The amazing goat

Something to think about

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Mon, 26 Dec 2011 15:50:00 +0000

As the new year approaches, let us be thankful for what we have. We should recognize that the small goat has the potential to solve the worlds pending food crisis, if we trade " Guns for Goats"

Preparing for Winter

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 20:21:00 +0000

This is November and winter is here. Hopefully, you began your winter preparations long ago by making sure all your winter feeds and needs are in place or planned for. If you are just going into your first winter with goats hopefully you got some advice from successful producers in your area. Exploration of the internet may be of benefit as well.

I cannot cover all the permutations and combinations that you can think of, but hopefully I can make you think about improvements. If you have any novel suggestions please share them with my readers

The key to any successful livestock operation is wellness and wellness is directly related to anticipating and preventing stress for both yourself and your goats. If you are stressed, your goats will be stressed. Let us to take virtual reality tour of your facilities and check to see how prepared you are for winter.

First as we drive into your yard we take an overview of the general layout of the yard. We look for accessibility to the corrals and the barn, the location of the winters hay and straw supply. Unfortunately, there is very little we can do about rearranging your yard but we can identify stressors that may be present. We also can ask you how you plan on coping with these potential areas of stress. Take a look around your yard and based on previous winters experiences determine how you can lessen or eliminate past problem areas.

The next step is to take a general tour of your operation things we want to look for are:

Location and type of shelter (Figure 1):

A shelter must offer protection from the elements especially the wind. Goats are remarkably tolerate of cold so long as it is not sustained, but they cannot tolerate wind so there must be some shelter from the wind.

1. Open faced or three sided shelters should be facing the South and a porosity fence running north and south that protect the corral and barns from West and East winds. The fences should be built to prevent the snow from forming drifts inside the corrals or shelter. For the construction of such a fence visit http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex4516. Although this fence is for cattle, you can modify it for your operation. For 25% porosity you need six inch boards placed vertically or horizontally two inches apart. There should also be a way in the front of the shelter of closing in the goats if necessary. For meat goats the shelters can be small to accommodate small groups. These may not be as convenient as one large area

These shelters should be designed to accommodate portable pens or an area should be designed were you can put any goats that require special attention.

2. Closed shelters should have the main access to the outside facing South to allow the goats to go outside if the weather permits. The door(s) and windows (for light) should be easily opened. Adequate ventilation is extremely important in this type shelter. If the ventilation is poor there is gradually a build up of ammonia in the barn this can lead to respiratory difficulties in both the mature goats and later in the kids. The build up of ammonia is particularly noticeable during warmer periods of weather. This is a stress on your goats that you will have to deal with in the future when you consider modifying your facilities.

A closed barn with limited windows Like a Quonset can offer shelter but may keep the temperature constant often below the outside temperature. On a sunny day the outside temperature will warm up but inside the Quonset may not. If the area is too large for the goats to warm, even well bedded they will be chilled. Thermometers located in strategic areas of the barn can be monitored and the feed intake of the goats adjusted accordingly

A closed shelter offers many options in terms of penning for your goats depending on the type of operation and the function of the building. This can vary anywhere for no pens, group pens, individual pens, to stanchions

3. For both types of shelter it is important to build up a well bedded manure pack This manure pack will provide heat to the shelter unfortunately it can also contribute to the build up of ammonia.

Location and supply of water:

Water must be located in a sheltered readily accessible place. Ideally it should be available on a free choice basis to all goats at all times.

Water is essential if you are milking goats or raising meat goats. They must have access to a clean warm supply of water in order maintain an adequate feed intake and milk production. If your goats suddenly drop in their feed intake or stop eating, immediately check the water supply, It may have stopped running, be full of algae and rotting hay and feces or frozen or ice may have built up around it making it inaccessible to your goats.. If over the year you doubled or dramatically increased the number of goats there may not be adequate space for them drink. Do not rely on snow as an adequate source of water.

In some areas water quality can be an issue so your water quality should be checked. Snow is not an appropriate water source for goats. To feed snow requires optimal nutrition and management

Management of the feed and feed bunk

When planning your winter feeding programme there are several important acts to remember:

• There must be adequate bunk space with each goat requiring about 12” of space.

You have many options:

1. You can feed grain and supplements in the bulk and hay free choice

2. Feed hay/silage in the bunk, grain and supplements in the milking parlour

3. You can feed a total mixed ration

*** All goats must be able eat from the bunk at one time. Free choice feeding maybe appropriate but each goat must still be able to meet its daily requirements during the day, so the ration available must be mixed well and does not separate when put into the self feeder.

• Cleaning the bunks daily and checking the self feeders will tell if the diet is palatable and whether the goats are sorting out ingredients. Leaving soiled or stale feed in the bunk it is bad management as it can deter the goats from eating the fresh food put on top of it and it can lead to spoilage. Remember you may be feeding the perfect diet on paper but if the goats do not eat it then it is not perfect.

• Goat is primarily browsers and like variety feed stuffs. On a brush pasture goats will eat 24 different plant species. On the same pasture cattle will eat 8 and sheep about 12

• Goats will not eat feed that has been soiled with feces and urine

Feed bunks must be designed to prevent or minimize this

Fence line feeders either outside or within the barn can be simply constructed for this purpose

• You cannot improve the quality of poor quality or mouldy forages by grinding them

Grinding good quality forages can turn the leaves into powder which the goats will not eat leaving the stems only for them to eat. The leaves are were most of the important nutrients are.

• Silage feeding is often frowned upon for goats. If silage is put up properly then it can be ideal forage for goats. Because silage is high in moisture the overall daily water intake is increased which could benefit the total milk production. If you are new at making silage go to a successful dairy (cattle or goats) operation to see how it is done as there are many ways from expensive silos to plastic bags with each method having pros and cons.

Figure1: A very basic layout of a goat barn and corrals

Record Keeping:

Records are the backbone of any livestock operation no matter the size. When purchasing animals records will provide you with information about the goats you are purchasing. As a bare minimum the records should have the goat identified, her birth date, her kidding record, the outcome of the kids, her health/treatment records. Remember the buck is half your herd so records on him are important as well. An added bonus would be production records either of milk (dairy) or number of kids born and the number sold. Herd event records should also be available with information on breeding. kidding, feed changes, and unusual occurrences.

Winter Feeding: http://extension.missouri.edu/p/G3990

A balanced diet and an adequate water supply are critical. A comfortable environmental (Thermal neutral) temperature is 55 to 77o F (13 to 25oC) the lower critical temperature (LCT) is 0o F (-18o C). These numbers are just indicators of cold susceptibility as the LCT can vary significantly among goats depending on the housing and pen conditions, age, breed, production type, body condition, stage of lactation, plain of nutrition time after feeding, thermal acclimatization, hair coat, behaviour, number of goats etc. A crude estimate is for every degree drop in temperature below - 15 o C (2o F) the TDN must increase 1%. For example if the barn temperature is consistently at -5 o C the doe’s TDN requirements must increase 7%. If not her milk production will suffer as she diverts the energy from milk production to keeping warm. Limited research has been done in goats.

In a Norwegian experiment testing the response of goats to different environmental temperatures and flooring :

• Lying time (% of observations) decreased significantly in both experiments when the goats

were exposed to low air temperature and the time spent eating increased

• Norwegian goat kids in an non insulated house had a normal growth rate after a few days of adaptation to a temperature of around -4 0 C

• Thyroid hormone increased during the first 3 days of cold stress

Conclusions

Winter can be a stressful time so planning your feeding programme and managing your facilities to accommodate the objectives you have for your goats is critical

Alberta Goat Producer's Questions Answered

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 18:19:00 +0000

Answers to Questions Asked at the Alberta Goat Producers Meeting in Leduc Alberta August 2011

How can we recognize Johne’s disease?

Johne’s disease is a chronic disease, which is transmitted to kids through their infected mother’s manure or that of other infected goats in close proximity who may be shedding the bacteria. The first sign you may see is weight loss, despite a good appetite. She may have intermittent loose manure. The symptoms often become worse right after kidding. The doe is usually mature but Johne’s can occur in animals just over a year of age and can also be seen in bucks. You may initially suspect internal parasites and deworm and see no response. Eventually she will become very thin and develop a fluid non-painful swelling under the skin below her jaw, at this time she may have diarrhea.

Johne’s because of its long incubation period and the fact that goats can shed the organism in their manure without being or before becoming clinically can make this a difficult disease to eliminate from your goats unless you are prepared to do some major culling.

Advise to New Goat producers:

· Plan to maintain a closed herd, bringing in only those goat you know the farm of origin, you have seen their goats , their production records and their daily herd management records

· Never buy a goat from the auction market, unless you are prepared to keep two separate groups: the clean and the auction Market specials

· If purchasing a group from a dispersal sale, check the records “no herd records no sale”

· Word of mouth is not good enough only the cold true facts should be followed

· If you are bringing in bucks check his maternal history, is his mother still on the farm, are his siblings still there if not where are they.

