 All of you in the cold snap areas please remember to bundle yourselves well and stay safe. You will need extra calories to stay warm. Protect your skin! Please make sure your animals (even pigs) have extra grass hay accessible to help them create warmth and deep bedding.
Be sure they are in areas where the wind and weather can stay off of them and not blow in from the sides. Some overhead fresh air movement is good- I like mine at the eight foot level so it's not near me when standing or my stock. Fragile, old, or very young animals may need to be in a heated area such as a milkroom, tackroom area, enclosed heatable stall or even a back porch or extra bathroom (40 degrees for a room is plenty warm as long as they have good food and bedding). Be extremely wary of heat lamps which are responsible for many barn fires. They can shatter if they fall, if an animal bumps into one, or if an animal shakes their head and spashes water droplets on it. Offer warm water to drink if possible with black strap molasses (not feed store, but health food store) in it for more b vitamins. You can also put a large pinch of cayenne herb powder per large goat, a small pinch per small goat in their water to help them with endurance, more b's and help warm their core more and support their heart. Fragile animals can be carefully drenched with their cayenne if you mix it with one or two ounces of water. BIG HUGS From All of us at Fir Meadow LLC  Yes you can store herbs for long term! Our products (www.firmeadowllc.com) are Best by generally two years from date of manufacture although we have had customers use products up to seven year old with favorable results (not recommended!).
The enemies to your herb blends are heat, greatly fluctuating temperatures, light, age and moisture so those are the situations we want to avoid for them. For herbs to be used within the next month or two often keeping them in their packaging and in a cupboard is sufficient. Herbs and blends that you will be keeping for longer than two months I suggest that one pull out a couple of months worth and keep that in the barn in a sealed freezer bag, lidded canning jar (be careful around concrete!), or a sealable plastic jar remembering to store it out of direct light. Also be sure to use a clean spoon or scoop and do not get any moisture into either container. The remainder can be kept in the original packaging in the house in a cabinet. For those that want to store herbs beyond a year or two or for seasonally used products (like Ewe-Ter-N) I suggest you double bag the product you don't plan to be using that year and place it in the freezer. Most herbs as long as you didn't introduce moisture to them will keep for years in that manner. If one is making an infusion (strong herbal tea) any excess can be kept for up to three days in the refrigerator. Excess can be frozen in ice cube trays and double freezer bagged for later use. I would use twice the amount for any cubes that I pulled from the freezer. Always put the current date on any bags of cubes. For those making dosage balls with black strap molasses, organic peanut butter or raw honey which do not have a water content you can keep excess balls in the refrigerator for approximately a week. I would store them on a lower shelf since cold settles usually making that the coldest area of your fridge. Any that you'd like to keep longer than that double freezer bag and keep in your freezer. You may want to freeze them on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet before you bag them so they don't freeze together. Herbs can also be stored indefinately in alcohol and for multiple years in raw organic apple cider vinegar and then straining the liquid before using. They can also be kept in olive oil this way for approximately two years. Remember to keep these out of light, to use sterilized containers and to label them with a date. Happy Herbing!  We had a recent question about Lung worm and irritated lungs in a goat, as well as wanting to be ready for an upcoming kidding. I'm sharing my notes.
Besides helping her body be a place that lungworm doesn't want to reside (DWA (tm)) she may need some additional lung support. If she has damage there- remember that is tender tissue that can be irritated with every breath containing particulate in it (ever see dusty barn air in a sunbeam?) I would look at BreatheDeeplee(tm) herb mix to give that support. It will take some time as the lungs aren't allowed to rest while they heal themselves. I will also list other suggestions based on info in your email. Do or don't do as you feel led. If you want for her you could also consider MMune (tm) as she probably is more susceptible to other potential issues at this time. IF you think she may have a bacterial or viral issue starting (WATCH HER FOR ANY SIGN OF FEVER!) or if you just want to rule that out before there would be problems please look at HerBiotic (tm) herb mix. For your pregnant doe if you want look at BetterDaze(tm) herb mix. Kop-Sel if you are in a selenium/copper deficient area for support if you want herbal support. PrePare(tm) for prekidding reproductive organ support. Ewe-Ter-N(tm) herb mix given on kidding day, just before (or sometimes during) kidding, and after if afterbirth doesn't drop in 20 minutes. GI Soother(tm) is extremely popular for raising kids that are in coccidia or barberpole areas. Blessings every single one of you in your farm and family this year!!! And yes, I count farm critters as family :). |
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