 You've carefully planned the breeding/s and invested considerable time and resources into improving your genetics, production and performance. You are to be HIGHLY commended! Now is a GREAT time to complement all of your time, hardwork and investment with GREAT whole herb products to help support them so that their bodies have easily accessible nutrition available so that they can try to do the best that they possibly can for birthing preparation, birthing and support. Here are my favorite products for that, having spent nearly 50 years breeding animals of many different kinds. All products have been lovingly and thoughtfully developed from lifelong livestock, pet and poultry experience combined with a Master's Degree in Herbalism ( The same education is known as a "Medical Herbalist" in Europe, Austrailia, S. Africa, etc ) and extremely high quality products. I am limited by the F*D*A* by what I can say about herbs and we are never able to claim that herbs treat, prevent, cure or to diagnose any disease and make no claims for that. One can read reviews if they would like additional information. This is what I DO and you can too if you like. Please combine with correct feed, clean water, proper shelter and gentle daily exercise such as walking from one end of the field to the other once a day. A 1 or 2 acre field is usually sufficient for distance. Poor management reduces the ability of herbs being able to support your creature. PreBirth™ I like to use this product the last two weeks of pregnancy (as ascertained by their due date). It traditionally provides nutrients that the body may use to prepare itself for for birthing. Allowing the body to try to be more efficient and possibly allowing the body a more likely chance of have the baby/ies ready for a correct presentation. Not needed on or after birthing day. Any unused portion can be sealed up, added to a freezer bag and placed in the freezer to keep indefinitely. So can any of our other herb mixes. https://www.firmeadowllc.com/store/p453/Herb_Mix_PreBirth_Late_Pregnancy_Support_8_oz.html Ewe-Ter-N™ is a product I start giving on the day of the birth or the day it looks like they are going to birth. I start in the morning and give every six hours. I also give at birthing if it's been over an hour since they last had it. I can give it in the middle of birthing if they are having multiples or a difficult birth. I also can give it afterwards if the afterbirth is taking longer then 20 minutes to dispel. For retained afterbirths consult my livestock book, also on my website. https://www.firmeadowllc.com/store/p433/Herb_Mix_Ewe-ter-N%E2%84%A2__birth_support_8_oz.html MilkMaid™ Sends some love to those milk producing glands so important to getting a good genetic start on your young ones. Hard birth, not seeming to produce what they should be, a bigger litter then normal? This product may help them tremendously and also contains herbs traditionally used to help bodies increase the fat content of the milk- so necessary for growing brains and organs! I once used this on a doe (goat) that had aborted one month prior to bring her into milk to keep her on the milkstring. https://www.firmeadowllc.com/store/p885/Herb_Mix_MilkMaid_%28tm%29_Lactation_Support_8_oz.html MMune™ Did you know that approximately two weeks before birthing to about two weeks after birthing (yes a whole month!) your dam's immune system takes a big dump allowing invaders an easier time of gaining a foothold in your furry friend? I love this product for support during that time, as well as at the 2 month mark for stock when many of them are switching from their dam's antibodies to their own immune systems. I also liked it for animals traveling, moving or being exhibited. It's like a hug for the immune system :) https://www.firmeadowllc.com/store/p874/Herb_Mix_MMune_%28tm%29_Immune_System_Support__8_oz.html GISoother™ And this product is like a hug for their tummy and gi tract. I like it when the body needs to support loose bowels, has malabsorption issues sometimes caused by scar tissue in the intestinal tract, for tummy pain and things like that. It allows the body to nurture your creature towards wellness. I like it for daily use with kids, lambs or anything living in a barn or small paddock where things build up. I also really really love this to start baby poultry on! Just mix it with damp feed. It helps their little bodies want to LIVE! VIVA! https://www.firmeadowllc.com/store/p811/GI_Soother%E2%84%A2_Digestive_System_Support_16_oz.html Take me to the barn with you! The Accessible Pet, Equine and Livestock Herbal has an entire chapter of birthing animals. It also has a chapter on raising young stock and another on working with milking stock/lactations. Larger print to make reading it while in the barn easier. https://www.firmeadowllc.com/store/p1000/The_Accessbile_Pet%2C_Equine_and_Livestock_Herbal%2C_over_500_pages%21.html And one last