Annual testing

Today was the day for annual disease testing of my little goat herd.  In the past, I've only had one or two does to test and did this through my vet, but for 7 goats, it would be quite expensive.  I decided to do it myself.  Six does and my one buck would all be tested for G6S, CAE, CL and Johne's.  G6S is a genetic defect and will only be tested once, the others are tested annually.  Several months have been spent preparing... and fretting.  Many years ago in my clinical nursing days, I stuck plenty of needles in humans and didn't blink an eye, but sticking a needle in the jugular vein of a squirmy goat is another thing entirely.  First I selected my lab, choosing TVMDL since they offered all of the tests I needed in one location.  Next, I called the lab to discuss procedures for ordering tests and shipping blood.  The tech was very helpful and instructed me on how to set up an account.  Needles, syringes and vacutainer tubes were ordered of appropriate size and color. (Purple for G6S and Red for everything else).  As the day drew closer, I talked to other goat breeders, and watched You Tube videos to refresh myself on the procedure.  Help was recruited - Connor for his brute strength to hold the goats, and Carmen for her organizational skills and calm demeanor to be my assistant.  I must say we were a great team, and it went much better than expected.  The blood has been shipped, and now we wait for results.  I have no reason to think it will be anything but NORMAL.  Fingers crossed!