Raising Animals

When a goat has "bloat" (swelling up from overeating), letting her do what she wants, which is just lay down, is a mistake. She'll just suffocate. You have to keep them on their feet and put a hose down their throats to empty out the gas in the stomach. Or if she's pretty far gone, a knife into the gut to let out the gas. Otherwise she just dies. :(

Don't park a nice car on a homestead with free range goats. My car hood looks like we were in the worst hail storm ever.... but we weren't. They just LOVE to climb and play "King of the Hill/hood".

Don't put collars on your goats and never stake them out on ropes or chains to eat in one place that you want eaten down.

The pigs will NOT stay in their pen. They just won't. They won't. So we don't have pigs and won't ever again. :) I chased way too many pigs and have decided I really do hate them.

Don't ever bring anything to me and tell me it has to be fenced in or caged up. Forget it. Rabbits, goats, chickens, turkeys, dogs, even those damned pigs have always roamed, ran, clucked and grazed freely on our farm.

If your chickens are pecking each other they're in too small of a space. If they start pecking on one they will not stop until they kill it. Use pine tar for the wounds. It's icky to use, you smear it on with a stick, but it really works.

Don't feed the dogs raw eggs in their food. Although you won't have to worry about salmonella with fresh eggs, like you do with store bought ones, the dog may decide he'd rather not wait for you to fix him a bowl and decide to raid the hen house himself. We had one do this. Also don't feed them uncooked chicken in any way, shape or form. If you feed them chicken parts it should be so cooked and cut up that it's not recognizable.

The best way to take porcupine needles out of a dog is not by pulling them out! The quills have a hook on them and a vaccuum inside when they get shot. If you pull them straight out, you rip the skin with the hook. First cut off the ends of all quills. That releases the vaccuum. Then the hook gets disengaged and you can more easily pull the quills out. If you use a comb you can comb up a bunch (they stick through the teeth) and pull them out several at a time. When the dog has them inside his mouth, in his gums, through his tongue and down his throat, you have to head for town and the vet. Three adults can pull out lots of quills in 2 hours if they all work really hard. Vets charge more around midnight. When it happens again - and it will - have an arrangement to drive the dog in for the shot to knock him out, then drive him home and pull out the quills yourself. Saves you a bunch of money and if you're within 20 to 30 minutes from the vet, the drugs are just taking effect by the time you get home.

Mice will not get scared off with one of those sonar things you plug into the outlet. In fact I think I heard them dancing and using it for a jukebox one night. Don't waste your money. If you're not allergic get a cat. Otherwise get really good at traps and get over being squeamish about setting and emptying them.

We can't let our meat and egg chickens free-range due to predators, so we keep them penned in one large section of the barn. This not only keeps the chickens safe but manufactures all the enriched organic mulch we need for our garden. We use wood-shavings for bedding and toss in vegetable scraps through-out the year. When the lawn grows faster than we can cut it in the spring, we bag the clippings and add them to the chicken pen and in the fall we add the dry leaves from the yard that we don't need for winter mulching.

The chickens reduce all materials to small pieces by their constant scratching and digging. In return, they may actually find a bug to eat!

Also, we have our rabbit cages hanging inside this pen, so the the chickens are mixing rabbit manure as well as chicken manure into the organic bedding.

Well it's been another learning experience around here....One of my in-calf heifers calved on Friday and it was not much fun.

After watching her strain with each contraction with no results I figured something might be wrong. While she was lying down I decided to check on the calfs position and found the head was turned back. I turned the calfs head without too much trouble and sat back and waited for her to finish the job of giving birth. Another few hours passed and it became obvious that she was not going to manage on her own. The vet was called and then the fun began. We put her in the loading race and the vet attached the calving chains and just as he was about to hook up the chains to the pulley/winch she took off, snapping the fence posts we had put in front of her like toothpicks! She led us a merry dance around the paddock but we finally got her back into the holding pen, positioned a few more fence posts blocking the "exit" to the loading race, then led her into the race to try again. Once again she bolted through the posts and took off! It's amazing how strong a 400kg moody mama moo in labour can be! We finally put Tangee (my Holstein who calved last weekend) into the race first to block the exit, then put the heifer in behind her. The calving chains were hooked up and we began to help the little one into the world. She bellowed in pain until finally the calf was born, a big beautiful bull....a beautiful dead bull. We were too late. He was just too big for her, I had delayed too long and we lost him. The vet estimated that he had been dead for approx. an hour befor he was born. We COULD have saved him!