Caseous Vaccination:

For a detailed paper on this topic go to http://www.clgoatcare.org/#5.0. There are no vaccines available in Canada for CL in goats. An autogenous vaccine made specifically from the bacteria infecting your goats is your only option, plus proper hygiene when dealing with the problem. Again, CL is a disease if you are careful you do not need to bring on your farm, by following the advice above. An effective control programme must include reduced exposure to contaminated materials associated with a ruptured or lanced abscess.

Biosecurity

The Alberta Goat Breeders Association and The Alberta Veterinary Medical Association, supported by the Government of Alberta and the Government of Canada have published a Biosecurity Best Practices Pocket Guide. This is an excellent easy to use guide covering the actions, precautions, and the protocols to protect your goats from disease through physical barriers and proper hygiene.

For more information, please call 310-FARM or toll free at 403-742-7901 or consult the Bio-Security (Farm Service Provider) Web site.

Fecal Egg Counts

This is a link to an excellent presentation on parasite control http://www.slideshare.net/schoenian/integrated-parasite-management-ipm-in-small-ruminants. The special Mc Master slides can be purchased from http://www.vetslides.com/EPGfecalkit.html.

Another great link

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 13:11:00 +0000

The devastating Impact of Roundup This is an informative link to the scientific papers concerning the devastating impact that Round up is having on our environment and on the soil that we rely on to grow our food.
Thriving local economies centered around local responsible and accountable food production is the only way we are going to survive. But is it too late to trade "guns for goats"? Has the industrial military complex become to powerful and pervasive for the world to survive?

Fit for a Pet: The Truth About Pet Foods: Introduction to an Developimg Online Nutrition Cou...

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 02:25:00 +0000

Fit for a Pet: The Truth About Pet Foods: Introduction to an Developimg Online Nutrition Cou...: "“To repeatwhat others have said requires education; To challenge it requires brains” Mary Pettibone Poole Nutrition affects every living..."

Fit for a Pet: The Truth About Pet Foods: Introduction to an Developimg Online Nutrition Cou...

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 02:25:00 +0000

Let's discuss bio security

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 13:48:00 +0000

Bio security what does this mean to you personally as a livestock producer, one who rises sheep or goats? How many of you have experienced losses in your animals from diseases that you innocently brought on your property:

· through the purchase of already infected animals,

· by visiting a farm, a livestock auction, a livestock show

· through the purchase of feedstuffs

· perhaps through the shearer

· by bringing in kittens for mouse control

· perhaps you have no idea how your animals became infected.

· Purchasing animals that have a genetic predisposition

When this happens the losses can be devastating . There re many common diseases of sheep and goats that a producer must be particularly vigilant . Some of these diseases are:

· Johne's disease

· Caprine Arthritis and Encephalitis

· Enzootic Abortion

· Orf

· Q fever

· Scrapie

· Caseous Lymphadenitis

Bio security is a word conjured up by possibly academics or governmental people that describes measures by which a producer can prevent these devastating diseases. One can be cynical about the use of these terms but this cynicism is quickly lost when a producer becomes a victim to one of these problems.

Many of these problems have far reaching implications as to the viability of the operation involved.

The reason why I am sending out this e-mail to all my contacts and posting this on my blog www.theamazinggoat. blogspot.com is to try and promote this concept of bio security and a healthy discussion about what you as sheep and goat producers think should be done to prevent these diseases from occurring. Also one has to consider the some of the programs recommended in the prevention of these diseases can be quite costly to the producer. This raises the question who should be paying for some of these procedures. The majority of sheep and goat operations are small and do not have the resources that the large pig and poultry producers have to implement strict bio security measures

Causes of Early Embryonic Death in Goats

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 13:37:00 +0000

Conception to 90 days:

Signs

•Early Embryonic death

•Delayed return to heat/ prolonged breeding season

•impaired placental growth

•Decreased # of live kids

•sporadic malformations

•Small weak kids

•Does in poor body condition

Causes:

•Urea/NPN in diet

•Remove Urea from diet

•If protein required add protein

•Internal/external \parasite

•Check for parasites prior to breeding

•deworm

•Fed 20 to 30 % Below nutritional requirements

•Formulate an appropriate ration Put on a rising plane of nutrition at breeding

•Heat stress 1o increase in body temperature

•Provide shelter from the heat

•Chronic disease johnes, scrapie, pneumonia, caseous lymphadenitis

•bad teeth

•Cull

Update on Nepal Goats in Namibia

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 11:32:00 +0000

By Barry Burtis http://www.baycitiesanimalhospital.ca/

Hi Meg, Thanks again for your help with our trip to Nepal. Everything went well. Here I am asking for your help again, This time it is for a family with goats in Namibia. I am sending two of my pet columns that appear in the Burlington Post to help explain the situation. I want to try to get them some help. I will be a challenge. However, I thought that if you might be able to send me another of your goat health books, I would contact the supervisor of the train we travelled on to see if he would deliver the book to them, next time he passes through Rehoboth. As you can see, it is a remote spot in this world. Thanks again for any help you can offer, Barry

Pet Talesby Barry B. Burtis D.V.M.

Our train journey was now well begun. Several days had passed since departing Pretoria in South Africa, as we rolled through the semi-arid countryside that fringes the Namib Desert of central Namibia. It was just past 7 a.m., in bright morning sunshine that promised another hot day. I was looking out the window of our compartment, as the train slowed and came to a halt. Alongside us, there was a wooden platform and a small wooden building with a nearby sign announcing, in painted letters, faded and peeling, that we had arrived in Rehoboth.

Actually, we were at the train stop in Rehoboth. The small town itself still lay some distance away. Nevertheless, several small, tired buildings stood in a row a few hundred meters beyond the train platform. It appeared they had been built many years ago in hopes that train travel would play a much bigger role in carrying visitors to the town. Now the structures were dilapidated and decaying and no local residents were anywhere in sight. A small adobe store appeared to be the most vital in the line-up. At the moment, though, even this store seemed as abandoned as the shell of a 1950â€™s era pickup truck, parked in front. There, resting on rims, tireless for years, with all its windows and both doors missing, the truck stood, slowly rusting in the desert dryness.

Who would believe that this location would become, for me, the scene of one of the most memorable highlights of a recent visit to Africa? It certainly was not on our itinerary and I am quite sure that few, if any, of my fellow travelers even remember the place. However, let me explain.

Before the train had come to a complete stop, from my window vantage point, I had spotted a fenced enclosure holding a herd of perhaps fifty goats. It was located at the end of the row of buildings just described. A woman, of substantial size, in a pink dress, could be seen moving amongst the goats. She intrigued me and I wished that I could talk with her and learn about her animals. However, it was time for breakfast. After the meal, all the passengers would be disembarking to spend a night off the train in a lodge near the Sossusvlei dunes in the desert. I needed food to start a busy day.

Imagine, though, if you can, my delight at finding that after I had eaten, packed and all ready to go, I had 45 minutes before we were to depart. I hopped off the train and made straight for that herd of goats, a short, brisk walk away. As I approached the fence of the enclosure, the surface I was walking on changed from hard packed sandy soil, supporting scattered clumps of grass, to a less firm, ever so slight, crunchy material. On closer inspection, I found it to be a carpet of dried, desiccated goat fecal pellets laid out around me. Obviously, goats had been gathering around this enclosure, in large numbers, for many years. I was glad desert conditions had so thoroughly dried the droppings that it would be unnecessary to do any shoe cleaning before returning to the train.

I threw off my backpack, placed it on a nearby tree stump and walked up to the fence enclosing the goats. I carried only my camera. I could now see the 50-60 goats were being held in a fenced corner of a somewhat larger surrounding paddock. A windowless shack, constructed with sheets of tin forming both the sides and the roof of the structure was located in a corner of this paddock area, just a short distance from where I stood. Scattered about the entranceway, cooking pots and a plastic chair proved it was a home. A cat sat under the chair silently surveying the scene before it. Several guard dogs had not missed my arrival and I was very glad that a fence separated us as they rushed toward me. They were in full voice, leaving no doubt as to their unhappiness to see me. My concern lessened slightly when I saw the woman in the pink dress still standing on the other side of the fence among the goats. In fact, she was not alone. A teen-aged girl, who later I learned to be her daughter, was there with her. It was this young girl who called off the dogs and conveyed to them that I was an acceptable visitor.

