Poor Jasmine. Again.

If Surprise earns her notoriety as being one of the most annoying goats I've ever had, Jasmine earns hers as being the most frustrating. While she has the sweetest personality of any goat we've had so far, she has had physical problems of one sort or another ever since I first bought her almost two years ago.

At that time, only one half of her udder was producing milk. I naively accepted what the gentleman told me, that after it dried up it would be okay and resume functioning after her next freshening. Part of this was beginner's ignorance, and part was because she has good bloodlines and I was following the sage advice to buy the best I could afford.

Since then I've had to deal with weeping sores on her udder, (my somewhat successful herbal treatment in detail here), difficult labor and stillborn doeling, uterine infection, what I initially thought was mastitis (but more likely congested udder), chronic copper deficiency, and hoof rot. All of this has meant numerous trips to the vet and numerous hours of research. Add to that the cost of treatments and the time to prepare and give them, (both conventional and alternative), and she's taken a lot of time, money, and physical resources. Then there was her non-cooperation to be bred by Gruffy.

Recently I'd begun to ask the question, does her contribution to the homestead and our goals, balance out the constant parade of problems? This is not always an easy question to either ask or answer, especially for those of us new to this lifestyle, or those of us with limited livestock and limited means to replace them. However, it is the make it or break it question in regards to the goal of self-sufficiency and I was in fact, becoming exceedingly discouraged with all Jasmine's health issues. Not just pity, but the constant need to treat her was tipping the scales; it was starting to take more time than I had to care for her. It was a question I had to ask and answer. My conclusion was that if she indeed kidded, I'd sell her and our wether as soon as her kid(s) were weaned.

Now this. Which is? She's broken her leg.

As you can see, it's her front left leg

A few hours earlier, we had gotten a brief shower burst. She was out in the pasture and took off running for the goat shed because goats hate rain. As near as we can tell, she must have slipped and fallen as she rounded the corner to get into the shed.

Initially we thought she'd dislocated it but we were clueless about what to do. We called our vet, in hopes we could treat this at home, because she's a big girl (over 150 pounds) and getting her into the back of my jeep or Dan's pickup would be no easy feat. The vet said she'd need to be examined in case of ligament damage, so we took her in. He could palpate a break, right under the shoulder, in a spot impossible to splint.

Splinting a broken leg on a goat is usually quite successful, but since this one couldn't be splinted, the conventional prognosis was not encouraging. Ordinarily such an animal would be put down. Dan wasn't willing to accept that without more research however. He also wanted to verify whether or not she was indeed pregnant, so we had a blood draw for pregnancy test done and brought her home.

While waiting on the test results, I researched. In addition to Pat Coleby's Natural Goat Care, I've recently purchased Alternative Treatments for Ruminant Animals by Paul Dettloff, D.V.M. Pat's approach is largely dietary, while Paul's approach uses natural medicines. He recommended Arnica tincture initially, along with comfrey tincture. The Arnica is to treat swelling, comfrey to help heal the bone.

I don't have Arnica, but I do grow comfrey, so I started feeding her that. At the same time I asked about broken bones on the Holistic Goats Yahoo Group, and received advice on homeopathic treatment. I purchased Symphytum 30C to give her. I don't use homeopathic remedies, so I am not very familiar with them. This is not because of any opinion about homeopathy; I prefer herbs because I can grow them myself.

Now the pregnancy test has come back negative. I'm disappointed on the one hand of course, but relieved on the other. I worried about labor, delivery, and active, nursing kids for Jasmine with her leg. Or more likely, separating, milking, and bottle feeding her kids. However, it makes the question of "earning her keep" all the more relevant. And the more difficult. Trying to sell a goat with only half her udder functioning seemed unlikely enough. Now, depending upon how her leg heals, the problem is compounded, as is the decision about what to do with her.

In contemplation the options, there are a number of things I have to keep in mind. I have to remind myself that I cannot fix every problem, I cannot save every animal, and I must not take these as personal defeats. Nor do I want to fall into the trap of confusing responsibility with loyalty. This is not realistic for a self-sustaining homestead. Neither is focusing so much on only one animal, so that everything else starts to get neglected. Don't get me wrong, I really like Jasmine and am thankful for 10 months of the milk she gave. I would love to be able to replace her with another registered Nubian doe. Not sure how I could manage that though. I'll just have to wait and see what the future brings.