So now we get to the subject heading of this post...

Homestead Wisdom....What I learned from this:

1) NEVER put a large breed bull (in this case a Hereford) over a heifer.

2) ALWAYS follow your instincts ( I wanted to call in the vet hours before but was told I was being silly, after all cows have calves by themselves all the time!)

3)ALWAYS have the right equipment for the job, IN ADVANCE! In this case a head bail would have solved most of the hassles with her jumping through the loading race. I would also vote for having your own set of calving chains ready for this kind of thing.

terry1@ihug.co.nz

During "normal" calving look for the following signs:

Calving is about to start:
Cow is away from the herd and is restless. She begins to look "slab sided" as the calf turns There may be a mucus discharge.

Calving begins:
The tail is raised and there is regular straining. The water bag appears

Normal calving:
Early labour lasts several hours or even a day. Mild straiing is seen but between cnotractions she is in very little discomfort and will carry on eating and drinking and taking notice of her surroundings. In full labour, the cow usually lies down, sometimes flat. Straining is intense and pain is obvious. She may grunt and groan. This straining should produce visible results from a mature cow in 2 - 4 hours. Heifers can be left 4 - 6 hours. Once the bag of waters has burst naturally, calving should be fairly quick. each push by the cow will move the calf a little further along. In the early stages you will see the hooves slide back a little between contractions but still there is some progress. If there is no progress within an hour of the water bag bursting, there could be a problem.

Normal Presentation:
The hooves appear from the vulva before or soon after the water bag bursts. The front feet come first, with the soles facing the ground and the calf's nose resting on it's legs. If the soles of the feet face upwards (as they did in the previous delivery 2 weeks ago)then the calf is upside down. The calf must be turned over into the normal position for delivery. The head takes a while to pass out of the vulva, and there is a further delay as the shouders pass through. The rest of the calf follows quickly. The membranes enclosing the calf tear during birth. Most cows rest for a moment or two, then get up and lick the calf. The calf shakes it's head and soon begins to struggle to its feet. Most calves are suckling within 30 minutes. Soon after calving the cow strains a bit more untill the afterbirth is passed. This is the placenta and the membranes that enclosed the calf in the womb. This usually happens within a few hours of calving. The cow cleans up after herself by eating the afterbirth.

OK.....when things go wrong:
If calving seems to be going on longer than normal, it would be wise to investigate further. It sounds harder than it is (If I can do it, anyone can!) First of all make sure YOU are safe when carrying out this investigation. The cow should be either lying down or in a race with a head bail and a stout piece of wood lodged behind her legs so she can't kick out at you. Next wash the vulva and hind quarters of the cow with warm water and disinfectant. Strip off any excess clothing you might have on (jacket etc.), wash yourself, soap one hand and arm thoroughly. Check your fingernails are short and clean, remove watch and jewelry. Insert your hand gently into the vagina and feel for the calf. If the water bag is intact, be careful not to break it. The calf's head is easy to recognise. You can identify the front legs by the joints, which bend in the same way. The joints of the back legs bend in opposite directions. If you find two legs, check that they are both front legs or both back legs and that they belong to the same calf

There are a few common "malpresentations" 1)One leg back 2)head back 3)both legs back 4) hind legs first 5)breech-no legs, just the rear end of the calf.