Through this fence, constructed of closely placed wooden posts, interlaced with smaller sticks and barbed wire, rendering it quite in penetrable, I wished them good morning. Needlessly, I am sure, I told them I was a visitor from the train and asked if they would mind if I took some photographs of them and their goats. In a friendly, welcoming tone, spoken in fluently understandable English, the teen-ager assured me that would be no problem. Well, the part that comes next proves that you can take a veterinarian out of the veterinary practice but you cannot take the practice of veterinary medicine out of the veterinarian. However, I have run out of space for now, but will continue this story in my next column. Barry Burtis is a local companion animal veterinarian. Past Pet Tales can be found at www.baycitiesanimalhospital.ca

Pet Talesby Barry B. Burtis D.V.M.

If you happen to have read the last Pet Tales column, you may remember I have left you standing with me outside a small fenced enclosure of 50-60 goats. It is early morning of another, soon-to-be, blistering hot day. Inside the enclosure, a woman and her daughter are trying to milk some of the goats. I have just left my train, the Pride of Africa, standing on a single railway track a few hundred meters distant and I am enjoying a superb photo op moment, on a journey through Namibia. I have snuck away from all the other passengers on the train to enjoy this experience, but have only 20-30 minutes before I must re-join them for our excursion into the desert.

After initial greetings and gaining permission for the photography, I told the woman and her daughter that I was an animal doctor from Canada. The teen-aged girl immediately told me that they were having health problems with some of their newborn goats. Several had already died. She said there were a nanny and her kid, just a few weeks old, similarly affected, close by. It was in the fenced paddock area that surrounded the more heavily fortified area where the goats spent the night and where the milking was now being done. I asked if it would be possible for me to examine the kid. I was immediately invited into the paddock. I crawled between the strands of barbed wire and, fortunately stepped unscathed into the paddock. As I was doing so, I had occasion to reassess my decision. For one thing, I could not remember the last time, if ever, that I had examined a goat. However, of much more immediate concern, were those three guard dogs that had reacted so unfavourably to my approach a few minutes earlier. Despite being scolded into accepting my presence then, this time they were even surer that I should not be in the paddock. They came at me, in full charge, hackles raised, and lips curled back, snarling, barking and growling in unison. Fortunately, once again, my teen-aged protector was able to call them off and allow me to remain, unwounded.

Nearby, were the nanny goat and her sick kid. The girl told me that this one, just like the others, seemed very painful when it stood and could take only a few steps before collapsing, when it tried to walk. I picked it up, examined it and noted its very swollen, painful joints - especially the carpal and elbow joints of the front legs. Otherwise, there were no abnormal findings. When I placed it back on the ground, the nanny came closer and stood protectively over her offspring. There, lying on the ground, with its legs folded beneath it, the kid began to vigorously nurse from its mother. Minutes later, when the nanny wandered off to search the barren ground for something to eat for herself, the kid remained behind, lying on the ground.

I was quite confident I knew the young goat's problem. My tentative diagnosis was joint ill or infectious arthritis. It is a common illness that affects young goats. Bacteria, from either the umbilicus or the gastro-intestinal tract, enter the blood stream to reach the joints. Affected joints become swollen, warm and very painful, the goat becomes non-weight-bearing on the affected limb, and can develop a fever and lose its appetite. Weakness and death may follow. The same disease can affect young dogs. In my experience, it seems more common in medium and large breed dogs, less than a year old.

I asked the young girl if she had any medicines she had used in those kids previously affected. She went into the tin sheet shack, a few steps away, which was her home and returned carrying one bottle of an injectable antibiotic and another of a vaccine. When I questioned her how she had obtained these medications, she told me they were available in the nearby town. I suggested another anti-bacterial medication that, in my opinion, might be more successful in treating the kid and told her the dosage to use. I reached into my pocket and gave her money to buy the medicine. I told her it would be important to keep the nanny and kid close together during treatment. Perhaps gathering food and bringing it to the nanny, since it would be impossible for the kid to keep up with its mom when the herd was out grazing. Unfortunately, for this little goat, some of the more aggressive therapies - flushing the joints and intra-articular antibiotics - were just not possible, in these circumstances.

Sadly, I will never know the outcome of this case. However, as I hurried back to the train I knew I had just had an experience that I would never forget. In this bleak, harsh and unforgiving, semi-desert setting of central Namibia, I had just witnessed and been part of, another example of the millennial old human-animal bond. Barry Burtis is a local companion animal veterinarian. Past Pet Tales can be found at www.baycitiesanimalhospital.ca

Up Date on Round Up

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 21:14:00 +0000

More information on Round up. THIS NEWS IS JUST BREAKING – February 18, 2011an open letter to the USDA has been just made public by COL (Ret.) Don M. Huber, Emeritus Professor, Purdue University title: Glyphosate Roundup or Round Up Ready Crops May Cause Animal Miscarriages – and the revelation is shocking .THIS IS WHY RONNIE CUMMINS of the ORGANIC CONSUMERS ASSOCIATION IS 100% CORRECT IN HIS ABSOLUTIST STAND –

When were goats actually domesticated?

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 20:57:00 +0000

An interesting article on the domestication of Goats By Ravi Wells

The dangers of treating food as a strategic asset

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 14:44:00 +0000

The dangers of treating food as a strategic asset is written Doug Saunders a columnsit for the Globe and Mail.

Monsanto’s Roundup Triggers Over 40 Plant Diseases and Endangers Human and Animal Health

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 14:20:00 +0000

This is an article that my colleague Michael Fox sent me. This makes me wonder what kind of world are we leaving our children in charge of “ The Earth after People”? If properly managed the goat and other browsing and grazing livestock can be used in a targeted grazing system. Many will laugh and tell me I am being impractical, as this is not economical or even feasible on a large scale. I could not agree more, but is the use of chemical pesticides, herbicides and GM plants the answer to sustainable agricultural productivity?

Monsanto’s Roundup Triggers Over 40 Plant Diseases and Endangers Human and Animal Health By Jeffrey Smith, Institute for Responsible Technology.

My friend Dr. Jeffrey Smith with the Institute for Responsible Technology in Iowa is circulating this report on the very serious health, environmental and economic costs of Monsanto's herbicide Roundup, now widely used world-wide to clear weeds and especially on commodity crops genetically engineered (GM) to not be killed by this dangerous and enormously profitable product.
Of particular concern to me as a veterinarian is the evidence that such GM crops, widely used in farm animal feed and pet foods as well as in human processed foods and beverages, are deficient in several vital nutrients essential for normal bodily functions, most notably the immune system.
This evidence calls for strict and immediate government measures to prohibit the use of such agrichemicals, and to provide appropriate subsidies to enable farmers to transition to organic and ecologically sound agricultural practices. –

Michael W. Fox.

Dr. Smith writes:
The following article reveals the devastating and unprecedented impact that Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide is having on the health of our soil, plants, animals, and human population. On top of this perfect storm, the USDA now wants to approve Roundup Ready alfalfa, which will exacerbate this calamity.
While visiting a seed corn dealer’s demonstration plots in Iowa last fall, Dr. Don Huber walked passed a soybean field and noticed a distinct line separating severely diseased yellowing soybeans on the right from healthy green plants on the left (see photo). The yellow section was suffering from Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS), a serious plant disease that ravaged the Midwest in 2009 and ’10, driving down yields and profits. Something had caused that area of soybeans to be highly susceptible and Don had a good idea what it was.

Huber spent 35 years as a plant pathologist at Purdue University and knows a lot about what causes green plants to turn yellow and die prematurely. He asked the seed dealer why the SDS was so severe in the one area of the field and not the other. “Did you plant something there last year that wasn’t planted in the rest of the field?” he asked. Sure enough, precisely where the severe SDS was, the dealer had grown alfalfa, which he later killed off at the end of the season by spraying a glyphosate-based herbicide (such as Roundup). The healthy part of the field, on the other hand, had been planted to sweet corn and hadn’t received glyphosate.

This was yet another confirmation that Roundup was triggering SDS. In many fields, the evidence is even more obvious. The disease was most severe at the ends of rows where the herbicide applicator looped back to make another pass That’s where extra Roundup was applied.

Don’s a scientist; it takes more than a few photos for him to draw conclusions. But Don’s got more—lots more. For over 20 years, Don studied Roundup’s active ingredient glyphosate. He’s one of the world’s experts. And he can rattle off study after study that eliminate any doubt that glyphosate is contributing not only to the huge increase in SDS, but to the outbreak of numerous other diseases.

Roundup: The perfect storm for plant disease

More than 30% of all herbicides sprayed anywhere contain glyphosate—the world’s bestselling weed killer. It was patented by Monsanto for use in their Roundup brand, which became more popular when they introduced “Roundup Ready” crops starting in 1996. These genetically modified (GM) plants, which now include soy, corn, cotton, canola, and sugar beets, have inserted genetic material from viruses and bacteria that allows the crops to withstand applications of normally deadly Roundup.

(Monsanto requires farmers who buy Roundup Ready seeds to only use the company’s Roundup brand of glyphosate. This has extended the company’s grip on the glyphosate market, even after its patent expired in 2000.)