Poor Jasmine. Again. © May 2012 by
Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com/

Honeysuckle For A Good Cause

Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) was one of the top three vines on the place when we bought it. With it's sweet fragrance, profuse white and yellow flowers and pretty green foliage it is a favorite of Dan's and is certainly the most welcome. The other two, being poison ivy and kudzu were not welcome at all, though these have since shown some use, (see "Immunities & Milk (Another of My Theories)" and "Kudzu For Hay").

Honeysuckle has value as a nectary plant to attract hummingbirds and beneficial insects. It is also used for erosion control and can make a pretty, sweet smelling privacy screen in the summer. On the down side, it can become a nuisance because it spreads and wraps it's way around everything in sight. In some areas it's considered an invasive species and can indeed strangle out what it grows on. I pull ours out where we don't want it, otherwise I let it be.

It also has medicinal qualities, which I didn't pay much attention to until the arthritis in Dan's knees started bothering him. Arthritis is considered a relatively common degenerative disease, characterized by pain and inflammation in the joints. It is considered manageable but not curable. Commonly it is treated with acetaminophen or NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammitory drugs) like aspirin, ibuprofen, or prescription strength drugs. Trouble is, Dan can't tolerate any of these.

We started researching and discovered the condition is primarily found in industrialized areas. This is an immediate diet connection red flag. Many natural health gurus immediately recommend a strict vegan diet, citing meat and dairy as the culprit (among other things.) While I definitely agree that diet is key, I also always have vague sense of doubt about this advice, based on what I've been learning from Nourishing Traditions (the cookbook that challenges politically correct nutrition and the diet dictocrats) and biologist Ray Peat.

What we learned, is that there are a number of dietary factors that can precipitate and aggravate arthritis: hormone imbalance including low thyroid, excessive polyunsaturated fats (i.e. most of the vegetable or plant oils, probably because of the free radicals these oils produce when subjected to heat, oxygen, and moisture during processing and cooking, Nourishing Traditions pg. 10), calcium deficiency, an allergy to carrageenen (a common "natural" food additive/thickener derived from seaweed), and certain amino acids (too much tryptophan, or too little glycine). Unfortunately pinpointing which one is the problem is no easy task because people are different and so may have different causes. Except for pain meds, there is no one size fits all solution.

Dan has more trouble with diet than I do, because he is an over the road truck driver. The foods, ingredients, and additives that we want to avoid are all that's out there, particularly the unsaturated oils/fats and carrageenen. Even though I send him home cooked foods and meals, there are a lot of little things that he ingests regularly that could, according to my research, aggravate his arthritis.

What's all this got to do with honeysuckle? While I was thumbing through The Complete Medicinal Herbal by Penelope Ody (I just love Dorling Kindersley books), I ran across the entry for honeysuckle. I read that one of the constituents of honeysuckle is salicylic acid (which is the active ingredient in aspirin), and the stems are sometimes used for inflammation. I made a decoction by simmering 30 grams of chopped stems in 750 mils of filtered water for 15 minutes.

Dan started sipping on this tea and took a jug of it with him the next time he went out on the road. He also started avoiding packaged snack foods and commercial coffee creamers. Within about a week, the swelling and pain in his knees was nearly gone. I know that seems like a rather dramatic result, and I can't say for sure which it was, except that when he stopped drinking the tea, his knees started bothering him again when he stopped drinking the tea. When he resumed that, the pain and swelling diminished just as quickly as before.

While I would make no claims that this would help everyone with arthritis, I will say that we were fortunate to hit on relief for his particular problem. Well worth a try.

Related Post:
Kris's Turn. Poor Kris - using gelatin for dysplasia & arthritis

Honeysuckle For A Good Cause © May 2012 by Leigh at http://my5acredream.blogspot.com/

Lining Cabinet Shelves Without Shelf Paper

I have issues with shelf paper. Firstly, I can never get it down smooth and straight. I'll own that one, but in time, the stuff always starts looking raggedy. The edges start peeling and crumbs get stuck to them. Trying to peel it off to replace it is a nuisance too. Plus, I just don't like the way it looks. Instead I use an idea I got from my mother-in-law,

.... vinyl flooring tiles. I really like these. Since there's no heavy foot traffic the least expensive tiles will do. They are self-adhering, so nothing special is required to install them.

There's no need to start in the center and snap a chalk line. Just start at the door edge of the cabinet and work from there.

No need to worry about getting the edges cut exactly straight. No one will notice under whatever is stored in there. It's quick to put down, looks neat, is durable, and super easy to keep clean.

All done. Now Dan can put the doors back on and I can start putting stuff in this cabinet. Hurray!

Lining Cabinet Shelves Without Shelf Paper © May 2012 by Leigh at http://my5acredream.blogspot.com/