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.

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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.

Dewart Livestock Auction



It's packed here today.  We brought in a rooster and three geese to sell- got $7 each for the geese and $4 for the rooster.  Much better than i expected. 

Two beautiful alpacas went for $110 each.  Guineas brought $9 each today. 

Dewart livestock auction is held every monday, starting outdoors with eggs, corn , hay, and a very small produce sale.  Calves start about 1:00pm, usually getting to goats and sheep around 2:30, followed by poultry, pigs, then the larger steers and cows.

Talking to Much & Meddling In The Affairs Of Others

From our BSF notes this week (last notes for our study of Acts)

"Peter states that when we are reproached for the name of Christ or falsely accused, we are to rejoice (1 Peter 4:12-16).  However, we are to be careful that the charges are not because we talk to much, or meddle in the affairs of others."

I've been watching so much strife on facebook lately, and this has me thinking about the division between standing up for what you believe, and meddling in the affairs of others.  Social media makes meddling so much easier today- every status begs for a response, that is the purpose of posting, right?

But maybe not.  Just because someone declares their beliefs in their status does not mean we need to respond at all.  We can disagree without words, but simply by how we live our own lives.  Unconcerned by the choices of those with whom we have no power to change, we are freed from so much strife. 

1 Peter 4:12-16 NIV:
"Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. "

My 2012 Garden Plan



Most of this is already in..  but I have not yet transplanted the peas.  They were grown in the field, but did not do well at all.  There are enough plants out there to move to this garden, but they will not be ready before the sweet corn goes in that field..  so I'll transplant them to here.  And still have room in front for something else, I think.

This is not to scale - each section but the one on the right is the length of a railroad tie.  The last one, on the right, is a short section.

Dealing With CL in Goats


"Caseous Lymphadenitis or CL is a highly contagious bacterial disease that affects sheep and goats. CL is characterized by abscess formations in the skin, internal and external lymph nodes, and internal organs. CL is a worldwide chronic disease in goats and sheep; however, some animals within a herd appear to be very resistant to this disease."



There is a new policy at the Dewart Livestock Auction, we can't go into the pens to check the goats anymore.


So the inevitable happened.


The first usual indication of CL infection is the presence of an external abscess visible behind the ears, beneath the jaw or neck, on the shoulder, or in the rear flank region. They may also develop between the hind legs where scrotal sac or udder attaches. Internal abscesses are detectable only through necropsy (examination after the animal is dead). Unfortunately, it is the internal abscesses that are fatal, whereas external abscesses are the ones generally responsible for disease transmission. Sheep are more prone to internal abscesses and goats are more prone to external abscesses. If an animal is experiencing chronic weight loss, it may be carrying internal CL abscesses on vital organs.


This week I bought a goat with CL.  I couldn't see it, her ear covered it until we got close.




We've had CL on the farm before.  I bought goats from a local, reputable, goat farmer, and they all had it.  He said he knew, but didn't' mention it because to him it's not a big deal.


It's a big deal for me.


But not a deal breaker.  I could resell Jane, shown above, but I like her.


Trying to be open minded about this subject, the only legitimate reason I could see for the injection of formalin into a CL abscess would be to stop the prospect of an abscess rupturing on my property. That is, until I could properly dispose of the goat. It's my understanding, that in some countries outside of the United States, caseous lymphadenitis is viewed with no more concern than the common cold. But, here in the land of unlimited pharmaceuticals -- we can fret. Therefore, we do


She's not in with the other goats for now - she's in a dog kennel.  We (by "We" - I definitely mean Dan) cut the spot open (in a location on the farm where non of our animals graze), drained it and cleaned it with peroxide, then with iodine.  In the past when we have done this, it has only come back in one goat.  I do think it effects them internally, and I suspect that Jane will not live as long or be as healthy as some of our other goats.  But she should be ok. She can have babies.  She should not infect the others (as long as there is no return of any seepage).


Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis causes CL. Goats and sheep can be infected by direct contact with this microorganism. The CL bacteria can be found in the soil of contaminated pens and pastures on feed and water troughs, and in shelters and other congregation points. The source of contamination is usually an abscess that has ruptured and drained onto various surfaces. Direct contact with a ruptured abscess by herd-mates will also spread the infectious bacteria from animal to animal. Animals can acquire infection orally when ingesting contaminated feed or grass. Upon infection, C. pseudotuberculosis will multiply and spread throughout the body via the bloodstream. Subsequently, lymph nodes and internal organs including the lungs, kidney and liver become infected and develop abscesses. The spinal cord can also develop CL abscesses. Once infected the animal is considered to be a carrier for life.