thing... But clearly not last as it is our MOST POPULAR PRODUCT! DWA™ Is what I use for creatures (all) that are exposed to things that may come to life in their intestinal tract or other areas of the body like bloodstream, liver, lungs, etc. Remember that immune system dump? That is also a time when these types of things like to take advantage of your fur friend. And of course is wonderful for your feathered friends too. There are plenty of reviews to read on this one if one wants to. https://www.firmeadowllc.com/store/p818/DWA_%28tm%29__-_16_oz__supports_body_in_foreign_matter_removal%2C_Flea%2C_Tick%2C_Mosquito_Season_Support.html Wishing you all the most amazing young stock crop ever and the ability to reach their genetic potential! Blessings, Katherine   POPULAR and PERFECT for animals that are third trimester, getting ready to birth or are birthing! A Master of Herbology with lifelong livestock, equine, pet and poultry experience behind every bag! Third trimester we love ReBuilld(tm) Herb mix- perfect for those fast growing preborn little bodies in litters or single babies in larger livestock https://www.firmeadowllc.com/store/p92/Herb_Mix_ReBuilld%E2%84%A2_Tissue_%26_Bone_Support_8_oz.html Perfect the last 15% of gestation (take the number of days that species of animal normally is pregnant and multiply that by .15 to get the number of days to feed before due) I love this on my very own mares, pacas and goats!!!!! PreBirth(tm) Support is here: https://www.firmeadowllc.com/store/p453/Herb_Mix_PreBirth_Late_Pregnancy_Support_8_oz.html Ewe-Ter-N(tm) is what I give the day of birthing, starting that morning and giving every 4 - 6 hours until they birth. It won't force a birthing but will be there ready to support your doe, ewe, cow, bitch, sow, mare, female paca when they get to work. It also supports their uterine musculature so they seem to be more likely to have correct presentations. I will give more if the placenta is being delayed. LOVE THIS STUFF! https://www.firmeadowllc.com/store/p433/Herb_Mix_Ewe-ter-N%E2%84%A2__birth_support_8_oz.html And for those that did have a rough birth or a slow start, are otherwise healthy but you want to support lactation quantity and quality take a look at our popular MilkMaid(tm). I even used it one year on a doe that had aborted, one month later to help her body decide to milk. https://www.firmeadowllc.com/store/p885/Herb_Mix_MilkMaid_%28tm%29__8_oz.html Blessed birthings and best babies yet everyone!!!!   *Is your dam milking less than you expected for her genetics or previous records? Did she have a rough birthing start? Did she come to you with a heavy parasite load or not with the care you would want every animal to have had? Hope is on the way!
The consideration to pay attention to is parasite issues. An animal feeding parasites and being damaged by them simply can not milk their genetic potential to give their babies a shot at getting a great start on reaching their genetic potential. Parasites that hang out in the blood stream and other locations put a serious drain on your dam, reducing her ability to produce milk and often having a negative ability on milk quality and taste. Being sure their intestines (large and small) can absorb nutrition to the best of their ability is also important. Parasites that lurk directly in the GI Tract (ones known to hemorrhage intestinal tissue and cause bloody diarrhea) as well as conditions that caused intestinal scar tissue in animals that had rough beginnings or times in their lives benefit from supporting these organs so that they are able to fully utilize the nutrition they ingest. Also consider the dip in immunity a few weeks before through a few weeks after parturition. This is about a one month time period for small livestock, a bit less for pets, and about 6 - 8 weeks for large stock. This also makes them more susceptible to parasites as well as other conditions. We love using MMune™ for this support. Access to fresh clean (and not chilling ice cold!) water is extremely important for milk production since milk is approximately 90 - 95% water. Also be sure there are no electrical currents coming from power cords/lines/ fencing under wet ground or bedding or in proximity to the water tank that prevents your animals from consuming the water they would like to have. Very nutritious mineral dense foods such as alfalfa and kelp as well as access to seasalt are important to the diet of all animals: poultry, livestock and pets for optimum production. We also love using the very popular BetterDaze ™ for supporting all creatures great and small. Being sure that there are not any other underlying wellness issues or subclinical infections from birthing is another consideration for milk production. For traditional wellness support I use HerBiotic ™ in our herds. Having addressed all of those items-and knowing that your animal is other healthy brings us to using the product we