Ginger's hoof: Canker

Well, I've been dealing with one of my senior does, Ginger, who is 13 years old with a bad hoof.  We think it's Canker, which is not contagious to other animals or to humans.  This growth on her left back hoof has been there for quite a while, but as she gets older, it's growing bigger and bigger.  The only thing that we can do at this point is keep it trimmed down by cutting it off every 2 months or so.

 The pictures below are NOT for those weak in stomach!! 

The two pictures below are of the growth before it was cut off.

Side view of the growth

Top view of the growth

Canker is the progressive growth of extra flesh (Horny Flesh) on the hoof, primarily found in horses, but this does happen occasionally in goats, obviously.  So, my friend came over, who has experience in dealing with horses that have canker.  So here goes the pictures...

Maggots in between growth and hoof

Though you might be saying "EWWW", maggots actually play a huge role in the cleaning process, as they only eat the dead, rotting flesh.

Making the first cuts

Looking more "normal" :)

This part of the growth didn't actually hurt her until we got down to where her hoof was looking more like a hoof!

As you can see, the blood is squirted everywhere.  That's because the growth (Canker) has it's own little arteries and blood supply in it, therefore making it a very messy job :)  Since we didn't have a disbudding iron, we started a fire and got it SUPER hot.  Then we put a piece of rebar in it and waited till it got red hot in order to cauterize it.  Placing the hot rebar on her hoof helped stop the bleeding fast!

All done cutting.  Just gotta clean it up!

So, that was my big adventure last month!  Fun huh!??

I hope this is able to help someone in the future :)

-Hannah

May 2011 overview...NOT for the weak in stomach!!

Hi everyone!  I have been such a slacker on my blog, but it's been a really busy month!  Let's see, where do I start?  Here's an overview of my month (photos included)...

May 16th, 2011 - Saturday

At around 9:30 a.m., my sister comes and wakes me up saying that Sprite, one of our junior does is dead (I was sick in bed).  I ran as fast as I could down to the barn, being sick and tired...I was definitely running on adrenalin at that point!  Sprite was only 1 1/2 years old and had never been bred.  She was acting so happy the day before, just like she always is...no sign of going downhill.

After the tears settled, it was time to find out what the culprit was.  Some good friends of mine came over and helped us do a necropsy on Sprite, to determine what went on.  I've included some pictures for all of you "farmy" people who'd like to see what I saw...NOT FOR THE WEAK IN STOMACH!!

This is what we saw upon opening her up...fat attached to the whole gut

The fat was actually attached to her gut, which was SUPER strange.

This is the small intestines, all encased in thick fat, preventing an easy flow of the rumen.

Circled is the heart and lungs, embedded in fat.

Left:  a part of the thick fat that was previously encasing the heart and lungs.  Right:  the heart and lungs after fat was taken off.

The large intestines encased in fat

This was the most bizarre thing me and my friend, who's been doing goats for a LONG time, had ever seen!!  It was exactly like pig fat...hard like plastic, but soft enough to bend and pull off.  So, any input from experienced goat people would be HIGHLY appreciated!  I personally think it's a genetic mutation, but it could be something else too.

This is a good example of why doing a necropsy on an animal that has died in your herd is so important...for your knowledge and the health of your herd, that way you can determine if it's contagious to other goats and watch for any "off" symptoms in the herd.

I've learned loads from this experience and hope that this will help others, although I'm not sure of what exactly it is.  I encourage you, if you are feeding your goats a lot of grain, or any other fattening feed, please do it with caution and moderation!  I'm not saying this was the cause of Sprite's death, but it can aid to it and is something that ALL livestock owners should be aware of.

So that was my first goat death, and hopefully the last for a long time :-(

In loving memory of Mercyfarms MI Sprite - 2010-2011

May 17th, 2011 - Sunday

The whole herd gets really sick with coughs, runny noses, scours and...you know, all the nasty parts about being sick!  I felt like I spent all day drenching the goats with various things!  I was so tired by the end of the day :-)

May 18th, 2011 - Monday

Ohara, my 7 year old LaMancha doe sprains her ankle.  It was really swollen and she couldn't walk on it at all.  I gave her a strong dose of Turmeric powder for a couple of days and she healed up very quickly!


Turmeric is an herb that I keep in my barn at all times!  It's an anti-inflammatory and helps keep swelling down, which speeds up the healing process.

May 20th, 2011 - Monday

The whole herd is better now...Praise God!  I treated them with a bunch of my homemade concoctions :-)

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Here are a couple of cool cloud pics from May!

Clouds just before a HUGE storm moved in

A cool picture of the sun!

Have a good night!

-Hannah

Shared on Waltz On By Wednesday Blog Hop

Busy day getting my barn organized!

Today has been wet and just plain dreary, so it was a perfect time to get some inside-the-barn work done!  I just felt I needed to get my "milk parlor" organized and clean for the summer.  Mapping it out and rearranging things was the hardest part, as my sister had different ideas =)

Me in front of the milk stand...done cleaning & organizing!

Our breeding season has gone sour, as we found out that NONE of the does we bred back in the winter are pregnant, and the 2 does that did kid were already bred when we bought them.  I was counting on the abundance of milk in the summer to use for soap making, fudge and cheese...but God had other plans for us.  Right now and for the next 6 or more months, we'll only have 3 goats in milk.  Anyway, guess we'll wait to breed the does until the bucks come back into rut.