There's so much online, and every goat farmer tends to view CL differently.  We do not plan to return to herds of 40 goats - I'm only going to keep around 8-10 nannies here.  So each one I pick has to be one I REALLY like.  Since Emma looks just like Jane, it is possible I will sell Jane later.  But not until I am sure she is healed up from this abscess at least..  She is not coughing, but there is no way for me to know if she already has internal abscesses at this time.


CL is easily spread throughout a healthy herd by the abcess bursting externally, or by internal abcesses bursting and being spread by coughing. It is unknown by this author whether or not CL can be spread by sharing the same feeder area (dependent upon the goat coughing or not).

Note 3: Personally I'm not rabid about culling these animals as long as they appear healthy and are productive and you are willing to take the risk they pose to your control/eradication efforts. There is no reason the majority of them can't go ahead and lead a productive life. BUT if there is an animal in this group that you have second thoughts about for some reason, then use this as an excuse to cull them. Always cull animals with chronic weight loss - not only will you eliminate animals that may be shedding boil organisms, but will also get rid of ones with advanced CAE and Johne's.


There were several goats at the market this week, in the pen with Jane.  This was lightly seeping when we brought her home.  It's very likely all the goats in with her have been infected.  That's something to keep in mind - just because you can't see CL, doesn't mean they do not have it.  Any goat I buy could have it.  I think it's better to deal with it, than to obsess over it.  Time will tell if I am being naive.


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Some experiences copied from blog/forum comments:
as I said earlier, there are a LOT of differing opinions about CL

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"Sure the abcesses look yucky, but once goats go through it (at least the ones my friend had) they very rarely get another lump. You can use Formalin to kill the abcesse before it bursts, by injecting it into the lump after it loses the hair and before it bursts. About 6cc for a big lump, 4 cc for a med lump and 2 cc for small lump. My friends have used this with great results, the lump shrivles up and there is no spread of the CL from that lump. Overseas CL is seen as nothing more bothersome as a cold, and over here so many dairy goat herds have it the owners don't even bother with it because very few animals ever die of it. Same goes for meat herds. Now I know there is people out there that would kill a CL goat but I can't see doing that, my friends didn't and their goats are still going strong and are healthy and no lumps. Just some thoughts!"
Note - CL is more than external yuckiness, it's the internal abcesses that cause the real problems.
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Cl is highly infectious and very easy to spread, I had problems with cl for the longest time, we still have one or two more goats with it and we are going to lance them in a couple of days I use an iodine solution only peroxide can form a protective layer over the puss in a couple of days once you think everything is better boom it's right back, so use iodine to clean and cleanse and then use bleach, bleach kills the virus and since there are layers of puss helps to open ip those layers making it easy to squezze,when squezzing your goat don't gove if you see the slightest white in the lance then it not over and if it still is lump. Sometimes it works one time if you really try but just to be sure go back the next day and do the same thing. And then two times after that. The goats that we have lanced in the past show no further symptoms and I believe to be cl free but I always keep a cousious eye out just in case so they don't infect the herd and start the cycle all over again


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Is CL Contagious to People?
Can I Catch CL from my goat?


I have read in numerous places on the Internet that CL is contagious between animal species, even to people. This often directly results in a sense of complete fear and panic when CL first appears on a farm. I know it did for me. When I discovered Picasso had CL, and read on the Internet that it was contagious to other species, including people, I thought that Picasso, all the other animals on my farm, and I were all going to die from it.
Here's what I know:

