, resulting in stressed goats with some that were not getting all the feed they should and others getting too much. Goat pecking order is VERY defined: in our group of four, Curds is top, then Pickle, then Cheddar and then Gorge. As Gorge is the one whose walking was the worst, we especially need to make sure she gets ALL the supplement we give her.
The vet is here again on Friday so we will see what she thinks of their progress...