Indy Kidded (Con't...)

Ok, so the happy part was in my last post, when Indy's kids were born!  But now the story switches to a more serious part...

On the 17th (the day after she kidded), at about 10:30 p.m., I could tell that Indy was going down hill...And if a goat could have bags under their eyes, she would have them!

I went out to drench her "real quick" before me and my family ate dinner...of course, not knowing what was going to happen.  As I opened the gate to Indy's stall, I saw what would be called a goat keeper's "worst nightmare"...Indy coughed and when she did, blood spewed out and sprayed all over the barn wall!  I was shocked, concerned and a bit panicked...balling my eyes out at the same time, just praying that she would not bleed to death.  Now, I had an herbal tincture called "Shepherd's Purse" on hand (as I always keep it in my birth kit).  Why do I keep it on hand?  Here's a short history on why...
Shepherd's Purse is used to stop or lessen hemorrhaging in people and animals.  I've had experience witnessing a goat bleed really bad after birth...and also 2 of my friends.  It saved their life!!!  So, I have a "policy" here at the farm that we have Shepherd's Purse on hand at ALL goat births.
Anyway, now that you've seen the history on why I have it, continue reading...

As I stumbled through the barn, searching for this tincture, my mind was racing and thinking of what I should do, what the best way to save her would be and what kind of herbs do we have in the cupboard to slow down the bleeding!  I found it and rushed in her stall to squirt some down her throat.  There was a tilted trash barrel beside her stall (I didn't realize it wasn't sitting flat on the ground).  In my chaotic scramble to save this poor doe's life, my shaky hand reached for the tiny bottle of tincture (the only one in my possession) and knocked it off the trashcan onto the dirty barn floor!  My heart sank as the tears rolled down my face...I felt hopeless and disheartened, as you can imagine!  (I did get four dropper fulls of tincture in her)  It was so bad that when she squatted to pee, it looked as if she was "peeing" pure blood.  It looked like a crime seen in the barn, lol!


My whole family came down to the barn, trying to figure out what to do.  We called a friend, they didn't know what to do...then we called another goat person and she knew how to slow down the bleeding!  Here's the recipe and what we did...
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This recipe is for a Cayenne pepper douche:
1. Mix 2 tablespoons of Pure Cayenne pepper into 2 pints of warm water (not too hot!)

2. Attach an enema tube to the hot water bottle (it's gravity fed)

3. Hold the doe down (pet her, talk sweet to her, that way it won't be so traumatizing), insert two fingers in and feel around, just to make sure you know where the cervix is.

4. Then insert the enema tube into the doe's vagina and let gravity push the mix in. Don't squeeze the water bottle!! (the doe will probably scream and try to get up, so just make sure you hold her tight.)

Once all is gone out of the water bottle, gently pull it out of her and you're done. Don't freak out, the doe may begin pushing violently (worse than if she was pushing a kid out). After her ordeal, let her take it easy for a couple of minutes and then proceed onto the next step...

This recipe is for a Cayenne pepper oral drench:
1. Mix up 2 teaspoons of Pure Cayenne pepper in 30cc of water (preferably warm)

2. Suck it up in a drencher and shoot it fast down the doe's throat (that way it doesn't burn her so bad)

3. Then, drench her with some fresh water right away!

And you're done! This was a very good learning experience.  This goat lady (Emily Dixon) was great!  I called her at around 11 p.m. and she talked us through what we should do (the above recipe was from her).  Here's her link:  www.ozarkjewels.net
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This Cayenne pepper worked great!  After almost 24 hours of bleeding like this, the volume of blood decreased a lot, the color was much lighter and she started to bounce back a bit after administering it to her.  I also gave her TONS of Red Raspberry leaf to eat raw (Red Raspberry helps strengthen the uterus), B-complex and iron injections.  We also started her on 6cc of Penicilin (she's a big goat) due to the dead kid and to prevent infection.

This was the first time I've seen Shepherd's Purse not work, but I'm still trying to figure out what the problem was.  I'll write on it later if/when I get a diagnosis.

We leave this story with a happy ending, 3 healthy kids and a mama goat that is doing GREAT and not bleeding anymore :)  Praise God!

Hopefully this will help someone if they have the same incident.  This was a good example of the reality of farm life...It ain't always a picture-perfect herd of carefree goats, grazing on the grassy hillside...but it's a good life!

The buckling is for sale and comes registered with papers and disbudded.  I'm asking $100 for him.  He comes from a wonderful line of high milk-producing LaMancha dairy goats!  If you are interested, please contact me at:  bannerbonanza@yahoo.com  -  Here's a picture of him...

Registration Name:  7 THUNDERS BUTTERSCOTCH TWIST
Sire:  MERCYFARMS BW TOI RANGER - Pedigree
Dam:  MERCYFARMS JC INDY - Pedigree
He is such a sweetie and would make beautiful kids I'm sure!

Have a great night everyone!

-Hannah