  • My farm veterinarian, Dr. Richard Decktor, told me that in all his decades of farm veterinary practice, he has never seen a single case where a CL-infected animal infected an animal outside of its species. He felt that if it were true that a CL-infected animal could infect an animal outside of its species, he would have seen a case of it, and he hasn't, not a single one.
  • Susie Coston, National Director of Farm Sanctuary, has dealt with CL for years managing Farm Sanctuary's CL-infected goat and sheep herd. She told me that of all the people she knows that work with CL on a day-to-day basis, she doesn't know of a single person who has become infected with CL as a result of contact with a CL-infected animal.
  • In my own personal experience on my farm, neither I nor any of the other animal species on my farm (dog, cats, horses) have caught Picasso's CL, despite the fact that I and all the animals are in direct day-to-day contact with Picasso:
  • I have never made any effort to disinfect any part of my farm (with the exception of the inside of the shed used to house my unvaccinated test goat during formal testing for my permanent isolate extension).
  • I pet, hug, and kiss Picasso every day.
  • The animals share corrals, grazing areas, waterers, and occasionally feed buckets (when someone filches someone else's food when I'm not looking).

  • So if CL were truly contagious between species, why haven't people with extensive experience with CL in a real farm environment seen examples of it?


    None of us have ever gotten sick from our goats.  We have dealt with CL before, we have come in contact with the seepage..  we wash our hands of course, but no one here has "caught" this, nor have any of our other animals.  

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    Vaccines
    Caseous lymphadenitis is caused by the bacterial organism Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis. The two vaccines that Colorado Serum Company makes for CLA are licensed for use in sheep only. These two vaccines are also the only two commercially available vaccines for combating CLA in the United States. The vaccine (Case-Bac) is a combination bacterin/toxoid, while Caseous D-T also contains tetanus toxoid and Clostridium perfringens type D toxoid as well.

    Note 5: Vaccines are discussed below - probably not a good idea to use and boils vaccines in this group of animals - #1, it's too late for them and #2, infected animals seem more prone to have a reaction to the vaccine.

      lots of argument about how long organism can persist in the environment; more important to know how long it poses a practical threat - probably a matter of days if just smeared on surfaces, probably a matter of weeks/,onths if incorporated in organic material - bottom line is that resting pastures and pens for at least a month (especially in summer) probably reduces potential exposure to a minimum; scraping the top 2" - 4" of soil from pens and replacing with new sand or dirt will reduce contamination potential miscellaneous - organsims couldtheoretically leave infected animals via the following routes:
        SKIN: abscesses draining through skin - important!
        RESPIRATORY TRACT: coughing, nasal secretions releasing stuff from lung abscesses - important! High density (crowding) foster transmission by this route
        URINARY TRACT: very unlikely to be shedding in urine (would need to have an abscess in the kidney
        GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT: reported to be present in the digestive tract but no one has any good data to implicate manure as a significant source of infection - plus goats are so finnicky about what they eat - certainly would be a good idea to clean up manure and keep it out of feed bunks but I wouldn't be paranoid about it - would be most concerned about animals that were thin and "wasting" - need to remember that two other causes of "wasting" are CAE and Johne's
        MAMMARY GLAND: there have been reports of shedding in milk if there are abscesses in the udder - risk that offspring could be infected this way (another good reason to pasteurize milk for human consumption)


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    More Links:

    http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/U/UNP-0085/UNP-0085.pdf

    http://www.clgoatcare.org/

    http://www.sa-boergoats.com/ASP/Maria-Browning/Caseous-Lymphadenitis.asp

    http://www.tennesseemeatgoats.com/articles2/CLFormalin.html

    Raised Beds - Planned & Planted

    Most years I look at Companion Planting guides, and then I go out and plant the garden willy nilly.  This year I wanted to follow some of the suggestions.  So when I made my plan (I use microsoft publisher, 5x7 page size, create a grid for the veggies, and add notes to the right.  Save each page as a jpg, send to my phone..  voila, portable, digital, garden planning)

    I planted cabbage right in the herb bed this year, because the smell of the herbs, and marigolds, are supposed to help repel the cabbage worms.  I planted catnip in the backyard too, because it is supposed to help repel fleas. 

    Currently there are 3 raised, Modified Square Foot Garden, boxes in my back yard.  Below are the planning sheets, followed by a photo of what the box looks like planted.  I do not have tomatoes in the ground here yet, but everything else is in.