The herbicide doesn’t destroy plants directly. It rather cooks up a unique perfect storm of conditions that revs up disease-causing organisms in the soil, and at the same time wipes out plant defenses against those diseases. The mechanisms are well-documented but rarely cited.

The glyphosate molecule grabs vital nutrients and doesn’t let them go. This process is called chelation and was actually the original property for which glyphosate was patented in 1964. It was only 10 years later that it was patented as an herbicide. When applied to crops, it deprives them of vital minerals necessary for healthy plant function—especially for resisting serious soilborne diseases. The importance of minerals for protecting against disease is well established. In fact, mineral availability was the single most important measurement used by several famous plant breeders to identify disease-resistant varieties.
Glyphosate annihilates beneficial soil organisms, such as Pseudomonas and Bacillus bacteria that live around the roots. Since they facilitate the uptake of plant nutrients and suppress disease-causing organisms, their untimely deaths means the plant gets even weaker and the pathogens even stronger.
The herbicide can interfere with photosynthesis, reduce water use efficiency, lower lignin , damage and shorten root systems, cause plants to release important sugars, and change soil pH—all of which can negatively affect crop health.
Glyphosate itself is slightly toxic to plants. It also breaks down slowly in soil to form another chemical called AMPA (aminomethylphosphonic acid) which is also toxic. But even the combined toxic effects of glyphosate and AMPA are not sufficient on their own to kill plants. It has been demonstrated numerous times since 1984.
When glyphosate is applied in sterile soil, the plant may be slightly stunted, but it isn’t killed .
The actual plant assassins, according to Purdue weed scientists and others, are severe disease-causing organisms present in almost all soils. Glyphosate dramatically promotes these, which in turn overrun the weakened crops with deadly infections.

“This is the herbicidal mode of action of glyphosate,” says Don. “It increases susceptibility to disease, suppresses natural disease controls such as beneficial organisms, and promotes virulence of soilborne pathogens at the same time.” In fact, he points out that “If you apply certain fungicides to weeds, it destroys the herbicidal activity of glyphosate!

By weakening plants and promoting disease, glyphosate opens the door for lots of problems in the field. ccording to Don, “There are more than 40 diseases of crop plants that are reported to increase with the use of glyphosate, and that number keeps growing as people recognize the association between glyphosate and disease.”

Roundup promotes human and animal toxins

Some of the fungi promoted by glyphosate produce dangerous toxins that can end up in food and feed. Sudden Death Syndrome, for example, is caused by the Fusarium fungus. USDA scientist Robert Kremer found a 500% increase in Fusarium root infection of Roundup Ready soybeans when glyphosate is applied . Corn, wheat, and many other plants can also suffer from serious Fusarium-based diseases.

But Fusarium’s wrath is not limited to plants. According to a report by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, toxins from Fusarium on various types of food crops have been associated with disease outbreaks throughout history. They’ve “been linked to the plague epidemics” of medieval Europe, “large-scale human toxicosis in Eastern Europe,” oesophageal cancer in southern Africa and parts of China, joint diseases in Asia and southern Africa, and a blood disorder in Russia. Fusarium toxins have also been shown to cause animal diseases and induce infertility.

Roundup promotes human and animal toxins

Some of the fungi promoted by glyphosate produce dangerous toxins that can end up in food and feed. Sudden Death Syndrome, for example, is caused by the Fusarium fungus. USDA scientist Robert Kremer found a 500% increase in Fusarium root infection of Roundup Ready soybeans when glyphosate is applied (see photos and chart). Corn, wheat, and many other plants can also suffer from serious Fusarium-based diseases.

Some of the fungi promoted by glyphosate produce dangerous toxins that can end up in food and feed. Sudden Death Syndrome, for example, is caused by the Fusarium fungus. USDA scientist Robert Kremer found a 500% increase in Fusarium root infection of Roundup Ready soybeans when glyphosate is applied Corn, wheat, and many other plants can also suffer from serious Fusarium-based diseases.

As Roundup use rises, plant disease skyrockets

When Roundup Ready crops were introduced in 1996, Monsanto boldly claimed that herbicide use would drop as a result. It did—slightly—for three years. But over the next 10 years, it grew considerably. Total herbicide use in the US jumped by a whopping 383 million pounds in the 13 years after GMOs came on the scene. The greatest contributor is Roundup.

Over time, many types of weeds that would once keel over with just a tiny dose of Roundup now require heavier and heavier applications. Some are nearly invincible. In reality, these super-weeds are resistant not to the glyphosate itself, but to the soilborne pathogens that normally do the killing in Roundup sprayed fields.

Having hundreds of thousands of acres infested with weeds that resist plant disease and weed killer has been devastating to many US farmers, whose first response is to pour on more and more Roundup. Its use is now accelerating. Nearly half of the huge 13-year increase in herbicide use took place in just the last 2 years. This has serious implications.

As US farmers drench more than 135 million acres of Roundup Ready crops with Roundup, plant diseases are enjoying an unprecedented explosion across America’s most productive crop lands. Don rattles off a lengthy list of diseases that were once under effective management and control, but are now creating severe hardship. (The list includes SDS and Corynespora root rot of soybeans, citrus variegated chlorosis (CVC), Fusarium wilt of cotton, Verticillium wilt of potato, take-all root, crown, and stem blight of cereals, Fusarium root and crown rot, Fusarium head blight, Pythium root rot and damping off, Goss’ wilt of corn, and many more.)

In Brazil, the new “Mad Soy Disease” is ravaging huge tracts of soybean acreage. Although scientists have not yet determined its cause, Don points out that various symptoms resemble a rice disease (bakanae) which is caused by Fusarium.

Corn dies young

In recent years, corn plants and entire fields in the Midwest have been dying earlier and earlier due to various diseases. Seasoned and observant farmers say they’re never seen anything like it.

“A decade ago, corn plants remained green and healthy well into September,” says Bob Streit, an agronomist in Iowa. “But over the last three years, diseases have turned the plants yellow, then brown, about 8 to 10 days earlier each season. In 2010, yellowing started around July 7th and yield losses were devastating for many growers.”

Bob and other crop experts believe that the increased use of glyphosate is the primary contributor to this disease trend. It has already reduced corn yields significantly. “If the corn dies much earlier,” says Bob, “it might collapse the corn harvest in the US, and threaten the food chain that it supports.”

A question of bugs

In addition to promoting plant diseases, which is well-established, spraying Roundup might also promote insects. That’s because many bugs seek sick plants. Scientists point out that healthy plants produce nutrients in a form that many insects cannot assimilate. Thus, farmers around the world report less insect problems among high quality, nutrient-dense crops. Weaker plants, on the other hand, create insect smorgasbords. This suggests that plants ravaged with diseases promoted by glyphosate may also attract more insects, which in turn will increase the use of toxic pesticides. More study is needed to confirm this.

Roundup persists in the environment

Monsanto used to boast that Roundup is biodegradable, claiming that it breaks down quickly in the soil. But courts in the US and Europe disagreed and found them guilty of false advertising. In fact, Monsanto’s own test data revealed that only 2% of the product broke down after 28 days.

Whether glyphosate degrades in weeks, months, or years varies widely due to factors in the soil, including pH, clay , types of minerals, residues from Roundup Ready crops, and the presence of the specialized enzymes needed to break down the herbicide molecule. In some conditions, glyphosate can grab hold of soil nutrients and remain stable for long periods. One study showed that it took up to 22 years for glyphosate to degrade only half its volume! So much for trusting Monsanto’s product claims.

Glyphosate can attack from above and below. It can drift over from a neighbors farm and wreak havoc. And it can even be released from dying weeds, travel through the soil, and then be taken up by healthy crops.

The amount of glyphosate that can cause damage is tiny. European scientists demonstrated that less than half an ounce per acre inhibits the ability of plants to take up and transport essential micronutrients (see chart).

As a result, more and more farmers are finding that crops planted in years after Roundup is applied suffer from weakened defenses and increased soilborne diseases. The situation is getting worse for many reasons.

The glyphosate concentration in the soil builds up season after season with each subsequent application.
Glyphosate can also accumulate for 6-8 years inside perennial plants like alfalfa, which get sprayed over and over.
Glyphosate residues in the soil that become bound and immobilized can be reactivated by the application of phosphate fertilizers or through other methods. Potato growers in the West and Midwest, for example, have experienced severe losses from glyphosate that has been reactivated.
Glyphosate can find its way onto farmland accidentally, through drifting spray, in contaminated water, and even through chicken manure!

Imagine the shock of farmers who spread chicken manure in their fields to add nutrients, but instead found that the glyphosate in the manure tied up nutrients in the soil, promoted plant disease, and killed off weeds or crops. Test results of the manure showed glyphosate/AMPA concentrations at a whopping 0.36-0.75 parts per million (ppm). The normal herbicidal rate of glyphosate is about 0.5 ppm/acre.