Anyway, that's all for today.  Thanks for reading!

-Hannah

Shared on Barn Hop #11

It's the rainy season!

It's the wet season here in NE Oklahoma, and when I say wet, I mean DRENCHED!!  It started out with a nice storm on Friday, sprinkling a little bit and lightening a lot.  It filled up some ditches with a little water...

 and made everything very green!

 And then yesterday, there it went...Sprinkling turned into downpours!  Our house is on an elevated piece of property, which I'm VERY thankful for, and you'll see why in the following pictures.  Most of the rest of our property is not though.  Pretty soon, everything was covered in water...

About 3" of water

Pasture 1

The front yard

According to one lady, this is the most water she's ever seen in Tahlequah for 30 years!  This series of storms has just made a HUGE mess out of our goat barn and pen area.  Inside the barn is flooded as well as the outside...

Kinda cool how the water snakes around!  The water's cleaning my goat pen, LOL!

We also have a wet-weather creek that never runs unless it rains a lot.  It was flowing SO fast, kinda like a mini river.  It knocked out a bunch of vegetation because it grew so large!

And to end this messy Oklahoma story, we have a NOT so rare surprise for you...

Yep, that's the 2' long adult Copperhead me and my brother found and killed this morning!  It was in the chicken pen, all tangled up in some netting...and boy was that thing hissing!  Thank God it didn't get to our chickens!

So, that's all for today :)  Still storming here a bit.
-Hannah

Shared on Barn Hop #10

Around the ranch today...

A small milestone has happened on 7 Thunders Ranch...our first ever batch of baby chicks hatched!  Take a look at the pics below.

First chick to hatch

WARNING!  Very broody hen

This hen has been up in the chicken house rafters for about a month, and she is SO broody.  Talk about mama hen syndrome, LOL!

Here are a misc. couple of pics from around the ranch today...

Me and my first LaMancha, Ohara.  She's a horse, LOL

Silly Snickers

 Oh, and I just had to post a picture of me and Tick-Tack, one of Suriyah's (GoodGoats) tiniest goat kids I've EVER seen!  He is SOOOO CUTE!

That's all for today!
-Hannah

Lesson #1: Bloat in Goats

Bloat

a.k.a:  Ruminal Tympany, Tympanities, Hoven, Meteorism
 

Although I've never had a goat with bloat, it will most likely occur one time or another, especially spring and summer when pastures are readily available.  This condition stems from the goat's inability to rid gas produced by the rumen, due to either feeding on too many legumes (Alfalfa, fresh grass, clovers, etc.), a sudden change in feed or hay, or eating too many grains (oats, barley, wheat & rye).  Signs of bloat is an enlarged left flank, difficulty or laboring to breathe, and upon thumping the left side, it will sound like a drum or ripe watermelon.

If the goat's eyes and inside of it's mouth turn from pink to blue-ish purple, this indicates a lack of oxygen, which equals approaching death.  Obviously, this is not something to take lightly and should be treated promptly, before this has a change to occur!

Treating Bloat:
Here's the recipe for treating bloat:
1 Cup of Oil (mineral, corn, etc.)
About 2 TBS of Baking Soda

Mix that up and either drench the mixture down the goat's throat with a syringe (NO NEEDLE), a drencher, or tube it directly into the goat's stomach (that's if you know how to do it safely, but it's more risky).  NEVER try to tube a goat unless you have experience doing it!  You may accidentally put the tube in the lungs, and basically drown the goat.  Give C&D Antitoxin...this won't hurt the goat.  This medicine is water soluble, so if it is not needed in the gut, the goat will just pee it out.  C&D helps calm the gut down and balances the rumen.  Most of the time, a few days after the goat gets bloat, it comes down with Enterotoximia, and this is a very fast, life threatening situation too.  If you are dealing with an adult goat, give about 15 cc/ML of C&D Antitoxin (not Antitoxoid) Sub-Q, a few times a day until they're back to acting and looking normal.  You can also give them an extra boost of electrolytes...of which I use Nutri-Drench for goats.

C&D ANTITOXON

If you're dealing with a kid, give about 5 cc of C&D (Sub-Q of course). Sometimes, bloat will come with diarrhea.  Just let it run it's course, but make sure the kid is getting enough liquids and offer electrolytes a couple times a day.  If you have TheraBloat or AgriLabs Bloat Release, you can give them the recommended dosage.

After the goat has bloat, it's always a good idea to give them Probiotics for a few days to aid in the healing of the gut.

I am not an expert at this and have not had any close personal experience with this, but have seen it in my friend's goats.  The article above originated from an article that my friend at GoodGoats wrote.

See the links below to purchase the products I listed above.  I've had great success with all of these products!

Thanks for reading!
-Hannah

Shared on Barn Hop #7


 

Blooms & Sprouts...EVERYWHERE!

It's looking very colorful and green here at the farm!  The flower blooms and grass sprouts are all over the property.

Below are some pics of our apple tree, in full bloom.  The flowers are so pretty!

And just a couple of misc. pics of the day!

Have a good night everyone!

-Hannah