Osgood-Schlatters


Our kids are all tall.  No surprise there, my husband and I are both 6ft tall, and both of us are shorter than our cousins.  Our youngest is growing SO fast though..  at one point, about a year and a half ago, he grew 6 inches in 6 months.

That's hard on your body.

For Matt, it caused a condition called "Osgood/Schlatters". Essentially it means his tendons couldn't keep up with his bones.  It cased a bulge under his knee, that if you touched, would bring him to the ground.  Severely painful.  He needed a knee brace for all physical activity.  Football, basketball, running in the yard - all impossible without the brace.  This is not a weak kid, he has a high pain tolerance, but this knee was causing him constant, significant, pain.  He couldn't sit with his knee bent.  He couldn't do squats in the weight room.  (His friends call this "the Oscar in Matt's knee", as in "Matt can't do the squats, because of Oscar.")

The Mayo Clinic website has a lot of great information on Osgood-Schlatters:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/osgood-schlatter-disease/DS00392

It's surprising how many people we know who have this.  A lot of our adult friends still suffer with it, although it no longer causes them nearly as much pain, it never truly goes away.

One of our friends has a father that is a retired chiropractor.  He recommended a chiropractor for our son, and that was a route we were getting ready to explore.

But at Matt's last appointment, the xray showed either a calcium deposit, or a bone fragment, floating loose, and that the osgood-schlatters was much worse, rather than improving.  So they referred us to Sun Ortho.

The dr we saw at Sun Ortho is a marathon runner. Who also has Osgood Schlatters.  This was reassuring..  Matt hasn't been able to run much at all in the last year.  It's been too painful.  This dr recommended a new treatment, not FDA approved, and not covered by our insurance.  Normally those two statements make me nervous, but Sun Ortho has a great reputation, and has been great with our kids over the years through various broken bones and injuries.  I tend to trust them.  We made an appointment to have this experimental treatment done, and I came home and started some research.  This is what I found:
http://www.coreconcepts.com.sg/mcr/osgood-schlatter-disease-osd/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extracorporeal_shockwave_therapy

Every review I found online was very positive.  Results begin immediately, and it can continue to improve for up to 4 months.    We went ahead with the procedure.  ($350 out of pocket)


This is Matt receiving the ESWT treatment.  Normally this is NOT painful, but because this part of his knee is so painful when touched, and the machine has to be pressed tight into that sore area, it was pretty painful for him.

This was Thursday morning.  Thursday evening Matt sat with his knee bent.  For the first time in 6 months.  He did a couple of squats.  They were painful, but he did them.

No contact - he can't kneel, and can't wear the knee brace, for awhile.  His only "prescription" is lots of stretching exercises.  We're pretty excited by how effective this has been already, and we're looking forward to seeing how this progresses.





Donkey, The Donkey


Look what I bought at the Amish Sale on Saturday.  :-)

We've been wanting a Donkey for awhile.

What for, you ask?
Why does everyone insist on asking me that?  I have 141 acres. I have 4 teens to help with animal chores.  I have pastures.  I have a lot of hay.  I often have animals because I like the way they look in the pastures.  Think of them as lawn mowers.  


But the donkey can be useful as a livestock guardian, to help keep the coyotes away.
Donkey has already taught Jet, the farm dog, who is boss - kicking him right out of this pasture.  That is nice, Jet scares Alfred, so Donkey keeps Jet away.  (Jet is also necessary to alert us when the coyotes, or annoying people, are too close)

And our Pastor's wife has been wanting one for the Christmas program for years.

And this one is soooooo friendly and sweet.  That's another reason we have some of the animals - simply for our friends children to visit and pet them.  Eventually I'll have grandchildren who will be amused by them too.

He gets along well with the goats, calves, and alpaca.  We aren't completely sure which pen he will live in, for now they are all sharing one pen waiting on the new fencing project to be done.  

Learning About Donkeys
A great site with all sorts of information, from the cost of keeping a Donkey, to a donkey webcam:

A donkey can be expected to live about 40 years.

Another site with lots of info:

Donkeys are pregnant for a full year, and can be bred at a VERY young age..  so it's important to keep the girls separate until they are 3 years of age.

More on Donkeys

They eat grass and hay and can have some grain, but they put on weight easily so grain is really not necessary at all, it may actually be best for them NOT to have any grain at all, depending on the grass and hay content.

They do need their hooves trimmed occasionally - but usually not too often in climates like ours here in PA.

Lots more info here:

At The Livestock Auction in Dewart Today

At the Livestock Auction this afternoon

The sale seems to run later and later every week.  It is almost 3:30 now, and there is still a pen and a half of sheep before they will get to the goats.

Lots of changes here in the last year.  The computer system is a great upgrade.  We used to have to wait for the paper slips to travel up to the office before we could pay for what we bought.  Now we can walk up immediately, pay, and leave.

They used to sell the sheep after the goats and poultry, now they sell between the calves and goats.  I don't know what prompted the change, but it used to be you would only see a few sheep here. Often none at all.  This spring there are full pens of sheep, every week.  Sometimes there appear to be as many sheep here as there are calves.  There is one pen of really adorable yearlings, with long pretty fur. Another pen has 8 older sheep that do not look healthy at all.  :-(

There is a lot more poultry here ever& week too.  We brought in a crate of sex link hens, and a duck, today- cleaning out some of my excess poultry.  I prefer the "prettier" breeds, so the plain sex links are being sold to make more room for them.  Last year my hens hatched out some really pretty babies, I can't keep everything, and I want to keep these.  The duck I like, but he is male and tries to mate with my hens- he's hard on them, ripping feathers from their necks, so he is being sold.  He was dropped off at my house with some hens last year, I don't think he knows he is a duck.