Manure from other animals may also be spreading the herbicide, since US livestock consume copious amounts of glyphosate—which accumulates in corn kernels and soybeans. If it isn’t found in livestock manure (or urine), that may be even worse. If glyphosate is not exiting the animal, it must be accumulating with every meal, ending up in our meat and possibly milk.

Add this threat to the already high glyphosate residues inside our own diets due to corn and soybeans, and we have yet another serious problem threatening our health. Glyphosate has been linked to sterility, hormone disruption, abnormal and lower sperm counts, miscarriages, placental cell death, birth defects, and cancer, to name a few. (See resource list on glyphosate health effects.)

Nutrient loss in humans and animals

The same nutrients that glyphosate chelates and deprives plants are also vital for human and animal health. These include iron, zinc, copper, manganese, magnesium, calcium, boron, and others. Deficiencies of these elements in our diets, alone or in combination, are known to interfere with vital enzyme systems and cause a long list of disorders and diseases.

Alzheimer’s, for example, is linked with reduced copper and magnesium. Don Huber points out that this disease has jumped 9000% since 1990.

Manganese, zinc, and copper are also vital for proper functioning of the SOD (superoxide dismustase) cycle. This is key for stemming inflammation and is an important component in detoxifying unwanted chemical compounds in humans and animals.

Glyphosate-induced mineral deficiencies can easily go unidentified and untreated. Even when laboratory tests are done, they can sometimes detect adequate mineral levels, but miss the fact that glyphosate has already rendered them unusable.

Glyphosate can tie up minerals for years and years, essentially removing them from the pool of nutrients available for plants, animals, and humans. If we combine the more than 135 million pounds of glyphosate-based herbicides applied in the US in 2010 with total applications over the past 30 years, we may have already eliminated millions of pounds of nutrients from our food supply.

This loss is something we simply can’t afford. We’re already suffering from progressive nutrient deprivation even without Roundup. In a UK study, for example, they found between 16-76% less nutrients in 1991, compared to levels in the same foods in 1940.

Livestock disease and mineral deficiency

Roundup Ready crops dominate US livestock feed. Soy and corn are most prevalent—93% of US soy and nearly 70% of corn are Roundup Ready. Animals are also fed derivatives of the other three Roundup Ready crops: canola, sugar beets, and cottonseed. Nutrient loss from glyphosate can therefore be severe.

This is especially true for manganese (Mn), which is not only chelated by glyphosate, but also reduced in Roundup Ready plants (see photo). One veterinarian finds low manganese in every livestock liver he measures. Another vet sent the liver of a stillborn calf out for testing. The lab report stated: No Detectible Levels of Manganese—in spite of the fact that the mineral was in adequate concentrations in his region. When that vet started adding manganese to the feed of a herd, disease rates dropped from a staggering 20% to less than ½%.

Veterinarians who started their practice after GMOs were introduced in 1996 might assume that many chronic or acute animal disorders are common and to be expected. But several older vets have stated flat out that animals have gotten much sicker since GMOs came on the scene. And when they switch livestock from GMO to non-GMO feed, the improvement in health is dramatic. Unfortunately, no one is tracking this, nor is anyone looking at the impacts of consuming milk and meat from GM-fed animals.

Alfalfa madness, brought to you by Monsanto and the USDA

As we continue to drench our fields with Roundup, the perfect storm gets bigger and bigger. Don asks the sobering question: “How much of the hundreds of millions of pounds of glyphosate that have been applied to our most productive farm soils over the past 30 years is still available to damage subsequent crops through its effects on nutrient availability, increased disease, or reduced nutrient of our food and feed?”

Instead of taking urgent steps to protect our land and food, the USDA just made plans to make things worse. In December they released their Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on Roundup Ready alfalfa, which Monsanto hopes to reintroduce to the market.

Alfalfa is the fourth largest crop in the US, grown on 22 million acres. It is used primarily as a high protein source to feed dairy cattle and other ruminant animals. At present, weeds are not a big deal for alfalfa. Only 7% of alfalfa acreage is ever sprayed with an herbicide of any kind. If Roundup Ready alfalfa is approved,however, herbicide use would jump to unprecedented levels, and the weed killer of choice would of course be Roundup.

Even without the application of glyphosate, the nutritional quality of Roundup Ready alfalfa will be less, since Roundup Ready crops, by their nature, have reduced mineral . When glyphosate is applied, nutrient quality suffers even more .The chance that Roundup would increase soilborne diseases in alfalfa fields is a near certainty. In fact, Alfalfa may suffer more than other Roundup Ready crops. As a perennial, it can accumulate Roundup year after year. It is a deep-rooted plant, and glyphosate leaches into sub soils. And “Fusarium is a very serious pathogen of alfalfa,” says Don. “So too are Phytophthora and Pythium,” both of which are promoted by glyphosate. “Why would you even consider jeopardizing the productivity and nutrient quality of the third most valuable crop in the US?” he asks in frustration, “especially since we have no way of removing the gene once it is spread throughout the alfalfa gene pool.”

It’s already spreading. Monsanto had marketed Roundup Ready alfalfa for a year, until a federal court declared its approval to be illegal in 2007. They demanded that the USDA produce an EIS in order to account for possible environmental damage. But even with the seeds taken off the market, the RR alfalfa that had already been planted has been contaminating non-GMO varieties. Cal/West Seeds, for example, discovered that more than 12% of their seed lots tested positive for contamination in 2009, up from 3% in 2008.

In their EIS, the USDA does acknowledge that genetically modified alfalfa can contaminate organic and non-GMO alfalfa, and that this could create economic hardship. They are even considering the unprecedented step of placing restrictions on RR alfalfa seed fields, requiring isolation distances. Experience suggests that this will slow down, but not eliminate GMO contamination. Furthermore, studies confirm that genes do transfer from GM crops into soil and soil organisms, and can jump into fungus through cuts on the surface of GM plants. But the EIS does not adequately address these threats and their implications.

Instead, the USDA largely marches lock-step with the biotech industry and turns a blind eye to the widespread harm that Roundup is already inflicting. If they decide to approve Monsanto’s alfalfa, the USDA may ultimately be blamed for a catastrophe of epic proportions.

Please send a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack, urging him not to approve Roundup Ready alfalfa, and to fully investigate the damage that Roundup and GMOs are already inflicting.

More Sites on Viral Diseases

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 19:34:00 +0000

Scrapie

The Public Health Agency of Canada

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency

Foot and Mouth DIsease

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 19:18:00 +0000

The students in Veterinary Virology are asked to create an informative web site on specific viral diseases.
This website is all about Foot andMouth Disease. This is a viral disease of major economic importance world wide.

What if We Traded Guns for Goats!

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 13:23:00 +0000

War or Peace we have a choice. The recent events in Arizona indicate we have made the wrong one! Why after such a tragic event, would legislation be considered allowing professors and student to carry concealed weapons? Has not the "Right to bare (bear) arms " gone too far? What about the "right to life" a concept also embrassed by those who promote guns as a way to peace. What an oxymoron. A serious conflict exists between those who promote war as a solution to world peace and those who promote peace. harmony and respect, with every family having food on their table (a goat), and the ability to work and prosper.

Terrorism doesn't start in the caves of Afghanistan/ Pakistan , it starts at home in our own neighbour hoods, In USA more people die from terrorist acts at home than those committed by an outsider. When the Berlin Wall fell we celebrated as now the world economy would benefit from a "peace dividend". But the political will has spent this dividend on wars in the guise of protecting democracy and freedom. Imagine spending it on goats instead of guns!

Fit for a Dog: The Truth about Pet Foods

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 22:50:00 +0000

This is a new blog which devoted to my 26 plus years teaching veterinary students clinical nutrition. Since the ingredients in pet foods are primarily by-products of the agri-human food industry and the main manufacturers of most of the pet foods are fully integrated multinational companies, I feel it is appropriate to link this site to this blog.

Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food OMAF

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 17:20:00 +0000

The OMAF web site contains a wealth of agricultural information.

Micheal W Fox comments

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 13:30:00 +0000

More than one hunter has said to me “We have to shoot them to save them”. I see this rationalization as a recently adopted justification derived from the quasi-science of wildlife management as practiced by most state Departments of Natural Resources. This essentially entails the manipulation of ecosystems to expedite the profitable farming and harvesting of lumber, deer and other wildlife and natural products. What indeed is wild when 650,000 deer hunters go onto state and federal lands during the annual November harvesting in Minnesota alone? This segment of society supports highly lucrative outdoors equipment and hunting supply industry that has a vested interest in seeing wolves hunted once more, and that there are plenty of deer for license paying consumers to go out and kill especially when wolf numbers are kept low. Safari trophy hunters tell me in one voice “Wildlife must pay its own way”.Alternative and choices can be made, regardless of the atavistic imperatives and gratification of being a hunter. Seeing beyond the strength of the wolf being the strength of the pack, the strength of the pack is the strength of the gene pool and the ecosystem. Our collective will to avoid harming and injuring and practice CPR, locally as well as globally---Conservation, Preservation and Restoration---is what is now called for, particularly with the consequences of climate change. Specifically in northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and the Western Great Lakes region, the ecological role of the wolf, properly utilized, would greatly benefit the deer population, forest vegetation and natural biodiversity, and make many current “management” practices, including having to kill in order to save, redundant.

