# Ear injury!



## HoosierShadow

I'm so sad, and can't sleep...so much on my mind tonight.

I posted in Caprine Special care, that when we were tagging/tattooing, the last doe, my kids for some reason let go when she jumped as I tagged, and tore her ear vertically. It didn't split it all the way to the end, but close.
I am soooo heartbroken...... She's a beautiful 9 week old doe, and after having training issues with the other doe for my son, she became a perfect fit for him....I rushed to have her registration paper back before deadline....
We tagged 5 kids before her...no issues...I just don't know what went wrong....  The tear is long, but somehow the bottom of the ear isn't torn...WHEW.

Anyway, if we can get her healed - the hole closed, could she still be showed in 4-H and district shows? I hear the district shows aren't as 'tough' or at least they aren't as picky.... 
My son is so sad, we are all heartbroken.... But my kids now know WHY I say they MUST HOLD THEM STILL.

She's going to have a scar, but it isn't a natural physical deformity.

Another reason I am asking is... if a scar on the ear from a scrapie tag tear is okay, then we have to have her tagged by the state on May 14th. That tag would be in her unaffected ear. I can take her scrapie tag along and explain the situation.

My kids were hoping to show at the June 6th show...but not sure she'd be healed up enough by then....that's a little over 4 weeks away....  There are shows in July, and the local 4-H show will be at the end of July.

I love how the cookie crumbles :sigh:

I thought I'd add a couple of videos that we took on my daughters camera on Thurs late afternoon. 
My son's doe is a kiko'boer percentage. She's 9 weeks old. She weighed 40lbs about 2 weeks ago. 
Her left ear is the one that is affected.

First video: I was taking video to show my son how far out her front legs were.....and being the dork he is <hehe!!!>, he let her go...and being the patient girl she is....she waited patiently...

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https://flic.kr/p/5695412292

Mia watching my son being a complete dork <again!>....I laugh when I watch this....her expression...hehe....

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https://flic.kr/p/5694836783

My kids working hard to get their girls set up.....This was Mia's 3rd or 4th day ever being worked with....

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https://flic.kr/p/5695409084

Praying for a miracle here...


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## AlaskaBoers

oh wow.. eeekk! I have a doe who tore her ear and nothign was done with it.. never healed unfortunetly. but the tear is much smaller now. :hug:


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## ()relics

First a torn ear, obviously caused by some sort of injury, is not a deduction in points.....That said, and I know I've said this before, ANYTHING that could even possibly make your goat look differently from the other goats in the line-up WILL draw the judges attention, for the good or the bad. Blue Kote or Iodine tincture are the best bet to get the cut healing the quickest. 
In my state ALL BREEDING ANIMALS must have an attached scrapies tag or other acceptable permanent identification, ATTACHED. If the tag is not attached to the animal it is not a "permanent" ID. In my state you would destroy the tag and then Re-tag in the other ear...but that is My state, your goat project leader should have a better answer/alternative for you.
Lastly if you switch your goats to a show lead they will become, surprisingly, attentive. I seldom used our show collars, except for poses, pictures, or shows. When they "feel" the lead for the first time they almost Learn to hold a pose themselves. Look at my thread on my son's doe. That is Litterally the first time she has been in a show collar. He is using a 2 finger lift and the doeling is not fighting AT ALL...I lead train with a rope halter, make them understand it is easier to follow than to Not follow. Then ,essentially, just drop a show collar on them and head into the ring...But everyone has their own methods


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## 20kidsonhill

What Relic said is what I was thinking, Our mentor, always tells us, If the animal has something to distinguish him/her from the other animals and the judge to beable to notice/remember you, that is a good thing. We had a doeling slip out fromt her pen at just a couple days old, and our lab came across her and licked until she drew blood on an ear and then chewed half the ear off. We were sure she wasn't show worther anymore, and our mentor said, "That's great, gives the judge something to notice you by."


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## ()relics

20kidsonhill said:


> ....If the animal has something to distinguish him/her from the other animals and the judge to beable to notice/remember you, that is a good thing...."


