Angus

I have kept you in suspense long enough. We went to our neighbors on Tuesday night for supper, it was the night of the ice storm. We feasted on tender Pork Roast that is like no other, fried plantains with garlic and salt, beans and rice cooked to perfection, boiled potatoes and squash, followed by wonderful lemon meringue pie.

The neighbor mentioned that he was afraid one of his cows was going to calve that night. He really doesn't have a good place to get a cow up and with the weather like it was there wasn't much he could do because all of his pasture is on a hillside.

The next day we got a call saying that she had a bull calf and she was rejecting it. My DH went to help him get her up and try to help the baby nurse. The calf was chilled, weak and covered in ice and mommy just flat didn't like him. She was under the distinct impression that one of the other cow's calves was hers and they could not convince her otherwise.

The calf was given to me, my Husband carried it home wrapped in a wool blanket on his tractor through the ice and snow. I instructed him to bring him into the house to thaw him out.

He thawed out nicely. He accepted a couple of syringes of warm goat's milk to get him kick started. I had some powdered goat colostrum that I mixed into a quart size bottle of warm goat's milk. It wasn't long before he was dry, warm and on his feet giving the house an inspection, he found it to be calf friendly.

With the weather and roads so bad, we had to go to another neighbor's to bum some cow colostrum and an antibiotic as a precaution against whatever might attack him in his weakened state. His nose was already dripping snot on assorted family members.

All went very will and he drank a quart of the cow colostrum from his bottle with so much gusto that he collapsed the bottle at 11:00 last night after we moved him out in the stall with my two does.

The does were not happy campers but we didn't have any other choice. They thought that he was most certainly a fanged, clawed, goat eating predator of some sort. They totally panicked every time he moved. It is a very large stall but they kept trying to run through the walls and jump over the gate. I don't think either of them slept a wink all night because they both had to have both eyes on him at all times in case he made his move.

My problem started this morning, he wouldn't take a bottle. I kept trying all day and could only get a couple of ounces in him at a time and he didn't want it. He laid and trembled.

I was home alone and there was no way I could get him up or carry him but he finally got to his feet and I guided him back into the house at which time he peed on my best rug which made me feel much better because it let me know that he was at least getting something. My estimate was that he relieved himself of three gallons at least.

He did finally drink about a pint tonight and I think that he will drink more later. I know he isn't getting enough and I suppose he will stay in the house. He is laying in front of my refrigerator right now and I can't even get myself something to drink.

More later...

Can't Catch A Break

Miracle was just doing wonderful and then she went been down on us again. She woke up this morning and took three bottles in a heartbeat. She took her last bottles at 9:00 AM then when I went out to check on her at 10:30 AM she was lying flat out on her side panting like a dog and chilling. She was too weak to lift her head.

I took her temperature it was nearly 104º. So I went to work on her, I had my DH prop her up onto her stomach instead of the flat out on her side position with a bale of straw and put a blanket her. She wouldn't take a bottle or hold up her head, so I used the drench gun on her. I gave her a mixture of strong black coffee, molasses and some whiskey that I got from my neighbor.

Then I did two things that I was not sure was the right decision but I was desperate, I had my husband give her a shot of LA-200, a long lasting antibiotic that I use on my goats, even though she is on some type of medicine for the bladder infection that the Vet gave us. I also gave her some children's liquid ibuprofen. I don't think you are suppose to give it to animals but that is what I had on hand.

I very slowly gave her pedialyte drenches several times, letting her rest about 30 minutes between each drench. Then I drenched her again with the equal parts of the warm coffee, molasses and whiskey mixture.

I let her rest and waited to see what would happen and I finally started seeing her breathing start to slow down and she started lifting her head. Before long she was on her feet. She was slowing improving throughout the day but then had a little relapse this evening but not nearly as severe.

She is taking her bottles again and my DH said that he will help me feed her tonight, so that I can get some rest.

Starting Kefir

Kefir is pronounced keh-fear, I'm not sure that I have enough knowledge to explain what it is any further than that. I have been reading and studying it and it's effects for the last few days. I have read many incredible testimonies about it's benefits and stories about it's rich history. At one time being valued more than jewels or gold, the property of Kings and a family's wealth determined by it's ownership.

It arrived in my mailbox yesterday in a little envelope, the kefir jewels or grains as they are properly called were dehydrated and looked like small pale yellow nuggets. There was a paper included with instructions on how to begin my new venture. I had paid for the postage and the grains themselves were free because it is very bad to sell kefir grains, they are a gift from God.

Kefir is a milk beverage and was used as a milk preservative before the time of refrigeration. Kefir grains are a living Probiotic as opposed to an Antibiotic, BIOTIC means "life", PRO means "for" and ANTI means "against". So, probiotic means "for life" and I'm all for that! When hydrated and active, Kefir grains resemble cauliflower and are pure white.

Since I don't have a goat that has come fresh yet and milk is so expensive right now, I asked for dehydrated grains instead of the moist and ready to go variety. My plan was to hydrate my grains as soon as I had fresh goat's milk. However, after reading so much good information and hearing all of the wonderful things that kefir can do for you, I just couldn't wait and started half of my grains.

The instructions said to put the grains in 1 to 2 cups of water with 1 tablespoon of sugar. I did this and after a few hours my grains were no longer yellow, they were white, fluffy and rubbery. I strained them out of the water and rinsed them in a plastic strainer because I have been told not to let them come in contact with metal. Then I placed them in a glass cup of milk to sit on my kitchen counter for 24 to 48 hours for fermentation.

My 24 hours were up at 9:00 this evening and the milk smells very yeasty, I will let them set for another 24 hours, then pour the milk off and give it to my dog, then put the grains back in fresh milk for 24 more hours. The next milk that the grains are strained out of will be the kefir that I will be drinking. It is suppose to be the consistency of buttermilk but has a different taste. The grains themselves will grow and multiply as long as you keep them in fresh milk on a continual basis, straining it every 48 hours. You can also eat the grains when you get enough or give them to friends.

There are many recipes online using kefir and I will be trying some of these. I will probably be keeping you posted on my kefir adventure.