A couple tips to make copper bolusing less horrifying

[Wool E Face]

Maybe its less horrifying to the very experienced but being semi-new to boluses i find it a real pain in the posterior. In my struggle to make a goat gulp down this mystery lump i was shoving down their throats i discovered a couple helpful hints i thought i'd pass along.

First - grease that sucker up. Take the bolus and dip it in a little olive oil. That makes it real slippery and harder for the goat to grab between its teeth before it slides down their throat.

second - keep that head up. Point the goat's nose at the sky after giving the bolus, rub their throat and don't let them turn their head down or away before you are reasonably sure they swallowed. (yes, they will fake you out).

third - make 'em prove it. Give your goat a little snack afterward. If they grab the snack and eat it, you can be assured they have swallowed the bolus and aren't hiding it for later chewing/inspecting/discarding.

That is all.

Oh..and never try to bolus a goat chewing its cud. Really disgusting. Really.

 

[Weedygarden]

In case there are others besides me who has no idea what a bolus is.

bo·lus/ˈbōləs/

noun

1. a small rounded mass of a substance, especially of chewed food at the moment of swallowing.
   • a type of large pill used in veterinary medicine.
   • MEDICINE
     a single dose of a drug or other medicinal preparation given all at once.

 

[Terri9630]

I put creamy peanut butter on the bolus gun. They love peanut butter.