So I had a plan for today, the guys were going to trim the goats hooves and I was going to shoot some video and go through hoof trimming on the how to Tuesday blog post. Great plan!

Never make cast in iron plans as a homesteader. Plans are like a poke in kidneys to mother nature, goddess of all things homestead. This morning mother nature decided that I would not be shooting video of goat hoof trimming, instead we have been dealing with a goat in shock with a mostly shut down rumen. As I mentioned on facebook yesterday, Miss Avril was in heat, so around four pm yesterday Reiley and I drove Miss Avril for her 'date'. By the time we arrived back home it was pushing six pm and dark. When Avril is in heat she gets aggressive, (well let's face it she is aggressive most of the time), the best we can determine is that after we brought Avril home she either picked a fight with Pepper, or Pepper was caught up in a fight between Avril and Ivan. Whatever happened, when Reiley went up to do chores this morning he found Pepper standing off in the corner in deep shock.

Goats in shock exhibit the same symptoms as most animals, even 2 legged ones. They appear dazed or blunted they also tremble or shiver and their temperature, especially in the extremities, is much lower than it should be. They also present with pale mucus mambranes, the gums and inner eyelids, and rapid shallow respiration and rapid irregular pulse.

Pepper had all of these in spades this morning, my guess is that she was like this most of the night. We brought her into the house, wrapped her into her little coat that I had made her for pro-show, and set about assessing her and warming her. She has no obvious injuries, she is tender in a few spots but nothing major, she can walk and has no signs of internal bleeding. This is good, she needs supportive care. So strap on your boots it's going to be a LONG day.

Once she was warmed and more responsive Reiley began to check her temperature, pulse and respiration. The most critical thing to watch for in sick or injured goats, well all ruminants really, is that the gut does not shut down. If the rumen shuts down it can easily kill the animal . The easiest way to check is to listen to the gut with a stethoscope. I highly recommend having even a basic stethoscope around the homestead, it makes diagnosing things so much easier.

Unfortunately Pepper's rumen was very quiet, you should be able to hear a goat's rumen working even without a stethoscope. Pepper's was barely audible with a stethoscope. Once the rumen starts to shut down you need to withdraw all grain and offer only good hay and water. Unfortunately the animals have usually stopped eating and drinking by this point. The danger comes when routinely produced bacteria in the gut become trapped in the digestive system and lead to enterotoximia. You need to get the gut functioning again.

If the goat is refusing food and water, but is not yet dehydrated, you can give fluids via a large syringe, I recommend having a few 60cc syringes on hand; you don't need a needle on it, just the syringe. Use the syringe to give water, if the goat is reluctant to take straight water, try putting a little molasses in, the energy won't hurt them and it may encourage them to drink.

Pepper passed stool and urine within the first hour of being in the house, so we were not in any danger of severe dehydration yet. I should note that anytime you are not comfortable handling and treating a sick animal call your vet. Gary and I have over thirty years experience working with animals and treating them. I trained as an RN and am very comfortable dealing with medications calculating dosages etc.; but even we have our limits. We are comfortable stitching wounds, lancing abscesses, pulling babies and a host of other things but we know when we need to call a vet and everyone should recognise their limits and follow their gut instincts. The more experience you get the more comfortable you will be. It is better to acquire experience watching and talking with a good vet than by trial and error.

So we have spent the entire day coaxing fluids into Pepper. She is not well yet. We have been giving children's aspirin for inflammation and pain, she is getting fluid syringed every hour, she has not developed a fever so we are confident that we are not dealing with anything other than a bruised and sore goat. We have given her about a quarter cup of probiotic yogurt, this is helpful in keeping the gut populated with good bacteria. It really is remarkable how fragile goats are when something goes wrong. The same slow digestive system that allows them to digest sticks and bark, rapidly becomes a hindrance when a problem occurs.

So for now she is holding her own, she is continuing to nibble hay, pass urine and stool. We will keep her in the house overnight and continue supportive care. If she is no better in the morning we will have her seen by the vet.

