April 2, 2013

Has Finally Grown Into His Knees

Alphie has finally grown into his knees.

Day old baby goat with contracted tendons.
Alphie, 1 day old, sporting his make-do baby goat coat.
This was the best he was able to straighten his legs at first.

Alphie is curious about everything.
Alphie, 2 weeks old. He still has "goat knees" but his legs are straight.

Alphie, Surprise, & Lily in the new pasture
At 2 weeks old, Alphie is becoming quite a handsome little buckling

Sometimes kids are born with what seems like ligament problems. CryBaby's kid was and at first Alphie's front knees, besides being knobby, were stiff and he couldn't straighten his legs. This happens when there is so little room in the womb that the kid's legs are cramped. They can't stretch their legs properly and are born with contracted tendons. Some folks splint these but my vet said no need to. As the kids use their legs the tendons stretch out properly, and there is no permanent damage. Happily, that was the case with Alphie too.

Has Finally Grown Into His Knees photos & text © April 2013 

23 comments:

Farmer Barb said...

In that last picture, I can see a nice full udder under there! His mom takes good care of him. He is so handsome. Continued good health!

Anonymous said...

He is gorgeous!

Mama Pea said...

I can't imagine how uncomfortable that would have been for him if he had had splints on his front legs. How would the little guy have gotten up and down? Glad nature did the trick in straightening his legs out. He sure is a cutie!

Quinn said...

Very handsome boy, just like his mum! So glad he is doing well :)

Donna OShaughnessy said...

It's hard to let nature do its magic, she can be slow at times, but she is generally thorough.

Nina said...

Yay for Alphie! I've heard that splints are difficult to keep on goats anyway. Since little goats are so active it makes sense that the tendons would just fix themselves. He is a handsome boy. What are you doing with him as he ages? I don't imagine that a pet whether fits into your breeding plan with your limited space.

Leigh said...

Barb, the good news is that she is producing quite a bit more than Alphie needs. That means we can share the milk! I'm still waiting for the antibiotic withdrawal period to be over, however, before we can consume it too.

Stephanie, thanks!

Mama Pea, I think the same thing. I wonder, too, if they wouldn't try to compensate for the splints and have other problems.

Quinn, me too!

Donna, it's just knowing when to let that happen or when to intervene! I worry as I contemplate which route to go.

Nina, right now he's being kept for breeding plans. For how long that will be for remains to be seen. It has more to do with genetic diversity than anything else.

Anonymous said...

WOW....what a hunky! :)

Gill - That British Woman said...

he's a cute little thing and growing like a bean.

Gill in Canada

Susan said...

He IS a handsome little fellow. He has such nice coloring.

DFW said...

Awww ... he's such a cutie.

Renee Nefe said...

So cute! Can't wait to see Ziggy's kid(s)! :D

Leigh said...

Pam, it's true, he is a pretty masculine looking little guy.

Gill, they do grow fast!

Susan, we agree. Dan is especially pleased because he likes dark colored goats.

DFW, I can't help but agree!

Renee, me too, LOL No progress to report yet.

The Stay @ Home-Gardener said...

Yay nature doing what it is supposed to do without human intervention. :) part of stewardship is knowing when to let it take its course.

Sandy Livesay said...

Leigh,

Alphie is a sweet little one. I'm happy to hear the vet feels he can stretch his legs slowly as he starts to grow, instead of splinting them. I love his coloring, and can't wait to see pictures of him running around learning new things.

I hope you had a Blessed Easter?
We went down south to Texas to help my parents out by working on their property. Returned home Sunday night, it was a great visit.

Michelle said...

He is SO very GORGEOUS!!! Enjoy!

Leigh said...

Cloud, it's always the best way. Just knowing when to leave it along versus when to intervene is difficult though.

Sandy, getting a photo of him running would be something. He loves to run! It sounds like you had a lovely Easter. Dan had to head out Sunday morning, so we just celebrated with French toast.

Michelle, we think so too. :)

* Crystal * said...

Aww, what a cutie!

As to the knees, I've never had overly funky knees in my Alpine or Lamancha kids, but frequently see knobby knee'd Nubian kids..... My lil Nubian buck I just put up on my blog had me fretting a bit over his knees.... I sent 3 pics to his dam's breeder with the question "Are you SURE this is ok??!" & each time she'd laugh and tell me to stop fussing. As you can see from his pictures, he's not too funky anymore and his (much smaller) sibling never had wonky knees..... Just so odd to me that after growing up delivering goat kids, the only 2 times I've seen it odd enough that I considered intervening, it was on a Nubian or Nubian cross kid... So happy they ooutgrow it :)

Unknown said...

What a cutie pie :)

Noonu Enoch said...

Aww..Alphie is such a cutie pie. So adorable.

Bridget said...

What a little cutie!

Unknown said...

What a cute guy! Thinking of Ziggy today and wondering....

Leigh said...

Crystal, what an interesting observations! Maybe it's the long Nubian legs (which Kikos seem to have as well)>>>

Nancy, Noonu Enoch, & Bridget thanks!

Jen, as of about 5:15 this morning, nothing's happening. Yesterday though, she had a bit of mucous trailing from her birth canal, so it's getting close!