In order to correct the calf's position you must gently push the calf back into the womb before correcting its position. Then it is gently eased forward again. Use plenty of disinfectant and lubricant. On Friday I had the "head back" presentation so after slipping my hands around the calfs legs I gently eased him back with my left hand under his legs and right hand on top looking for his head. Once I located his head (turned sideways as if he were asleep)I used my right hand to gently pull his head around while my left hand held his legs in position and acting as a "brake". At that point I should have attached calving ropes/chains to his front feet. Unfortunately I didn't realise that the calf was too big and thought she would now be able to get on with the job. When you change the calfs position, keep your hand between the calf (especially its feet)and the wall of the uterus, to avoid damage. Guide the parts you have moved into the pelvic region with your hand as you pull on the calving ropes/chains. This stops the parts slipping back or getting stuck again.

With luck the cow may now get on with the job at hand. If no real progress is noted within an hour of your investigation it's time to lend a hand.

Calving ropes/chains:
Sometimes mother nature needs a little help and when she does, it's wise to have the equipment you need on hand in advance! Farming and veterinary catalogs sell "calving kits" for around $300 here. A calving "jack" sells for over $700 All of the above is a waste of money for the small farm/homestead. You can easily make your own kit for around $25.00

Chains vs. ropes:
Chains are longer lasting and easier to sterilize but ropes are less likely to damage your stock. It's all a matter of deciding which you prefer. Chains: Nickle plated or stainless steel "choke/check chains" for large dogs from you pet store will do the job for half the cost of "calving chains". Chain length should be over 75cm with small links if possible. Rope: 7mm - 12mm wide polypropelyne(soft synthetic) rope with an "eye splice" at one end, two pieces over 75cm. To make the splice simply stitch a loop of strong fabric a few cm's from the one end of the rope. The end of the rope is then fed through the loop, forming another loop, this rope loop is then placed around the calfs hoof and the rope tightened (does this make sense?)The other end may be knotted to hold a handle or grip of sorts or attached to the pulley. One rope/chain per hoof. If you are using chains then you would slip the chain around the hoof just as you would around a dogs neck :) If I were using chains (the vet used his)I would make a soft padding around the chain to help protect the calfs hooves/legs.

OK, now you have two chains/ropes dangling out the rear end of a rather unhappy cow, next is the actual delivery. There are two ways to go about this:
1) Use a calf puller/pulley 2) Brute strength

Calf puller:
This is simply a winch of sorts, along the lines of a "come along"/monkey winch or lever block (block and tackle) One end of the winch is attached to something fixed, eg. fence post, stock yard post/whatever. The other is attached to the calving chains/ropes. Working with the cows contractions you basically just pull the calf out. Working with the mother is vital as she could be permanently damaged if she tears too much. This could mean the end of her use to you. If she can no longer get in calf she has basically outlived her usefulness on the farm. It sounds callous but it is an unfortunate fact. Brute force: Make or buy a pair of handles to attach to your rope/chains. Then brace yourself and pull with all your might during her contractions. Depending on the cow and the size of the calf, this method often requires two men to pull while Mama pushes :) After the birth it would be a good idea to clean her out. Get rid of the placenta and membranes etc. as she might not be in a fit state to clean herself up and that would be an invitation to infection. It's a simple proceedure, just lather up with antibacterial soap, insert your right hand and basically scoop it out (and you thought the first part was bad enough LOL)

The Aftermath:
Once the calf has been safely delivered, he/she should shake/throw it's head around a bit to clear the mucus from it's nose and throat. However, a long and difficult delivery usually means the calf is too tired to do this and that means it's up to you to clear the goop away. Once you have wiped the nose and mouth and you are satisfied that the calf is breathing properly, leave the calf with it's mother. The sooner they bond the better.

If the calf is not breathing make sure it's tongue is forward and it's nose and throat are clear. Mouth to mouth works and so does compressing the chest walls with your open hands. If all else fails, hold the calf by the back legs and bodily swing it in circles several times to increase the blood flow to the brain and clear any mucus that may be blocking the airways. It sounds horrendous but sometimes you just have to do it. It takes someone quite strong to do this as a new calf can weigh a lot!

After an assisted calving, it is wise to insert an antibiotic pessary into the uterus. These are not the kind of thing folks usually have lying around so you have to plan in advance and buy a few. They have a long shelf life so it might be a good investment. A penicillan shot is also a good idea.
I hope this info is of some use to someone.

Take care all, Terry

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