Dr. Cannedy was here on Tuesday checking on the goats, alpaca, and cattle. The primary focus of this visit is to make sure the critters are in good shape going into winter. Some animals get food added, but it is rare that we ever decrease food going into winter. This year, everyone’s diet remained the same.

In addition to getting dewormed, everyone was checked head to toe. (Teeth, hooves, coat condition, eyes, etc.). The alpacas get a BCS (body condition score) on a five point scale and the bulls on a nine point scale (not sure why, but that’s they way Dr. Cannedy does it).

Chris assisted Dr. Cannedy with Retro and Ray, and Shayna was Dr. Cannedy’s assistant with Equinox and Emily. Equinox needed trimming on all four hooves, while Emily needed her front hooves trimmed (Retro and Ray were fine and needed no hoof trimming).

Below is a common way of securing a goat for treatment. Shayna has Charlie secured between her legs, while Dr. Cannedy gets Charlie his monthly zinc treatment. (Do you remember Bill’s bath, and Aaron holding Bill the same way? Click here to see). All the goats got their hooves trimmed.

The scheduled veterinary checks coming up include dental work for Mocha and Latte (education rabbits) and eye checks with Dr. Westermeyer and a team from the vet school. More news about those activities in the coming weeks.