My Sheep Journal~ I'm a grandma! Black Betty had twins!!!

[ksalvagno]

Everyone is looking good!

I'm experimenting with using Golden Seal for coccidia. I used Golden Seal on a few of my goats for different reasons (2 for potential coccidia and 2 were coughing). Then I had my alpaca fecal tested and it did come back with coccidia. So I did Golden Seal on her and next week I do the followup fecal to see if the coccidia are gone. It will be interesting.

I will say that the 2 goats that had dog log fecals went back to pellets after the Golden Seal. Also the goats stopped coughing too. So we will see.

Good luck with the birth in June.

 

[Beekissed]

Can you get it at a health food's store? I've heard of people taking it but I never learned the properties of Golden Seal and what it is supposed to do...can you tell me?

 

[ksalvagno]

It is supposed to be like an antibiotic. I bet you could get the pills at the health food store. I bought the tincture from someone who places large orders online. I'm trying to find a source for the tincture myself so I can order when I want to. It isn't cheap but I wanted an alternative to antibiotics.

A friend of mine who has goats said that she and her children have been taking Golden Seal for years for problems that might need antibiotics but hasn't tried it on the goats yet. Another goat breeder has also used Golden Seal for years on herself and her goats and says it works every time and she has been able to avoid using antibiotics on her goats.

Golden Seal is very bitter so the animals aren't going to be thrilled to take it. I was told the tincture is the easiest to give an animal but I'm sure you could just mix the powder in with water too. You also can't do it for more than 7 days in a row.

 

[freemotion]

A quick google search brought this up, I'm sure there are other articles on making your own tinctures. It is very simple and inexpensive: http://www.greenspun.com/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg.tcl?msg_id=007SHR

One of the issues with buying capsules is that you can't tell what is really in them. I prefer to buy whole things, whether it is herbs or grains or whatever, because it is rare that they are contaminated....so I am anxious to see the results of your experiment!! If it is successful.....I will either buy some goldenseal root and make a tincture, or plant some. The article says that stored properly, a tincture can keep for 20 years! So make it once and know it is safe to use....easy-peasy.

BTW, comfrey is considered a dangerous plant only because some idiot decided to sell comfrey capsules and used the wrong part of the plant, and many people went into liver failure. Now you cannot buy comfrey. Apply this principle to everything and you wouldn't be able to buy cherries, because most of the plant is poisonous, just not the fruit.

I wonder how easy it is to grow goldenseal?

 

[Beekissed]

We used to forage the hollers for it, along with ginseng. Ginseng was more common, if that tells you anything, and ginseng really brought a good price back then.

 

[Beekissed]

Well, contemplating doing my first culling of my sheep. I am thinking I will sell Ugly Betty when I can.

She has been exposed to a ram but I'm not sure she caught and she acts a little like she didn't. She was riding my other ewe the other day on about the same heat cycle that she used to. She also isn't filling out in the flanks like the other ewe bred at the same time.

On top of that, she is just not real likable and doesn't have the disposition that I desire here. Too flighty, can't be touched, sneaks into the garden and eats all my plants when my back is turned, climbs into my lawn chaises and eats my apple trees. She's bossy and mean to one of the other ewes and she is the biggest pig of all. She also is a climber, which I try to discourage.

All in all, not a great influence around here. She also doesn't have the conformation that I like but she was a bargain sheep that was thrown in on a deal with another. She was the runt of trips and the farmer wanted to get rid of her so I got a good deal.

And, when it comes down to it, she's just .....ugly. I know that is mean but she just doesn't have that feminine face that most ewes have, she has very thin legs and a narrow chest.

I also fear she might hurt the new lambs on the way...she is not kind to new comers. So...after much thought, I will sell her as soon as I can.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

Well, contemplating doing my first culling of my sheep. I am thinking I will sell Ugly Betty when I can.