A Note: Hundreds of thousands of captive, cage-crazed carnivores raised for their fur in Minnesota and Wisconsin (the nation’s top producer of mink) are suffering. This aspect of wildlife farming has no place in a civilized society. Neither do the commercial puppy mills in Minnesota, one of the top ten states producing purebred dogs under conditions similar to those of the farmed fox and mink.

Micheal Fox

Coyote and Wolves

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 23:27:00 +0000

Predators have rights too. Can coyotes and sheep coexist in the same area?

Our neighbours laughed silently when they learned we were going raise sheep on our 80 acres of primarily aspen bush and native prairie grasses. We had lots of water, access to good quality hay for winter and if managed properly the grass and bush could sustain them during the spring and summer. If all else fails the Community pastures are an option. Predators never crossed our minds being from the city. The thought of sheep being raised on land were the coyotes reigned made the old timers smile “Those city people will learn”!

Our first lambing went well. Lots of snow and moisture brought on the grass. Our fence was in place. Out went the ewes and lambs, but not all the lambs returned in the evening. First it was the bottle fed lambs then a few more went missing. One morning I looked up from weeding the tomatoes and not 100 yards away a coyote was having a breakfast of lamb. I ran down to the house and got my husband. Grabbing his gun and bullets we quietly went back to the garden. The coyote was too occupies to notice until the gun jammed. So began our relationship with the coyote . We never did kill any, we learned to live with them . We watched them over the year as internal parasites, mange and harsh winters took their toll. We saw them flourish when mice and small prey were abundant. We learned to respect them and the role they played. We were encroaching on their land.

That’s what this blog is about restoring balance, tolerance, respect, and peace!

WOLF CONCERNS---SHOOTING, HUNTING & TRAPPING

MAY SOON RESUME

THE ENDANGERED SPECIES STATUS OF MINNESOTA’S WOLVES IS ENDANGERED

I sent the following Letter to the Editor, the Star Tribune (in Minneapolis, MN) on Nov 19^th, 2010 (which was not published).

“Re; Question of wolves is again at our door (Nov 17^th). Thanks to Ms. Giese and the Center for Biological Diversity for this article pointing out that a handful of Minnesotans want to take away the legal protection of the Federal Endangered Species Act from the Great Lakes wolves.

This is surely outrageous to most reasonable, if not also caring people, since the protection of the wolf by our government was a democratically agreed upon decision. For the U.S. government (Fish and Wildlife Service) to support these vested interests by taking the indigenous wolves off the protected species list would be anti-democratic at best; and closer to the kind of ecological anarchy with a bio-warfare mentality that is already casting a long shadow across the beginning of this century.

As Ms. Giese points out, there are many ways of dealing with wolf-human conflicts without having to resort to removing the wolves’ legal protections, which will mean escalated killing, and then wolf fur will back in fashionable vengeance to once again offend the public eye.

I was not very surprised to read in the Nov. 20th Star Tribune a rebuttal to lawyer-conservationist Gies’ article, entitled “Setting the record straight on wolves” from the Director of the International Wolf Center, (IWC) founded by Dr. David Mech who debated me at a public meeting convened by the Wild Canid Research & Survival Center some years ago in St. Louis over his opposition to ever putting the Gray or North American Timber Wolf on the Endangered Species list. The current IWC executive director Mary Oritz endorses the de-listing of the wolf from the Endangered Species Act protections in favor of MDNR (Minnesota Department of Natural Resources) management which she says “would continue to protect wolves for at least five years after federal delisting.”

According to Minnesotan Karlyn Atkinson Berg of HOWL (Help Our Wolves Live), there is nothing written to prevent the hunting of wolves during this time period, and that reporter Doug Smith was on the mark when he told me that “a limited season for hunting wolves will come after that time.”

I find this no less offensive as a wolf ethologist and conservationist (author of the Soul of the Wolf) than Ms. Oritz and the International Wolf Center dismissing the parvovirus threat to wolf populations and packs. This is one of several disease transmitted by infected free-roaming and feral dogs and possibly cats, which the MDNR needs to address, along with diseases transmitted by livestock to deer and other wild herbivores. As a veterinarian I am familiar with the diseases domestic animals transmit to wildlife for which wildlife are often exterminated for fear of them re-infecting livestock.

This is a vicious circle indeed, which Ms.Oritz would see as a management issue rather than as an ethical dilemma because it is almost always resolved by extermination. Putting out birth-control-drug- laced baits is an alternative population management tool, but fraught with some ecological, non-target animal, and target-animal health and behavioral consequences with possible secondary effects on pack dynamics and integrity.

The widespread broadcasting of bait containing genetically engineered live rabies virus to ostensibly stop the spread of rabies in various wild carnivore populations across the U.S. warrants some basic research safety determinations because of non-target species infection, and possible viral recombination and mutation.

Ms. Oritz’s contention that “The court rulings against federal wolf delisting were based on legal technicalities, not biological considerations” is based on her assumption that having an estimated 4,000 wolves in the entire states of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan is way above the “officially approved biological recovery level in 1978.”

Considering the numbers of managed deer herds that are harvested by hunters in these states, it is little wonder that hunter-displaced wolves might come to prey on cattle and other livestock. In the opening weekend for firearms hunters of Minnesota’s deer season in 2010, the Star Tribune reported the killing of 90,000 Whitetail deer, with a season total kill estimate of 200,000.((Nov.10^th, 2010). Star Tribune’s Outdoors Reporter of these figures, Doug Smith, told me that there would be an additional deer killing by bow hunters totaling an additional 20,000 deer, based on figures for 2009.

I would say let the wolves assume a greater role in deer-herd ‘management’, and let the wild forests return and heal. Cut back the hunters first before the old growth trees, and let the wolves remain on the Endangered Species list because they are under constant threat of human encroachment, conflict and retaliation. It is time for rapprochement, for more ‘biophilia’ to quote Harvard biologist-conservationist E.O.Wilson, and an end to biological warfare which is surely not justified when there are only 4,000 wolves in these three states, a number which some wolf biologists and conservationists believe to be highly questionable. Ms. Berg with HOWL , lamenting the lack of public education about the wolf to raise awareness and appreciation of the environmental values of this species, a primary, natural and superior wildlife and ecosystem manager to any DNR writes to me that “If the public knew how poorly population counts were taken, that wolf mortality is under estimated and is even missing from the calculations here, they would know the number is questionable. In Minnesota (the worst offender) population counts are based upon "opinion surveys", peripheral information from studies of other species, and ancient extrapolations; hence little science is being used to come up with these numbers.”

It was the Minnesota DNR that was the first to petition the U.S. government to de-list the Eastern Gray Timber wolf in March 2010 (See Federal Register Vol.75, No.177, Tuesday, Sept 14, 2010/Proposed Rules, p 55730-55735), this state being the core domain of this species. In April the Wisconsin DNR followed suit, and then in May the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance, representing five other organizations, requested that the gray wolf in the Great Lakes area (Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan) be removed from the list of endangered and threatened species under the Act. In June the Safari Club International and the National Rifle Association joined forces in a similar petition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Of these three states, the Minnesota DNR management plans are the worst since they do not mandate any effective, humane management practices; permit the killing of wolves in the act of “stalking” livestock on private property, and has a $150 bounty for killing wolves in depredation control areas. The superior Michigan DNR management plan includes public education and helping ranchers implement appropriate husbandry practices, while Wisconsin DNR states that it “will focus on prevention and mitigation rather than wolf removal. Public education and proactive measures to reduce wolf predation are non existent in the Minnesota DNR management plan, a point emphasized in the Nov 15^th 2010 Comments to the U.s. Fish and Wildlife by Washington DC based Defenders of Wildlife. But this organization clearly contradicts its own name by supporting the de-listing of the gray wolf in the western Great Lakes from the Endangered Species Act to permit killing as a management tool and inevitably wolf hunting and trapping.

The relentless persecution of the North American wolf and other wild carnivores---from the California cougar and the Florida panther to the Black footed ferret, wily Coyote and Grizzly and Brown bears by the livestock industry has been paid for by the public for decades. State and federal governments have waged biological warfare on these species in total disregard for the suffering and devastating ecological consequences of their anarchy. Currently, farmers and ranchers are compensated from the public coffers for livestock lost to wolves but not for losses from coyotes, weather or disease, so what’s the beef?

