One thing you don’t realize when you bring home farm animals, is how much you’ll have to vet them yourselves. You bring home some cute cuddly goats, and you’re not thinking about checking their poop for parasites and worming them. You better believe that’s what you’re going to be doing though. You’ll have to research and learn so many things, that you probably didn’t want to know. We have assisted in births, administered vaccines, and even castrated animals on our farm. I know more than I ever thought I would have to about several different species of animals including; goats, pigs, rabbits, and chickens.
Why don’t homesteaders use vets?
In most areas livestock vets don’t exist. Even if they do, they’re not likely to be specialized in all species and breeds of livestock. In a lot of situations you don’t have time for a vet and have to learn how to treat animals yourself. We had a goat this summer presenting with frothy bloat, so we quickly drove to the store to get a stomach tube. By the time we got back home the goat was fine, apparently this particular buckling cant handle grain. He sticks to a diet of hay and he’s perfectly fine. These are the weird things you have to figure out with animals.
We actually do have a livestock vet in our area that will come to us, but they’re very expensive and very very busy. So we would only call them if it’s an emergency that we can’t fix ourselves. Emergencies are normally extremely time sensitive, so a lot of times you have to figure it out before the vet even gets there.
Smaller livestock definitely calls for DIY vetting on our homestead. Personally, I’m not calling a vet for a rabbit or chicken, it just isn’t worth the investment for an animal that costs maybe $20 to replace.
Learning vaccine schedules and diets for animals is a huge part of their health. It’s so much research, and a whole lot of trial and error. That reminds me, I was going to make our chickens a high protein treat today to get them back to laying more eggs. If chickens are lacking in protein or calcium it’s going to mean less eggs or poor quality eggs. Diet is so important for animals.
Did I ever think I would be vetting animals? Me? Nope, never. When you have babies being born in negative temperatures, you better believe I’m going to be elbow deep in all the goo (it’s a real medical term, I’m sure), checking rectal temperatures and doing everything I can to save those babies. When lives in in your hands, you do everything in your power to save them. It’s a big part of homesteading.
Homesteaders use vets, yes, but we definitely have to learn to get by without them too!
Written by, Brittany, the geek behind the blog. Sharing tips and stories from the trenches on navigating life homeschooling and homesteading as a stay at home mom.