Not Your Typical Buck Purchase How to Battle Mites - Case Study By Carol Rochester
A little background to this story. In 2013 (for me the year of the great bucks), my friend’s Phenominal doe had to have a C-section, with 4 babies & Toxiemia. Nothing survived except a single buck kid, who was a fighter from day 1. With Cheila’s good care there was no way this buck would die. ODDS grew into a fine yearling and was named AGAINT THE ODDS. When you read the rest of this story, no one could have known how appropriate the name would be. ODDS grew into a handsome gentle yearling and was sold within the county. The following January ODDS was shown at the Fort Worth stock show by the six-year-old daughter of the owner. Odds won the young girl her first ABGA ribbon, but after their first kidding season the owners decided that goats were not for them, and Odds was for sale. I offered to buy him. After all, as he was a son of Hummer, who had only a few sons. But, before I could pick him up; another buyer from down in the Texas Valley went by and bought him. Odds went many miles south; however we all stayed in touch and after almost 18 months in South Texas, producing some great stock, I received a message letting me know the buck was again for sale. As I was driving to 2017 Ft Worth stock show, I arranged to get back with the owner the day after the show finished. I was told he had been sold over the weekend, once again owning ODDS eluded me. A few weeks went by and Cheila contacted me to let me know the sale of Odds had not gone through (I was soon to see why), and he was still available. I contacted a good friend who did not hesitate to partner on the buck, and so I negotiated the purchase. Odds was delivered here on Feb 1, 2017. Here is where this story begins.
Against All Odds ODDS arrived in the back of an unbedded pickup after a long 6 hour trip, and almost fell out he was so weak. I had waited almost two years to own this buck and it looked like he was not going to last more than a few days. I felt bad for my friend who had trusted my judgment on our purchase. He was very thin and emancipated, covered in mange and lice, and had sore feet. He looked pathetic! He was so weak that he could not even raise his head above his shoulders; he had a huge deep sore on his back from biting at himself, but still had those big brown gentle soft eyes. He talked to me as I felt him over, and I knew all my skills on saving goats was now going to come into play, but where do I start what do I
14 - The Boer Goat
fix first? I snapped a picture, which I sent to Cheila, and couple of other friends, and I honestly think this buck may have been saved by their prayers and his big heart. At least now he was comfortable in a horse stall with a deep bed of shavings to lie on or die on. He was supposed to have been wormed day of travel, so I opted to treat the mange first with synergised 1% Pemethrin pour on, (available over the counter). I also gave him Electrolytes, Bovi Seri, Geritol and some really good sudan hay, which he started to eat right away. After the oil de-lice got into him, he looked even worse (if that could be possi-
