When Experience Counts
A hard lesson in, it’s what you don’t know that counts… even if you read every book you can, nothing beats real life experience…
A few days ago, one of our ‘little kids’ Izzie, became really sick. She had taken herself off into the wool shed to be on her own on sunday afternoon.
I thought she had sun stroke as it has been over 40 degrees for almost a month, with no respite from the soaring heat and no rain the paddocks are in a dreadful state.
Although, we have been supplementing all the animals with dry brought feed, and giving everyone as much water as we can spare. It felt we were somehow failing our beloved animals.
Our water tanks are very very low and what little water we have is reserved for our animals. We conserve water by peeing in a bucket and throwing this on the compost heap..it really is a good form of fertiliser tea.
We have stopped using the washing machine, wearing all of our clothes. We only wash up when the last cup or utensil has been used.
It is a dreadful state of affairs for everybody and there is no real rain forecast for another two months.
But, back to Izzie, that night I went to check on her before it got dark and she had started frothing at the mouth.
I raced inside to the goat books… no, it didn’t seem as though, she was poisoned, none of the stated symptoms. (frothing at the mouth was never mentioned, but it is one of the signs of poisoning in humans)
I rang the vet, and was told, yes, a lot of it about, it’s rye grass staggers: keep her warm and put out clean water. She should come round on her own, but if she doesn’t , it doesn’t sound good, so prepare yourself, she sounds like she is going to die.
I phoned one of our neighbour’s to no avail, again, I was just told to walk away and let her die.
No I couldn’t do that.
After a restless night, I got up early and found Izzie still alive in the woolshed, she was extremely weak, and wet from drooling and still frothing badly.
Cathy, another neighbour kindly came to look at her, she showed me how to give her fluid by syringe, a very stressful mission, for both myself and Izzie.
Goodness, I can deal with humans, but give me a helpless animal and I go weak at the knees. Cathy is a great farmer, and she didn’t think it was rye grass staggers as there was no new growth, no, she felt poisoning was the reason.
Had Izzie had any access to rhododendron or camellia or avocado leaves she asked.
My heart stopped, we had cut down the last bushes and trees of both camellia and avocado a few days before, but Izzie was not really, interested in them.
I never knew they were poisonous but I did know rhododendron was and we have not got any of that. God we both felt awful, the guilt had to be pushed to one side, if it was our fault we couldn’t beat ourselves up because we didn’t know and NONE of our four goats books gave these trees/bushes as a danger.
So, I struggled with my helplessness and managed to give her electrolyte replacement every half an hour by syringe. Things really did not look good, Izzie was very uninterested, glassy eyed and extremely week.
She refused feed, refused to get up but she did move herself around the wool shed, not so much in a drink way but in a really ‘ I’m not well’ kinda way: she had her back hunched and was crying out when settling herself to lie down.
She was constantly dribbling and frothing, she hung her head, a really really bad sign.
Another friend called and advised the multi mineral supplement and the multi vitamin supplement my partner and I take every day with separate vitamin C powder, and some nooks homeopathic remedy. Goats in very high heat and humidity, have all the goodness leached out of them, especially minerals and vitamins
Armed with this, we struggled all day and well into the evening until it was too dark to see, constantly giving all that we could.
I was sure she was getting worse, as she could not seem to feed, she would lick up very fine molasses grain but leaves, willow we collected form a friends house, she sucked. I checked her tongue the best I could, it was soft and not swollen.
Hearing about Izzies grazing problems, another neighbour diagnosed a condition called ‘woody tongue’ and gave us some anti-histamine. Each and every piece of advice we got, we researched on the internet and then checked Izzies symptoms against each diagnosis.
No, it was definitely not woody tongue as her tongue was soft and pliable and Izzie seemed to be rallying around with the mineral, homeopathic and vitamin supplements we were giving, she was certainly struggling a lot harder!! but she still could not eat, and was still frothing. So we kept on with those. There really wasn’t another choice.
However, the next morning I got up early and as I passed the hall window, I could see five bright white shapes out in the paddock…
A second look revealed I had indeed seen five white shapes out in the paddock…
There was Izzie , back in the fold after her near death experience. She was a little quite and still out of sorts, but her mouth was dry, no drooling no frothing. Things were looking up.
Annie her twin was over the moon, she had her play mate back, even if Izzie didn’t exactly want to play. Still, Annie could rear up on her hind legs and pretend to butt her sister!!
Three days have passed and Izzie is still weak and thin but not in any distress her drooling has stopped and she is browsing again, thank goodness.
Even now she runs like hell when she sees me still 
But you have to do what you have to do …sorry Izzie!!
My partner found a poisoning on the internet, from fermented feed, mainly grains. Then it dawned on us… the last bucket of chicken scraps brought down to our property by the children had a story attached.
Unfortunately, we didn’t hear the story in time to collect the scattered scraps, but it confirmed our growing suspicions over the last few weeks.
The scraps being brought down had been allowed to go rotten and the animals were eating these rotten scraps and I feel this had caused a toxic build up over the weeks. I go on the rule of thumb, if I wouldn’t go near it, neither should they kinda thing.
Our dogs and some of the other animals have been vomiting and we suspected the scraps, but had never been quick enough to stop them being scattered. And, it seems stupid now, we didn’t have the heart to approach the owners of the scraps for fear of upsetting them, it’s a small community with lots of ‘real’ farmers. (Out here, any piece of ‘farmland’ under 500 acres is NOT considered a farm)
The story ran, that the neighbours had been away for over 10 days and when ‘mum’ went to put something in the scrap bucket that morning, she had screamed and nearly ’spewed up’ (this is an eight year old telling the story) maggots were every crawling where.
Instead of burying or burning this revolting mess ‘mum’ emptied a whole can of fly spray into the bucket and dispatched youngest child to dispose of it on our paddock. And it had been consumed before we found this out.
I really think it was a combination of heat, rotting food and our mistake at not removing the tree and bush debris straight away that caused Izzies sickness.
So, it was a good time to batten down the hatches, I called the family concerned and told them Izzie and some of the dogs had been vomiting so we were going to control what they ate and we wouldn’t be needing the chicken scraps any longer, but thanking them all the same.
Well, the word got out about our sick goat, on the phone came ‘mum’ is it this, is it that? anything BUT the rotting food with poison in it.
I said, I honestly didn’t know but the trees and bushes could be the culprits. Oh good, you will be wanting the chicken scraps after all then… No I don’t think so I said a politely as I could. ‘mum’ was definitely NOT happy, but I really didn’t care.
I do care about my farm and animals, and would never intentionally put them in harms way, I believe the leaves didn’t help.
But, Cathy, saved Izzies life and Doreen, brought her back to life with the mineral, vitamins and homeopathic remedy.
I am grateful to them and I hope they enjoyed their bottles of wine and boxes of chocolates. They protested they did nothing and it was simply ‘what you do’
No, my friends, it’s what the likes of you and I do but not everyone, believe me, we have been there. So A BIG thank you.
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