There are several crates of meat chickens here, they look like they have come out of a commercial barn. Not full grown, but well started. A few boxes of rabbits, and at least two boxes with a hen and babies. One box has 8 week old barred rock chicks. I'd take them home, but with my luck they would all be roosters.

There are only 6 goats here today.  A boer nanny & 2 babies thatis thin and wormy looking, but obviously friendly and a good mom.  I wasn't looking for a boer goaat, but as I watch her, I just like her.  She has a good temperment.  Another boer, looks like a 4H or show goat.  Aloof. A little overfed.  A black dwarf baby, and a large, gorgreous, all black boer.  For looks, I was watching her.  I don't have an all black goat, she'd be a nice addition.  But she is not very friendly, and is a little aggressive towards the others.  I'm going to watch, but I wont pay too much for her.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Absolute insanity with the goat prices today. Kids sold for $110. Nannies went for $160 and up. I have no idea what that was about, prices are normally about half to 3/4 of that. So no new goats for me today! I bought a grey hen and her 9 peeps for $5. I didn't need them, but I have a weakness for grey hens, and for babies.

On The Farm This Week 4/20/12


The swan, across the road, is nesting.  This is the male, keeping guard so that no one disturbs her.

Horses:
Wrangler is losing all of his fur.  It looks a bit like rainrot, but I don't think it is - I think he just looses all of his shaggy fur in the spring?


Red used to get rainrot - this is how bad he would get:


Cows:



The calves are continuing to get big.  They are doing really well.

Goats:



Aryiana is bagging up - we should have a new baby before long.  She's so huge - I'm hoping for twins, but she usually only has one. 

Sheep:

sold the sheep this week.  :-(  I know it was the logical thing to do - we need to downsize and prioritize.  The sheep were not friendly, and needed sheared every year.  They did not provide any income, they were just pets.  The man who bought them transported them in the back of a van, which made me nervous..  but he wanted them as pets, so I think it was the best place for them.

Poultry:




We are drowning in eggs!  After not having ANY eggs for weeks, we now have a fridge full of them.  Omelets, fritatas, hard boiled eggs..  need to get some pickled eggs started this week.

We sold the peacocks too.  Not my breeding pair, Mr and Mrs Peabody stay, but the babies from last year are all sold, once we catch the one last loose one.

Garden:



A lot of work this week..  had topsoil delivered for the upper garden, filled in the 4x4 boxes in the back yard with some miracle grow to top them off.  A friend of mine gave me her extra strawberry plants - I got those planted, weeded the herb and back flower beds, edged the beds...  Next week I want to get some beans and brocolli in the ground, and maybe some other plants?


The iris are blooming

I'm trying two apps on my phone this year.  The first one is for planning my 4x4 raised beds:

The second is a paid app.  I almost never pay for apps.  But this one looked really promising, and it is cheap:


I have not spent enough time with either app to know if I really love them yet or not.  It's been a busy week!  :-)

Misc:


We're having a skeet shoot here in a few weeks, there is SO much I want to get done/cleaned up around the farm before then!  Much like the house cleaning, I know i need a better plan for maintaining this year.  I think I need a rotation - on Tuesdays I work on one area, Thursdays another - maybe a front yard/back yard rotation?  And I MUST walk through the farm much more regularly.  I want to add walks out over the back fields, but daily I need to be in with the horses, chickens, goats..  and at least a walk through of the gardens, so I am more aware of what needs done, rather than avoiding it and living in denial.

Alfred The Alpaca

After a couple of months, Alfred was MISERABLE here.  He was obviously depressed. We found him a home with other alpacas, and he is very happy there - alpacas are a herd animal, and apparently goats are not always companions for them, Alfred was happiest with other alpacas.



Why did we get an alpaca?
     Because they are cute, and we knew someone who was selling one.  Yep, there are probably better reasons.  But That's all I've got.  :-)  He is intact, so if I can find some reasonably priced girls, we can have alpaca babies.  Which would be awesome.  (I just sold sheep because I didn't want to sheer them...  but we can pet Alfred.  We couldn't pet the sheep.  I'll learn to shear)

What do Alpaca's eat?
     Yep, I bought an alpaca without even knowing that.  So far I can tell you that he loves the grass.  He wasn't interested in the goats grain.  He hasn't touched the hay.   Good Website - http://www.alpacas.com/QnA/Care.aspx (Thanks Google!)

What's the Difference between a llama & an Alpaca?
    Again, I turn to google for help, and find: http://www.owning-alpaca.com/alpaca-and-llama.html
I did pretty much know this - we have had a llama here on the farm in the past.  What I did not realize is that alpacas are a herd animal.  right now I have Alfred in with the sheep, and I can move him with the horses for company..  but I do want to get him some girlfriends.  Basically, llamas are larger, and can be used for pulling carts, or keeping coyotes out of the pasture.  Alpacas are for fleece, and not much else.  Alpacas are smaller than llamas, and their fur is much softer, and a better texture, than llamas.

Misc:
Alpacas rarely challenge fences. Dan likes that.
They are a herd animal.  Alfred will need friends.  :-)
They need sheared.
They eat mostly grasses.
They do not require a lot of space.
They do need to be wormed.

I have to get a video of Alfred walking.  His gait is funny - it's fun to watch!  (I think it's a normal alpaca gait - just different than say, the horses, or the goats)


Cool new blog added to my reader - Alpaca Farm Girl
http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com/ 

Another great website:
http://www.owning-alpaca.com/index.html