Cattle ranchers grazing their animals almost for free on our public lands even have the Bureau of Land Management eliminate competing wild mustangs from the range, while entire Prairie dog colonies are sucked out by giant vacuum cleaners.

The shooting, trapping, snaring, clubbing, poisoning, den-bombing, cyanide-gunning and hunting-dog assisted killing of wild carnivores are outmoded wildlife management practices devoid of either scientific credibility or bioethical validity. The adoption of appropriate, non-lethal predation-minimizing farmed animal husbandry practices by farmers and ranchers whose free-range animals may be at risk, should be mandatory: And only when in place should there be any compensation for wildlife pathologist certified livestock losses due to predation.

The vast majority of Americans who supported the Endangered Species Act for the protection of wolves and other dwindling species should not be betrayed by their government choosing to aid and abet continued ecological anarchy by a few who have no regard for all that is wild and part of the spirit of North America, the natural heritage of all citizens of this magnificent continent. A sustainable economy and the rule of law, especially as they pertain to eco-justice and the inherent value of wolves and all living beings, demand no less.

Neither congress nor the Obama administration should permit the Department of the Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service to pander to those state interests bent on having Canis lupus de-listed as an endangered species because it will mean redoubled persecution, killing for sport, and, inevitably, more wolves being trapped and poisoned. The ethical, caring majority of U.S. citizens who continue to support the protection of endangered species and the conservation, restoration and preservation (CPR) of their habitats should not be betrayed.

I urge all concerned citizens to contact their state representatives in Congress to let their voice of opposition to the de-listing of the Eastern Gray Timber wolf be heard by all who are responsible for the integrity and continued enforcement of the Endangered Species Act, and do not undermine its intent as an enduring legacy for this nation to embrace as a significant advance in civilization..

Dr. Michael W. Fox

2135 Indiana Ave N

Golden Valley MN 55422

763-432-0900

ipan@erols.com

website: www.twobitdog.com/DrFox/

A Review of Orf in Sheep and Goats

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 16:19:00 +0000

This review was done by veterinary students at The Western College of Veterinary Medicine. This was done as part of their virology course.

Natural Rearing of Goats

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 21:53:00 +0000

NATURAL REARING –

WHAT I LEARNED from JULIETTE de BAIRACLI LEVY and MY GOATS

Susun S. Weed, herbalist

In my life-long pursuit of learning, I have encountered many ideas and opinions about health, healing, and herbs. I read widely and I have chosen to study with women that I admire.

Elisabeth Kubler Ross was my first mentor. She taught me to value emotions, especially anger. She would not teach us until we had sung together. Jean Houston declared herself my mentor in the 1980’s, nearly thirty years ago. She taught me to entertain rather than teach and to always look for the story in addition to the facts. She, also, refused to teach us until we all sang together. (Did you notice that I began class with a song and invited you to sing along?)

Juliette de Bairacli Levy is another woman who has had a profound influence on my life and my teaching. When I encountered her book, Common Herbs for Natural Health, in the late 1970’s, I had already been working with herbs and herbal medicine for more than a decade. Juliette revolutionized the way I saw plants and set the patterns for my work with animals. I was fortunate enough to meet her not too long after I read her work, and she was soon a dear friend. I became, and still am, her publisher.* She left us in 2008 and is missed by many.

Juliette modeled for me a fiercely independent woman who fearlessly roamed the world, children in tow, avidly seeking natural ways of living and healing. The life I have created on my homestead follows in her footsteps, and the footsteps of a dear friend of hers, and role model of mineL Helen Nearing. With their guidance, I have lived the Simple Life and raised my animals with Natural Rearing for the past forty years.

I don’t vaccinate my goats for anything, not even tetanus.*** If your goats are around horses, if you castrate with elastics or a knife, or if you dehorn the goats vaccinating for TETANUS is wise. If you need to feed a lot of grain greater than 40% of the total ration. I would advise vaccination for Clostridial perfringens Type D. (Meg Smart)

I don’t dehorn my goats. I don’t free stall.

I don’t separate the kids from their mothers.

I don’t breed until a doe is more than a year old.

I don’t breed every year.

I don’t have my goats in a fenced-in pasture.

I don’t worm my goats on a schedule or use chemical wormers.

In order to keep my goats naturally, I study Nature. I re-wild them and myself.

I continually ask myself what would happen in the wild, while keeping firmly in mind that my goats (and I) are the product of thousands of years of domestication. Because I keep a closed herd and don’t go to fairs or shows, and because I started with a disease-free group of goats, and because I can’t do it myself, I have no reason to immunize or vaccinate my goats against any diseases. In nearly forty years of keeping goats, fewer than ten percent of my deaths have been from any cause other than old age, and none from a communicable disease. (Nearly all of my goats live to be 13-15 years old.)

I love the way the horns look on my Alpine goats. None of the reasons I’ve heard for dehorning make sense for me since I don’t take my girls away from home. The kids learn fast to stay out of the way of the horns. (I have seen them scooped up with the curve of the horns and neatly tossed over the back. They bounce.) My oldest goats keep well back from horn smashing. An elder doe was horned hard on her side some years ago in a struggle over some apple leftovers from cider pressing. (Yes, I set out four tubs, but they fought over one of them nonetheless.) She was certainly hurt and she died about two weeks later. But she was fifteen years old!) The woman who introduced me to dairy goats had an aggressive doe who beat down the wall between her and the next goats and ripped that milker’s vagina. These are the only accidents I have seen in nearly half a century of taking care of horned goats.

* As Ash Tree Publishing I keep many of Juliette’s lesser-known titles in print including Nature’s Children, Traveler’s Joy, Gypsy in New York, Spanish Mt. Life, and Summer in Galilee, in addition to her beloved herbal, my favorite of her people books: Common Herbs for Natural Health.

Because they have horns, each goat must have her own stall. We gate the stall when she has a kid (to keep the kid in or out, as we wish) and remove the gate, clipping her onto a short tether, when she doesn’t have a kid. My herd is small. My target number is seven goats. Right now, I have six milkers and five kids. (Two are does; I’ll keep one or both of them.)

We are careful not to play with the kids in ‘horny’ ways. When they butt us, we push them away by placing a hand on their chest, or we walk away.

The kids are born where their mother thinks best. Most of the time that is in her stall, with the door closed, but at least once every five years or so someone decides it is best to deliver herself outside. I do my best to note the signs of labor and to check in frequently enough to be of service if there is any problem. In forty years of keeping goats I have had to take a goat to the vet to be delivered once. (It’s quite the story; we saved both kids.) I also needed a vet’s help when a goat gave birth to her uterus along with her kid. (Of course I was in France at the time.) (She gave birth to my current lead milker two years later.) I have had still-born kids five or six times. I have had kids who failed to thrive twice. I keep shepherd’s purse tincture in the barn and dose any doe who seems to be bleeding more than a trickle. I keep blue cohosh around for the rare time I think labor needs some help. Every doe who has just given birth is offered five gallons of warm water with a cup of molasses added; most drink the whole bucket.

Kids stay with their mothers night and day until they are three to four weeks old. Then we shut them out of their mother’s stalls from around 5pm (when the goats go into the barn) until we milk at 9pm. Once the kids are six weeks old, we separate them from late afternoon through the night and reunite them with their mothers after the morning milking. All kids have access to their mothers during the day for their entire lives. Once in a while a doe is nursing a kid while still suckling from her mother. (We have some triplets, though not many; we eat the smallest male of the trio before it is a week old.)

By waiting until the doe is over a year old to breed her, and by breeding only every second or third year, I am once again following nature, not modern goat rearing methods. These choices give me a big goat who is capable of producing a lot of milk for a long time; and that’s just what I want. It is not unusual for one of my does to give half a gallon a day in her third year of lactation. My lead milker is feeding a doe kid and still giving me a gallon of milk a day.

For the health of my herd and my own health, I am a herder. That is, I don’t put my goats into a fenced enclosure; I herd them. I milk at 9am and let the goats out of the barn when I am finished with my kitchen chores (straining and refrigerating the milk, dealing with the cultures and ferments we have going, washing up, making cheese or yogurt as needed) or no later than noon. My goats and I wander over my sixty acres and the adjoining 350 acres belonging to those who live on all sides of me. The goats rarely visit the same spot two days in a row – unless it’s autumn and they are glutting themselves on acorns.

Nature smiles on roaming rather than eating always in the same places. Roaming keeps the parasite cycle broken. And roaming gives my goats a wide choice of edibles. (I nearly had a heart attack one day when they ate a plant that I think of as stopping the action of the heart. It did make them very very sick; but they stay well away from it now!)