abosolutely love for lactation support: MilkMaid™ to give those hardworking lactating dams what their body needs so that it can produce their best quantity AND best quality of milk possible for that superior next generation that you bred for. https://www.firmeadowllc.com/store/p885/Herb_Mix_MilkMaid_%28tm%29__8_oz.html Other products at www.firmeadowllc.com to consider under products & herb mixes are: DWA™ https://www.firmeadowllc.com/store/p818/DWA_%28tm%29__-_16_oz__supports_body_in_foreign_matter_removal.html GISoother™ https://www.firmeadowllc.com/store/p811/GI_Soother%E2%84%A2_Digestive_System_Support_16_oz.html MMune™ https://www.firmeadowllc.com/store/p874/Herb_Mix_MMune_%28tm%29__immune_system_support__8_oz.html Better Daze™ https://www.firmeadowllc.com/store/p418/Herb_Mix_BetterDaze%E2%84%A2__8_oz.html HerBiotic ™ https://www.firmeadowllc.com/store/p812/Herb_Mix_HerBiotic%E2%84%A2_Wellness_Support_4_oz.html Wishing you blessings multiplied, happy milkers and happy babies to you and your farm! *The Food and Drug Administration has not approved any of these statements and they are not intended to cure, prevent, treat or diagnose any disease.  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 :). Do you wish you didn't have to rely on synthetic nutrient excito toxin storebought products? Look no further! I love making this for my does, alpacas and mares after they birth. It's easy to stir into warm water which most animals will readily slurp up. Serve it immediately after birthing. It can also be offered during prolonged birthing (in that case I also offer up Ewe-Ter-N(tm) which supplies what the body needs to enable it to have well timed efficient contractions and usually a faster expulsion of the afterbirth).
Combine Black Strap molasses, olive oil, cayenne and BetterDaze(tm) herb mix with enough hot water to make it easy to drench (or add it to their grain, mash or water). The molasses needs to be Black Strap unsulphured. The cheaper grades are primarily sugar and very little mineral, which will weaken your animal's muscular strength and remove some minerals from their body). It provides valuable iron in a safe form as well as many other minerals and B vitamins to help support a tired or stressed body. This is often a health food store item. 50 - 100 lb animals get 1/2 tablespoon, 100 to 200 lb animals get 1 tbsp, 200-400 lb animals get 2 tbsp (1/8 cup). 400 to 800 lb animals get 3 tbsp. 800- 1300 lb animals get 1/2 cup. The olive oil provides easy to utilize calories as well as being soothing to the digestive system. Give the same dose as the molasses. Cayenne ideally should be 35,000 heat unit if organic to 40,000 heat unit potency. I use a small pinch with animals under 100 lbs, a large pinch for 100 - 200 lb animals, 1/8 tsp for 200-400 lbs, 1/4 tsp for 400 - 800 lbs and 1/2 tsp for 800 - 1300 lb creatures. It it another great source of B vitamins during stress as well as a high quality Vitamin C source. It helps support animals that are shocky, will help the body stop bleeding or hemorrhaging (I give it orally mixed with water and give it vaginally mixed with water or olive oil) and helps supply endurance. BetterDaze(tm) herb mix supplies a wide range of easy to utilize vitamins, minerals and nutrients which are perfect for supporting the dam and her tired body. Follow dosages on the label. It can be purchased here https://www.firmeadowllc.com/store/p418/Herb_Mix_BetterDaze%E2%84%A2_Nutritional_Supplement_OG-WC_8_oz.html if you don't already have it on hand. It's also a great product to support your babies towards reaching their genetic potential. May all of you have the most beautiful and successful babies this year!  "But I don't have coyotes" your mind is telling you. The truth is you probably do. They cruise through rural, suburban and even sometimes city areas of 49 of our states and all of Canada. February & March they tend to be the most aggressive as they enter breeding season along with reduced rodent availability. Male coyotes can become extremely aggressive due to increased testosterone levels and increases in fighting with other males. After that hunting increases to feed their quickly growing pups. Fall of course encourages them to hunt extra to try to put on extra weight for winter and winter of course faces it's own challenges. We have seen coyotes all hours of the daytime and of course hear them out at night (we have at least three distinct packs in our neighborhood). They've been sighted off in the distance, in neighbor's yards and even just a step outside of our livestock containing fencing! Fencing without a guardian in it of course can be dug under, squeezed through or under or sometimes jumped over from a log or pile of manure or other item that a careless stock owner leaves too close to the fence. Coyotes only require a few inches to squeeze under or through something. Check your fencing regularly to avoid this.