Ahhhhh, self reliant homesteading at least you can't say it's boring.....

Updates tomorrow.
Have a great day everyone.

Hey, Everybody. Well winter is coming, I can deny it no longer. The cooler weather has me thinking about snuggly sweaters, fuzzy socks and warming herbs. The ultimate warming herb is one that most people really don't consider an herb.... ginger.
 
This humble rhizome, Zingiber officinale, is a powerhouse when it comes to herbal medications and herbal health support. Used extensively for thousands of years in both Ayurvedic medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine; ginger is helpful in protecting and promoting healthy digestion and is also an important anti-inflammatory herb. It can be used fresh, powdered, candied, dried, or as an infused oil, juice or tea. Ginger is part of the Zingiberaceae family, as are herbs like cardamom and  turmeric. When taken internally ginger stimulates circulation, thus the warming effect.

While ginger is becoming better known for it's anti nausea properties*, it really does so much more to support the entire digestive system. By stimulating the circulatory system it helps your body absorb nutrient throughout the GI tract. As an anti-iflammatory, ginger works on the colon to reduce inflammation thus reducing the amount of painful gas build up and in some recent studies, ginger has been shown to reduce inflammatory markers in the colon in as little as one month.
 
It is the anti inflammatory properties of ginger which make it such a versatile herbal medicine. Inflammation is the body's response to injury or insult. Under normal conditions, an injury occurs and the body protects itself from further injury by setting up a localized inflammation: heat, swelling and pain, to prevent over use of affected area until healing occurs. When healing is complete, the inflammation subsides.

Unfortunately, most chronic health issues are caused, or exacerbated by, inflammation. Everything from heart disease to colitis and osteoarthritis are inflammatory diseases. Recent studies have shown ginger to be as effective as non steroidal antiinflammatories; things like celebrex, naproxin, ibuprofen aspirin and voltaren, without the nasty side effects.

There is also research that suggested ginger is an effective blood thinner, and is a useful treatment to regulate blood pressure and lower blood sugars. As a result,  if you are taking medications for any of these conditions, speak with your medical practitioner before starting to take large quantities of ginger. Please note: ginger as a medication should not be used in children under two years of age.

As with all herbal medications, it is much better to include whole ginger in your diet than to take supplements or extracts. Part of the reason major drug companies isolate various compounds of traditional herbal medications and then test these "active" compounds to develop medications is because they can't patent a whole plant. If they isolate compounds and figure out how to synthesize or extract the compounds they can patent the compound or process to extract the compound.

Traditional herbal medications utilize the entire spectrum of compounds found in the plant, there are many ways the compounds interact with each other and with the body to do what they do. Unfortunately, large pharmaceutical companies don't study the full spectrum and their interactions... it just isn't profitable for them.

We use ginger around here to treat nausea, tummy troubles such as gas and diarrhea; mixed with tumeric as a treatment / preventative for migraines and to treat the inflammation in my shoulder from the post-op scar tissue in my shoulder. I credit ginger with keeping me upright and mobile some days.
So here is my recipe for simple ginger tea, it can be enjoyed hot or cold....

Cut a 2 cubic inch piece of ginger, wash and peel. Grate the ginger and place in your tea pot.

Cover with 1- 1 1/2 cups of water and steep for 10 - 12 minutes

Sweeten with honey to taste and enjoy!

Fresh ginger is best, you can also freeze fresh ginger by just washing, wrapping and placing it in your freezer. It should keep for up to a year. Fresh ginger will keep in your pantry, if you must put it in the fridge, place a piece of damp paper towel in the container and seal. Otherwise, your ginger will dry out.

As always, This information is solely for informational purposes. IT IS NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. Please consult or health care provider for specific medical issues.

* Please note, pregnant women should not consume more than 1 gram of ginger per day, and should not take ginger over extended periods of time, more than 3 days, as ginger can stimulate uterine contractions.