[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Fri, 22 Feb 2008 09:03:12 -0800
Oh I'm so sorry about all your heartache. Being a new "Mom" with my orphans
was tricky too and Carol saved ours by giving me the recipe for colostrum. I
still had to pry both their mouths open and force feed them for a couple of
weeks.
My husband bought me "Raising Dairy Goats" a couple of months ago. My old 88
year old neighbor wasn't well at all last week, in fact he put underwear on,
thinking he was going to die. The night before I had been reading the goat
book and scour cure of water, honey, salt and baking soda so I mixed some up
for him (with tea) and within 1 hour he was smiling and feeling well. It seems
odd to cure an "old goat" from a goat book but the electrolye cure fixed him
right up and I bought him a big jar of honey. Why don't we read this stuff in
a human medical book?
On another note I have wanted to write for advice on finding either AI or a
mate for my girls. I read it is best to mate goats in their first heat, what
about BB's?
We don't have many people raising them here and my choices are to mate them
with a sibling or their father. One of mine's mom was a woolie so I want to
breed with a pure hair to get rid of it.
What's involved with AI. Someone said I'd have to get USDA approval and all
that stuff. I'm anxious for advice.
We will be coming back from Calif in July so maybe I could hand carry it?
Would the vet need to insert it?
I hope you don't give up Cecil. It is just so sad.
Aloha a hui hou kaua!
(Goodbye until we meet again)
Barbara Heavens
POB 1869, Kea`au, Hawaii 96749
(808) 968-0814
-- Cecil Bearden <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
This has been one of the worst days of my life as a shepherd. On the
advice of a veterinarian ( several) I gave selenium injections to my
flock. Within 4 hours I lost 5 of my lambs. 4 of my smallest and one
that I was bottle supplementing. By yesterday morning I had lost
another 3 lambs. I gave selenium and Vitamin E injections labeled MuSe
at the dosage recommended by the vet. That dosage was 2 times the rec
immended cattle dosage on the package insert which I did not read until
it was too late.
The little ones were just overdosed by the operation of the automatic
syringe I had. That was my fault. I hope to recover emotionally from
that.
I now have about 15 head with a severe limp and walking on the ankle of
the leg that received the shot. I hope this will work out in a couple
of days.
The clinical signs of selenium were present. However it could be many
other things. Sheep folks here inject selenium at birth like it was the
first thing to do. Sheep folks here lose a lot of lambs.
I did lot of research in the last 24 hours on selenium. The difference
between deficiency and overdose is one decimal point! intramuscular
injection requires only half the dosage to be lethal that subcutaneous
does.
My advice is do not inject selenium.... If you think you need it, take
a blood sample and then feed it.
If you inject anything, read the label, inserts, and do a thorough
search on the net before injecting. Also, most of the injectables we
get are for cattle and we have smaller animals. The best method is to
use a sterile diluent and dilute the material so that you can inject a
larger amount of material with a smaller concentration. If I had
diluted this stuff in half, I would probably still have my lambs.
I lost a little guy that was very timid and would follow his brother to
get a bottle but not let me feed him. I had to catch him three times
before he would come up to be fed. He and his brother would run across
the yards from the barns when I came out to feed the 2 bigger ones on a
bottle. Knowing that I was the cause of his death is more than I can
really take. I never had a dog as a kid and these are like pets I never
had. I love lambing season as I get to play with the little ones.
The decision to inject was finalized by the loss of a baby who did not
get colostrum and caught pneumonia. I have had weak lambs this time
from allowing a sheep trader on the place who brought in Chlamydia and
probably Campilobacter. I don't have the heart to let these diseases
run their course as losing one is personal. So far I have lost 6 to
suffocation in the barns from getting laid on I guess. 3 to a ewe that
was "lesbian" 3 to abortion. 1 to pneumonia and 8 to selenium. The
worst night I had was when coyotes and dogs killed 6. I even outdid the
coyotes!
Like I said, this has been the worst day. Please do not make my
mistake. Any trace mineral should only be given orally. There is no
antidote for overdose with injectable. You can only wait to see how
many die within the next week....
Cecil in OKla
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