As livestock and pet owners there are many concerns with coyotes. One is the spread of parvo through their feces. Another is the well known fact that they delight in hunting dogs and cats as a part of their menu, even snatching them off of porches. Even your guardian dogs aren't 100% safe from them. This is why. Several years ago we watched the audacity of one coyote in the afternoon run back and forth along the fenceline with our guardian dogs going bananas just on the other side. What was that trouble maker up to? He knew he couldn't get in and with dogs right there he wouldn't try. What he was doing and what they try to do is to get a dog or two to come after them. Suicidal? No. Hunting? Yes! If they can coerce your guardian or other dog to dig out, squeeze out or go over for a chase they will lead your dog right into an ambush by the pack. End of dog. One guardian or two guardians have no way to take on a pack of coyotes in a planned ambush. Coyotes are ruthless in their hunting. When going after livestock (or deer, elk, etc) their main strategy is do distract and attack from the front to keep their prey's attention while one or more go for the hamstring or scrotum at the rear. As soon as they bring their animal down they don't finish the kill. They just start eating. Sick and evil, but true. They also are very well known for pulling baby livestock away during birthing- even before the baby is completely out of the birth canal! Always keep your mares, jennies, cattle and small livestock if possible in a coyote proof pen close in when birthing, and / or keep guardians with them. They generally target pets and small livestock (including your immature large livestock), but if they are real hungry they will also target large stock. I also had a horse about twenty years ago that sustained an injury to his face from hitting the fence while running coyotes off. Ways to avoid coyotes on your place is by keeping good strong fencing on borders where possible along with a guardian or guardians on the inside. Guardian dogs, llamas, occasionally an alpaca male, and donkeys are all commonly used for livestock guardians. There are pros and cons to each form so you'll need to decide which is right for you. Electric fencing can be used but it a maintenance issue if placed on the outside of the fence due to grass and brush growth. Solar powered electric web fencing is very expensive but works well for those that need to get a fence up quick in a new location. It's most commonly used for small livestock and poultry. Coyotes are very difficult to shoot. My husband has been able to drop one in all of our years together. But certainly if you have safety training and it's legal for you to shoot where you are, this is another method to try to narrow down the ranks. If you are having to shoot onto a neighbor's property to get them be sure you have their permission. Don't count on being able to get very many this way though unless you live in an area where you can set up with a light, calls etc in areas where it's legal to hunt them that way. Remember that while coyotes are wiley, your number one most likely predator damage is going to be from DOGS- from your neighborhood, your own, or strays wandering through. We get clients from all three scenarios. Please have a plan to keep them out of your stock. May you never ever ever have a problem from these beautiful but rotten thieves. We are here to help you with herbal aftercare should you have an animal or animals that ever experience predator damage. See our great products at www.firmeadowllc.com . Look for Better Daze, Cayenne extract or herb powder, Wounderful! Salve and ReBuilld herb mix to radically support the healing process. Blessings ALL OF YOU!!!   Totally not fun! I hate dealing with retained afterbirths. We had just dealt with a very difficult kidding on this doe. Her tail tendons had been gone all day and she had not yet kidded. She wasn't impatient, but by the time darkness fell I knew I was going to have to glove up and find out why. I had already given her one dose of Ewe-Ter-N tea to help us with more efficient contractions which she drank readily a few hours ago. So I drenched her with a second dose. Then after we milked does and fed kids Jerry and I went to work. My husband has the very important job of holding the does and talking to them while I do the fishing to find out why the goat stork had not arrived. So after lubing up with 3 drops of lavender essential oil (see our website to purchase) mixed into some olive oil, I found that I had a cervix only somewhat dilated so I applied firm but not too hard of pressure with my fingers in an outward circle position and it began to dilate further. It probably took about three minutes to get full dilation so that I could feel what I had going on. And just what?!? was going on? So I felt a bony 'corner' then I felt a spine, then I found a tail. Oh rats. rump first. Not even any rear legs to go with it. To top it off