Diego's Bad Day.

That is one broken leg!

(sorry for the sideways, graphic if you're squeamish) 

I think one of the cows stepped on him, so now I've got to figure out a way to keep the goats out of the cow-side of the barn... no idea how I would do that.

Took awhile to get a hold of someone at the vet's office (and by awhile, I mean about an hour, but I was panicked), they got me to splint it before I brought him in. So I'm madly running all over the farm looking for anything to splint this leg with. I managed to find a dowel in the shop, and after 20 minutes the duct tape. Then I cut a piece of electrical conduit for the other side. (We're going to find something better and put it in the first-air box just-in-case.)

Now isn't that pretty!

According to the vet, I actually did a good job (I'm not convinced), got it longer then his toes, and kept the whole thing together until we got there. I had to splint it so that Diego didn't step on it or something, and end up with the bone out of the skin.

Diego was a trooper!! Took awhile to get the cast on so he was coming out of the sedative towards the end and he stayed quiet and well behaved for the whole thing. We got lucky because the break was clean and uncomplicated, and stayed under the skin, and there was no damage to the blood vessels; it's likely he'll make a full recovery. Diego's foot was still warm, even by the time I got him to the vet; if it had been cold we wouldn't have been able to save the foot.

The vet laid down tape, then gauze, then used wire on each side which you use to remove the cast later (I also got a great story about how at vet school they heard about what happens when you cross the wires then tried to remove a cast, the leg comes too), so they are taped down. Then the cast is over top of all that, with a bit of really stinky gluey stuff on the end as a 'shoe' to keep the whole thing together.

That is one darn lucky goat too!! You can splint it yourself and leave it, and if he was a market goat or something, that is what we would have done. But he's not, he's a pet, and my favourite (okay they are all my favourite...). All I can say about the whole thing is Diego you'd better be the best darn goat you can be, especially when the bill arrives!!

Had to run to the feed store since it was across the road anyway, and I was telling the ladies about what happened, the response was "Isn't it fun to be a farmer?". Of course they get a very sarcastic "Oh yes! SO much fun!!" but really, even days like this, I don't mind at all. Got to learn a lot of new things about the goats and do something I've never even attempted before (splinting). Wouldn't trade it for the world!