I think you might have slightly missed the point. Remember when you are showing Registered Animals the whole idea is conforming to THEIR standard. When you stare at a ring full of goats at a sanctioned show Usually they ALL look the same except for a few minor flaws/strengths/color. If your goat Doesn't look the same you better be ABSOLUTELY positive that whatever is different is actually something that You are Proud of and WANT the judge to notice. An example would be if your doe is 2 teated and you Want the judge to notice this because you think it sets her Above the rest of the goats in the ring..Now as I said an injury to an ear Is Not a point deduction BUT mentally the judge COULD penalize you for it, Not the ear itself but Something else that he sees AS He spends the extra time looking at her....JMO but I have left does in the trailer for lesser things. I would fix the little girl up best you can and head her into the ring...Generally a judge is more kind to a young showman...but still Bad Luck may have dropped you down in your potential placing.


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## HoosierShadow

THANK YOU so much! We will not give up on her, and will continue going  I bought some liquid bandage this morning and some of the heavy duty waterproof first aid tape.

I posted in Caprine care section, but I'll post it here as well...a picture after I cleaned it a little while ago - it was already healing closed, but had to open it up to get it cleaned <I packed it with flour yesterday to stop the bleeding>.

Sorry the pic is gross 









I think it's going to heal just fine, and the good thing is we can put the scrapie higher up on the ear.

I'll talk to the 4-H leader and see what she says. If she suggests I take the scrapie tag with us and explain we will have it on before a show...fingers crossed. I think within 2 weeks as long as no infection occurs, we should be able to retag her...but I'd rather not tag her a week out...again fingers crossed.

We will also have to retattoo that ear...good thing is I was told the district shows they don't have to have tattoos or something of that sort....we will have to do her tattoo vertically on that ear...It's the ear with the herd prefix.

I still can't believe this has happened.... Clipping is the part I know we'll have trouble getting right at first...I never thought this would happen...tagging is super easy. Next time rest assured my husband will be helping me with this one.... Eventually we'll build a stand that we can put them on so we can tag, tattoo, clip, and do feet, but it all has to come with time.

Hopefully they won't know my son too much because of her ear....the sad thing is my daughters doeling is super nice but has folded tips....it's like we can't get a head with the ears this year! And the stubborn doe who doesn't want to co operate has perfect ears....My daughter's doeling is the only one with the folded tips.


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## ()relics

At least it didn't complete split the ear...It will heal nicely...I would keep it loaded with a livestock topical wound ointment because soon the flies will become horrible for her, at least they would around here.


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## HoosierShadow

Thanks! Blue Kote would be the best right? I will pick some up on Monday as I think the feed store closed early today <The Kentucky Derby is a holiday around here>.


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## ()relics

HoosierShadow said:


> <The Kentucky Derby is a holiday around here>.


as it should be...I use Blue Kote there are others probably all the same. Soak it inside and outside. Either the color or the smell keeps flies away. Just stop coating it as soon as it heals so the blue coloring has time to wear off before your show.


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## toth boer goats

Looks like you patched it up well... :thumbup: blue cote is good... as it will keep it dry and should keep infection at bay..... :thumb:


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## Dani-1995

Sorry to hear about her ear.. that kind of thing can really bring you down. It looks like it will heal just fine, and like you said then tag can go higher up. Since she's a 4-h doe they shouldn't dock her any points. Last year we had someone bring a goat in that had a huge cut on his back leg from being clipped... It was long, deep, wide... just really bad but this kid won showmanship and did good in market too. Good luck with her, I bet she'll do just fine.


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## HoosierShadow

Thanks so much! Confidence is building! I was soooo upset Friday night and Saturday morning....Especially when we have goats that have been lame - sore feet from all the rain  We had a buckling cut his hoof real bad a few weeks ago too, but THANKFULLY it's healing great, he's still walking with a limp, but that'll pass. So with all of that going on, last thing I needed was this happening...really got my confidence down.

We didn't mess with her ear today. Tomorrow I'll spray more liquid bandage on, and we'll wrap it with something better than duct tape <vet wrap and duct tape the tip-top of the vetwrap so she can't pull it off>.

She's getting clipped tomorrow unless it rains....hehe....if she doesn't hate us by then....


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