there was a kid just to the right with one front leg and a nose, but as I was feeling around I felt an eye socket that felt ldeeper than normal. hmmmm. So I opt to slowly, carefully slide my hand down the uterus under the rump of the kid that was just a bit closer to me. Carefully keeping my hand along the underneath of the kid I find one leg. So then I carefully had to simultaneously try to move the rump further into the doe while I cupped my hand around the foot and took some time to first curl the foot around, then get enough room to slowly bring the foot up without compromising or breaking the fetlock joint (pastern). Yes, it was tight in there. My cupped hand protected the doe's uterus from being torn as I brought the leg up and through the vulva. Now I had one rear leg and a rump. Not ideal, but better than no rear legs to pull. This kid was somewhat dry (not a good sign) so I filled up a 50 ml cc feeding syringe (available on our website- always keep one in your kidding kit!) with olive oil and five drops of lavender essential oil (standard sized lamancha doe) and carefully inserted it into the vaginal canal between the kid and wall and squirted it up into the canal. Nicely lubed- yes! Be very careful if you have to do this with a forward facing kid- try to get the lubricant back behind the head so you don't aspirate your kid. After some working I was able to get the kid out. Dead kid- at least for several hours by looking at the eyes- which explained the deeper than normal eye sockets. So this was the SAME kid that I thought was two- in a u shape with his rump and head trying to get out at the same time. First time for everything and hope I don't see another one of those! With him clear the second kid- a doeling came out just fine and normal. Then the third kid came out rear feet first but in goats that is normal. I just help the doe with these by pulling downward towards HER hocks so we can get to the face fast to strip it with a soft absorbable cotton washcloth before it tries to breathe. So thankfully two nice and healthy strong doelings. Because of the work to get that first dystocia (malpresentation) this doe's vulva was quite mishapen. And because I had to dig in and out of her I loaded up the drenching syringe with HerBiotic herb mix (on our website) and olive oil and drenched that into her vaginal canal with a hard push on the plunger to send the mix as far up as possible. I wanted that up there since I had been past the cervix even though I sanitized my glove I still most certainly introduced bacteria into her uterus- remember it's airborn in a barn and sticking to your glove and any thing else wet immediately. I also put HerBiotic salve on the very damaged vulval lips. First photo shows the damage to the vulva and retained afterbirth. Second photo shows how much salve I put on and third shows her just 24 hours later. We do blanket our does after they kid until the next morning when we put them back with the herd after milking- unless there is a problem. With a very difficult birth a retained placenta isn't all that uncommon and I also hate these. The whole time you have afterbirth hanging their bacteria are climbing up the afterbirth and marching into the vulva and uterus. With these we typically tie about a one pound weight to the top of the afterbirth- being careful not to break it and being careful to never tie any of the vulval lips into the hayrope. I like hay rope best because it's stiff for easy tying/untying, easy to sanitize and we never have a shortage of it! I also tie up any extra placenta into a not to add to the weight and gave another dose of Ewe-Ter-N herb mix. Every couple hours I untied and retied the block back up at the top as the placenta slowly worked it's way out of the doe. This placenta held on for nearly a day- very long for us and I don't like the doe having to deal with it that long. But we can't pull the placenta out or we risk damaging the future fertility of the doe. I will always check the afterbirth with a firm but gentle and slow downward pulling action to see if it will just let go and come out before I add weight. You never want to tear it or force it out. I'm continuing to give this doe oral and intravaginal HerBiotic to help her deal with any bacterial issues that could turn into bad infections. I'll do this for a week to ten days based on my observations on any potential discharge and her attitude (which so far is great). Milk wise and appetite wise this doe hasn't missed a beat! All products can be found at www.firmeadowllc.com So just some thoughts and hopefully these will help you out! hankfully this has been our only hard birth this year to this point. We still have a few does spread out over the next few weeks for kidding. Be Blessed with happy healthy kids and does!!!  KIdding? Foaling? Whelping? Lambing? ... How to Prepare & which Natural Products to use... :D1/21/2017
 Kidding Naturally!!! |
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