    Ironing out a water mark

    This would be what happens when you put a box with a hot stromboli in it, directly on my kitchen table.  Fortunately, this time I knew what to do about it.  In the past, for water rings on this table, I tried mayo.  It never worked.  I had resigned myself to sanding down, and refinishing the table, once the kids were a bit older.  (This belonged to my husbands great aunt - one of my favorite relatives)

    This table has been waxed.  A lot.  Not by me - I got it this way.  It actually has thick foam protectors to cover the entire surface, so that it is protected all the time..  but I never quite understood why I would want a wood table top, just to cover it in foam and vinyl?

    Anyway, I saw an episode of the Revolution, and learned that on waxed finishes, mayo does't work.  That you need to use heat!

    A soft cloth, and an iron.  Do not let the iron set, keep it moving.  And this isn't instant..  it will take just a few minutes. 

    But it's so worth the results!



    On The Farm This Week 5/1/12

    It's been a busy week on the farm.  Last Friday my Alpaca was delivered. On Saturday I bought a Donkey at the Amish sale.  We had kittens born, tore down the old fencing in the front yard (the former goat pen) and picked up all the lumber for the new fence, and this Saturday we acquired a new calf that needs bottle fed.

    Fb Status from the farm this week:

    Luke just called from inside the chicken coop- the wind blew the door shut and latched it from the outside, locking him in. Fortunately he had his cell phone w/ him. :-)

    and another:
    Today three men just walked into our pasture, to see how Rocky (Dan's horse) rides. Apparently they were under the impression they could buy him, so they just stopped by and walked into the pasture to go check him out. Didn't ask, didn't stop at the house - just walked right in. Unbelievable. 

    Alfred the Alpaca:



    Isn't he cute?  This is our first alpaca.  We hope to get him some girlfriends at some point this year.
    More about Alpacas



    Donkey:
    Donkey, named Donkey after the donkey in Shrek.  Another addition to the farm in the past week.  We got him at the Amish sale (Beaver Run Consignment Sale) but the man who brought him there bought him at Middleburg Auction.  He said it was a pity buy  - he was in bad shape when he bought him.  He got him healthy, then sold him.  Donkey is super friendly - we love him!


    Horses:

    I RODE WRANGLER THIS WEEK!!!

    This is a major big deal.  I've been struggling with the idea of a new horse. Wrangler has been here a couple of months now, but I kept finding excuses to not ride him.  I was a little afraid of him, and i miss Red something fierce.  But Wrangler did GREAT, he was a dream to ride.  Well behaved.  Didn't spook when the dogs ran and jumped in front of him.  Didn't spook with Rocky beside us (Dan's horse is a bit of a bully, and him and wrangler sometimes have issues when they are in the pasture..  I worried about having them both out riding side by side).  Now we just need to make riding a habit.

    Meg rode Cricket, shown on the left here. She had a miserable time with him.  :-(  He is a little green.

    Cows:

    Arrived on Saturday - a 5 day old heifer calf (twin) from the dairy farm next door.  She's in her own pen out back for now, while she is bottle fed, we'll move her over with the others when she no longer needs a bottle.  


    The other two continue to do well and get big!  They are temporarily living in the upper horse ring with Donkey, Alfred, and 3 goats.  All are getting along well.  Everyone is living there this week while the new fencing is being put up in our front yard.



    Goats:

    Still waiting for Aryiana to give birth...  Dan said from the feel of her ligaments, it will probably be another week or two.  I'd like to get the new fence up and get her moved back into her pen before she gives birth, but she'd be fine in the pen she is in now too.



    Poultry:
    Our oldest son FINALLY caught the last of the peacock "babies" (one year old, last years babies) so now the buyers can come pick them up - we have them all sold.  We are keeping Mr & Mrs Peabody, my breeding pair.

    We are truly drowning in eggs. I know I could sell them, but for now I don't want to mess with that.  We've been giving them away left and right.

    There are Emu chicks on craigslist this week, but they want $75 each for them. I'm afraid they would die for us, I'd rather buy adults to start with.





    Garden:
    It snowed this week.  Snow.  Now much, but enough that I am glad I didn't get overly anxious with all that super warm weather we had and plant a bunch of things outside.

    Chickens checking out the strawberry plants

    Empty raised beds in the back yard.  (The pallet fence in the back is the Calf pen, that is where we put the new calves when they arrive.  It's sheltered from the wind by the garage, and convenient to run out the back door and feed a bottle)

    Misc:



    Kittens born on the farm this week

    We've started the new fencing project.