Farming is the profession of hope...
Right now I have hope for goats.
My beloved goat is sick with pneumonia. Her name is Imp and I haven't had her for very long so this is certainly a heartbreaking turn of events. It seemed to happen almost overnight, Saturday I milked her and we had a grand ol' time singing milking songs and spending some quality time together. Sunday morning I gathered my milking supplies and stepped out of the house calling my usual greeting "Good morning Imp!". As I neared the milking stall I noticed that she did not look her usual chipper self, she was out of breath and seemed to be hiding under her milking stand. I went in to see her and she just layed down in front of me. I was terrified, I dropped my milking supplies and headed back to the house to call for Ken to come help in a panic. This is my first goat related health issue and I sure wasn't ready for it yet! (Are you ever ready?!)
We whipped up a mixture of warm water, molasses and vitamin A,E,D fluids, grabbed an oral syringe and headed back out for my first solo mission in drenching (Imp, as it turns out, is a model patient). I called the closest vet in Steinbach and asked if they could come out and see her as well as take care of all the worming and vaccinations for the other three. On Tuesday morning Dr. Olsen painted a rather grim picture of the likely outcome of a respiratory illness this advanced. Even though the illness seemed to come out of nowhere she must have been hiding it for awhile before it became too much to bare. She prescribed daily injections of penicillin and left with a word of warning that she may be too far gone.
Tears in eyes and needles in hand I decided I was going to do everything I could. Imp and I would not go down without a fight. Digging into my herbal books and scouring the internet I came up with a formula for respiratory ailments, I've dubbed it 'Imp Saver'.
So as a compliment to the penicillin shots I have been giving the following herbal infusion twice daily. 6 x 35cc in the morning and again at night.
In a 1L Mason jar overnight I infused equal parts of Peppermint leaves (Mentha Piperita), Hyssop leaves and flowers (Hyssopus Officinalis), Echinacea powder (Echinacea Angustifolia), Pau d'arco (Tabebuia avellanedae), Slippery Elm Powder (Ulmus Fulva).
We are on day 5 of this regiment and she seems to be responding quite well, she is showing a lot more interest in food and water, as my dad says "oats are an important part of goats!" She is a little more feisty and her breathing seems to have calmed down a bit although she still seems to be breathing slightly heavier than usual. Today is the last shot of penicillin and I will continue on with the infusions for awhile and start including into it some fennel seeds to try to help boost her milk back up again.
Earlier this week I was feeling very down and I didn't have much hope, but now I have hope for goats!
We whipped up a mixture of warm water, molasses and vitamin A,E,D fluids, grabbed an oral syringe and headed back out for my first solo mission in drenching (Imp, as it turns out, is a model patient). I called the closest vet in Steinbach and asked if they could come out and see her as well as take care of all the worming and vaccinations for the other three. On Tuesday morning Dr. Olsen painted a rather grim picture of the likely outcome of a respiratory illness this advanced. Even though the illness seemed to come out of nowhere she must have been hiding it for awhile before it became too much to bare. She prescribed daily injections of penicillin and left with a word of warning that she may be too far gone.
Tears in eyes and needles in hand I decided I was going to do everything I could. Imp and I would not go down without a fight. Digging into my herbal books and scouring the internet I came up with a formula for respiratory ailments, I've dubbed it 'Imp Saver'.
So as a compliment to the penicillin shots I have been giving the following herbal infusion twice daily. 6 x 35cc in the morning and again at night.
In a 1L Mason jar overnight I infused equal parts of Peppermint leaves (Mentha Piperita), Hyssop leaves and flowers (Hyssopus Officinalis), Echinacea powder (Echinacea Angustifolia), Pau d'arco (Tabebuia avellanedae), Slippery Elm Powder (Ulmus Fulva).
We are on day 5 of this regiment and she seems to be responding quite well, she is showing a lot more interest in food and water, as my dad says "oats are an important part of goats!" She is a little more feisty and her breathing seems to have calmed down a bit although she still seems to be breathing slightly heavier than usual. Today is the last shot of penicillin and I will continue on with the infusions for awhile and start including into it some fennel seeds to try to help boost her milk back up again.
Earlier this week I was feeling very down and I didn't have much hope, but now I have hope for goats!