She has been exposed to a ram but I'm not sure she caught and she acts a little like she didn't. She was riding my other ewe the other day on about the same heat cycle that she used to. She also isn't filling out in the flanks like the other ewe bred at the same time.

On top of that, she is just not real likable and doesn't have the disposition that I desire here. Too flighty, can't be touched, sneaks into the garden and eats all my plants when my back is turned, climbs into my lawn chaises and eats my apple trees. She's bossy and mean to one of the other ewes and she is the biggest pig of all. She also is a climber, which I try to discourage.

All in all, not a great influence around here. She also doesn't have the conformation that I like but she was a bargain sheep that was thrown in on a deal with another. She was the runt of trips and the farmer wanted to get rid of her so I got a good deal.

And, when it comes down to it, she's just .....ugly. I know that is mean but she just doesn't have that feminine face that most ewes have, she has very thin legs and a narrow chest.

I also fear she might hurt the new lambs on the way...she is not kind to new comers. So...after much thought, I will sell her as soon as I can.

That stinks, but it's a necessary part of animal raising (and the part I hate the most). Is she the spotted one?

And if you can, you may want to send in a blood test to Biotracking to make sure if she's bred or open. If she is bred, you can sell her for more. It's really easy to do, and cheap!!

 

[ksalvagno]

that is the hard part about livestock business. You have to have a plan and try to stick to it. No sense in keeping an animal that doesn't work with your plan. It is amazing how hard it is to do sometimes though. Sometimes I can't wait to get an alpaca sold and sometimes I just can't seem to part with one. I'm sure I will be that way with the goats too.

 

[Beekissed]

I'm really working towards some hardy, easy care animals here and I would also like to breed for temperament...she just doesn't have what I'm looking for in her conformation or her personality.

Her legs are thin, chest is narrow, head isn't feminine and she is pretty dominant, flighty and too smart~she is always the leader in mischief and escape tactics.

I like the idea of smart sheep...just not smart-aleck ones! She is constantly learning how to open gates, latches, climb through or over barriers, etc.

Yes, Aggie, she is the spotted one. I didn't pick her out at the time of sale, she got thrown in as a cheapy bargain as the runt of triplets. I couldn't turn down the good price and hoped she would grow into a decent animal. I still don't like her after a year.

Its just one of those things about building a good herd, I imagine. Sometimes you have to cull hard.

 

[Beekissed]

Today I penned the sheep and pulled and trimmed off all the extra wool I could. The Bettys look very sleek and pretty but Mo is not really ready to shed off completely, so she looks like a poodle.

I was amazed at the difference in the wool on these sheep! The Bettys are Katahdin/St. Croix cross and Mo is pure Katahdin. The cross sheep have very poor wool quality and are mostly true hair-type fibers. They have very little lanolin in their coat, particularly Ugly Betty. Black Betty has beautiful, shiney black fibers but they are quite coarse to touch. Ugly Betty's coat is more like a goat's.

Mo on the other hand, a pure Katahdin, has a buttery layer of lanolin next to her short coat. It truely looks just like butter and feels very much like salve or a balm. It doesn't smell strongly and gives the wool a gooey soft texture. Her wool is short but dense, very fine and soft to touch. Somewhat straight in the body portion but becomes quite curly and in ringlets near the neck and buttocks.

Very pretty and would make a very nice pelt if tanned with the hair on.

Mo's wool pulled off in great, soft sheets and felt like pulling taffy. Underneath the dirty wool was a creamy, buttery colored new wool...very short and fuzzy. Very soft and pretty.

The Betty's old wool looked like nasty, matted brown carpeting and wouldn't pull off easily. I just trimmed it with scissors as there was so little of it left. They now look very sleek and svelte.

Mo is nicely bagged up but not really enough, I think, to think she is having her lambs any time soon. She is nicely rounded and seems to be carrying a load. She is due this month but the farmer was not sure of just when,

Black Betty looks very filled out for only having been bred in mid to late April. Ugly Betty shows very little difference in her body since her breeding and my not have taken.