Harry, our Pygora goat
On a bit of a down note…one of our goats, Harry (the Pygora) got chomped on the left foreleg by our neighbor’s new Australian shepherd / corgi mix. The dog was short enough to squeeze under the gate and proceeded to cut Harry away from Lucy and then attempted to take Harry down. Our large animal vet, Dan Kennedy, patched up Harry and told us we were lucky: this wasn’t sheep herding behavior – based upon the bite damage it was an obvious attempt to hobble Harry with potential foul play in mind.
For the first 24 hours, Harry was pretty lame, but after injections of steroids, antibiotics and anti-inflammatories / painkillers as well as spraying the wounds (both sides of the leg) with artificial skin, he perked up quite a bit. He’s more-or-less back to his normal self, although I’m keeping a close eye on his leg – I don’t want him to end up with an acute infection. Dr. Kennedy also is having me give Harry antibiotics over the next seven days as an additional preventative measure.
Our neighbor has been great about the whole situation. Yesterday, she had someone over to dog-proof the gate. We are good friends with this neighbor and appreciate her efforts. It is also a very good reminder to us to be more diligent about predator proofing the pasture. As an additional measure, I will be stringing barbed wire around the base of the entire goat pasture. Dr. Kennedy recommended this to keep dogs as well as coyotes out.
Derek
The 10 Year Challenge 
I am glad to hear Harry is bouncing back. You are lucky that your neighbor is stepping up and helping to ensure that it does not happen again – not always are we so lucky to have neighbors that will accept responsibility for their animals actions. Keep us posted on how he progresses please!
Hi Derek –
Lisa from Lisa Has Chickens here. Thanks so much for your comment! It does appear that we have quite a few projects and goals in common. So, when are you going to get chickens? 🙂
Yes, you should be glad you only got two cranberry bushes 🙂 Also, I am interested in your citrus. I haven’t had the time to go back through your blog and get caught up from the beginning so forgive me if I am asking questions that you have already answered there. Do you have just the lime tree or do you have other citrus as well? I am from California and we all grow citrus in our yard year round and I hate having to pay $1.59 for one lemon at the store! So, I’ve been wanting to do the indoor/outdoor/greenhouse thing up here, but I can only start so many projects at one time! Anyway, how well have you done with the citrus and how do you go about keeping it?
~Lisa
Hi Lisa,
This is Sandy. I posted on your blog. My husband Derek and I do this blog together, although I usually post.
We have chickens already. We bought them last summer and they started laying during the late fall/winter. We have two black Australorps, one Delaware, one Buff Orpington, and one Barred Rock.
As for the citrus, we have one lime tree and one Meyer lemon. The lime tree is new (bought last fall) and it is starting to fruit. We’ve kept in front of a south facing sliding door most of the winter. The lemon was in the house during the coldest months, but it is back out in the greenhouse again. I’ve had the lemon for a few years, but have never had a lemon from it.
Sandy
So glad he’s ok. That’s quite a scare and you’re quite lucky he didn’t get hurt any more.
It is great that your neighbor is stepping up. Our dog got attacked by another dog last fall (while we were walking by their home with our dog on a leash). They lady apologized and wouldn’t answer the door ever again when we tried to contact her to cover the vet bills. We had to get the sherriff involved.
Ack. Not good. I’m sure glad Harry is doing better. Hope your work pays off by keeping them safe.
Like to hear more about the goats…Get well soon Harry…and… learn to kick! One well placed contact aught to do the job.
Oh my that’s not good. Nice to hear that he is recovering well though. We had a little chiwawa/daschund mix that was attacked by a shepard. It ripped about 3 square inches of her skin off her front leg. We were lucky the dog didn’t kill her.
If only I had a dollar for every time I came here.. Great article.