When Bambi the Nubian goat arrived at the Home On The Range Animal Haven south of Laramie in August 2022, he was a shy, 100-pound juvenile with a back injury he suffered in a tussle with a belligerent ram.
Now he’s grown to a whopping 250 pounds, but his old injury is ruining his ability to stand and walk.
A leg brace would probably do the trick. But finding or crafting one that will fit a gigantic goat has proven challenging, Home On The Range founder and director Deb Roberts told Cowboy State Daily.
So she’s putting out a call across Wyoming and the region, to see if anybody is willing to design and build a brace that could help Bambi move normally again.
With a little help, Bambi will do his part, Roberts said.
“He’s very friendly, and very motivated to get well,” she said.
Rammed By A Ram
Bambi came from a rural property near Burns, Wyoming, Roberts said, and his name was given to him by the owners’ granddaughter.
There was a “variety” of animals on the place – including a mean-spirited ram, she said.
And as the story goes, Bambi was found sprawled helpless in a pasture one day, after having apparently been charged and hit hard by the ram.
Since his owners could no longer care for him, he was sent to Home On The Range, a farm animal sanctuary that opened in 2011.
He quickly adjusted to life at the sanctuary, making friends with the other animals.
And he loves people, Roberts said.
People from the community come out to Home On The Range to help tend to the animals. They include at-risk adolescents, who can learn, grow and heal from their troubles through the experience, she said.
Bambi is excellent in that role, Roberts said.
“He’s very sweet. He gets handled a lot,” she said.
Mobility Problems
Nubian goats are taller and bigger than most other goat breeds. And but even for his breed, Bambi is super-sized, Roberts said.
Most males top out at around 175 pounds. But Bambi is even taller and bigger-boned than most, which accounts for him tipping the scales at 250 pounds.
But as he’s grown and matured, his old back injury has started to affect some of the ligaments and joints in his rear end. At age 3, he’s increasingly having trouble standing up and walking, Roberts said.
His biggest problem is that his right hind leg is “hyper-flexing,” meaning it’s bending in the wrong direction at the knee, Roberts said.
“He can stand on it, but if he tries to move, it goes back on him and he falls,” she said.
She tried making him a knee support out of Neoprene, but that wasn’t stout enough.
She’s also tried using leg braces designed for dogs. But those haven’t worked on a huge goat leg.
“They (goats) have massive thighs, but really skinny lower legs,” Roberts said.
Can Somebody Design A Brace?
Roberts treats injured and disabled dogs though hydro-therapy – or swimming and exercising in a 12-foot-long, heated pool.
That might help Bambi, if she could get him into the pool. But given his huge size and sometimes-stubborn streak, that hasn’t worked out.
So Roberts’ hope is that somebody can design a leg brace for Bambi.
He’ll need something made out of material stout enough to support his weight and keep his bad joint in place.
But it will also need to be “hinged” to allow him mobility, she said.
She’s put out a call for help on social media – and added that calls and texts for people with ideas and skills are always welcome.
“Texts are best, because I’m usually out working with the animals,” she said.
Roberts can be reached at 307-760-0534.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