I love it that my goats eat a variety of vegetation. I maintain that the best herbal medicine is raw goat’s milk because it is predigested herbs. This morning one of the kids spent fifteen minutes eating plantain leaves and flower stalks. They eat raspberry leaves; good for reproductive health. They eat dandelion and chicory; keeps the digestion strong. They eat poison ivy; it makes their coats sleek and keeps me from reacting to it when I consume it in the milk. They eat roses and red clover; both are fertility enhancers and allies in keeping a good supply of milk coming.

Keeping animals the Natural way is fun, intimate, engaging, and best done on a small scale. Re-wilding myself and my animals keeps us all in optimum health.

GREEN BLESSINGS

MY FAVORITE GREEN ALLIES for EASING & HEALING INJURED ANIMALS

Susun S. Weed, herbalist

Since my animals are generally in excellent health, the primary health care that I give is to help them when they are injured. And as I’ve kept a variety of animals for more than forty years, I’ve had the opportunity to deal with both minor and major problems. The local herbs in my yard have provided me with all the medicines I have needed to tend to those problems, large and small. I never hesitate to seek help when I need to use a drug (see Sweetheart’s story), to get a hi-tech diagnosis (see Diana’s story), or to do something I don’t know how to do (like put a goat’s udder back into her body).

Sweetheart the goose was ten years old when he was attacked in the middle of a cold winter night by something toothed. His armpit (wingpit?) was entirely ripped out, down to the bone. I couldn’t even guess how many other wounds he was hiding under four inches of down.

Since I was fairly certain there were puncture wounds that I couldn’t see, and thus couldn’t tend to, I took him to a local vet for a shot of antibiotic. Then began the three-month-long process of healing and restoring healthy confidence to my Sweetheart. Nourishing herbal infusions, especially comfrey, raw goat’s milk yogurt, constant warmth from the woodstove, and loving attention from many – which went under various guises such as praying for him, lighting candles for him, doing Reiki for him – were the simple means we used to return him to vigorous health. (He lived another seven years and had more healing adventures.)

Hera the goat kid was about ten weeks old when we found her down, rigid, and apparently dead. Close examination revealed a weak heart beat and slow respiration. Her tongue was purple and hanging from her mouth. I feared she had eaten something poisonous, though I couldn’t guess what. My land is free of mountain laurel, the frequent culprit in goat poisonings in my area. I mixed several tablespoonfuls of slippery elm bark powder with fresh warm milk from her mom and dripped it into her mouth, stroking her throat to encourage her to swallow. An apprentice offered to sit up with her, feeding her, and stroking her throat all night.

Slippery elm is renowned for absorbing poisons and saving animals’ lives. It certainly worked for Hera. Though she was blind, she survived her misadventure. We continued giving her slippery elm mixed with her mother’s milk, and she regained her sight two weeks later.

Diana the cat was twenty years old when she lay down in the warm spring sun to take a nap. If my student, J, had turned on her car engine, Diana would have heard her and jumped out of the way. If J had left at the end of class, the noise of our voices would have alerted her. But J was embarrassed that she was leaving early, so she tried to be quiet. She let out the clutch and rolled her car backwards down the hill – and over the cat, breaking her pelvis into pieces.

The vet x-rayed her and suggested surgery. I was aghast, convinced she would not survive it. I took her home and made a warm nest for her. I brought her dishes of warm milk every hour. I put comfrey leaf infusion in the milk; I put echinacea tincture into the milk. When she refused it twice in a row, I fed it to her with a dropper.

The local Reiki master is a cat lover in general and a Diana lover in particular, so she dropped by whenever she could (often several times a day) to administer Reiki. Our intention was to allow her pelvis to resume its normal shape, which we knew it remembered at a cellular level. It did. Comfrey and love, goat’s milk and faith healed her enough to allow her to jump up on the table four months later. (Diana died the following winter of pneumonia.)

Herbs That Deal with Injuries:

Calendula (Calendula officinalis) flower tincture or ointment is everybody’s favorite home remedy for injuries. Apply lavishly as needed.

Plantain (Plantago species) is a back-yard weed with miraculous abilities to stop itching and hasten healing. Use fresh or as an oil/ointment.

Slippery elm (Ulmus fulva) bark is nourishing, absorbing, and rebuilding to mucus surfaces of the digestive system. Powder works best.

St. Joan’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) oil and tincture ease pain.

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) heals internal as well as external wounds.

PLANTAIN is not a banana, but a broad-leafed weed of lawns and city sidewalks. Plantain is found in profusion from the tropics to the arctic, and from coast to coast. Both Plantago majus and P. lanceolata are common throughout North America.

Whether the itch is from dry skin or bug bites, chafing or nervousness, eczema or rubbing, eveyone needs plantain, the anti-itch miracle. Dogs that chew at flea bites get instant relief from plantain oil/ointment or applications of fresh macerated leaves. All are safe to ingest and stop itching fast fast fast. Plantain also stops bleeding. It is a fine pain reliever. And it hastens healing. “Plain plantain,” who advocates peace, is the child’s first plant. It is so empowering for children to be able to reach out and pick a plant to help themselvs; it is even more so when they can reach out and use that same plant to help heal their cherished pets.

Plantain ointments are easily available. They are even easier to make. Instructions are in my books as well as at my website:

But don’t hesitate to use plantain fresh. Just chew and apply to all injuries, including deep cuts, bullet holes, barbed wire wounds, abrasions, and bruises.

SLIPPERY ELM has such a mild demeanor you would hardly guess that she is such a powerhouse. I use powdered slippery elm bark mixed with honey and rolled into boluses which can be swallowed (animal) or allowed to dissolve in the mouth (human). I also mix it with fresh milk to form a gruel that can be as thick or thin as I desire. I have fed this gruel to struggling newborns from a dropper. It can be fed from a bottle to weanlings with diarrhea.

Slippery elm bark powder stops diarrhea, often after one dose. It ends constipation. It absorbs all poisons from the gut. It ends food poisoning. It restores weak young ones. It adds a little extra to the bottle for the needy. I adore slippery elm.

Slippery elm bark powder is available at most health food stores. Buy it in bulk.

ST JOAN’S WORT is one of my favorite plants. I use both the oil and the tincture to allay a variety of problems. Also known as St. John’s wort, this sunny yellow flower turns into intense red remedies that allow us to safely use the energy of the sun. Hypericum perforatum graces fields in the northern half of North America from Virginia to Nova Scotia, northern California to Vancouver.

St. J’s tincture, made immediately from fresh flowers, stops spasms, allays pain after surgery, counters infection, and kills a wide variety viruses including papilloma, herpes, and HIV. A dropperful for each 150 pounds of weight is a good starting dose. In the case of spasms, the dose may be repeated at fifteen minutes intervals. In the case of viral infection, the dose is best given every four to six hours.

St. J’s oil eases pain fast. It is especially restorative after surgery. It relaxes muscles and helps nerve ending heal well. Many mysterious skin problems are solved by frequent applications of the infused red oil of Hypericum.

St. J’s tincture and oil are available wherever herbal products are sold.

YARROW has been used for thousands of years to heal wounds. It became known as “soldier’s wound wort” during the Civil War, when it was used to prevent infection during battleground amputations. Some claim its botanical designation – Achillea millefolium – honors the Greek hero Achilles.

Yarrow is a superior pain reliever. Fresh leaves macerated and applied to an injury stop bleeding in seconds. It is said that the gypsies revere yarrow because it saved the life of a chief whose arm was ripped off by a horse. The tincture is also hemostatic, but not so quickly. Internally, it quixotic, sometimes stopping bleeding, sometimes seeming to encourage it.

Yarrow is a superior anti-infective externally. It has been shown to kill hundreds of gram- positive and gram-negative bacteria. Applied as soon as possible, either fresh or in tincture form, yarrow prevents infection perfectly.

Yarrow is a superior wound healer. Yarrow contains substances that help a wound close rapidly and without scar tissue. A poultice of the fresh leaves is ideal.

Yarrow grows in open fields throughout the temperate regions. Only the white variety is medicinal. Colored cultivars have too much volatile oil for safe use.

Yarrow is sold at most health food stores, both as a ready-made tincture and as dried leaves and flowers.

ESSENTIAL OILS seem to be natural, but they aren’t. True, the words “natural flavor” refer to compounds made in laboratories, not to compounds extracted from plants. In this sense, we could say that essential oils are natural, they are concentrated from plants in laboratories. But this is not what most people think of as “natural.”

I define a drug as something that does not grow out of the ground and cannot be made in your own kitchen. Thus, essential oils are drugs. Drugs, as we know, are highly. Drugs, as we know, can instigate other problems while countering the initial one.

Essential oils are hormone disruptors. They suppress the immune system. And they kill gut flora. Not just when taken internally, but when used externally or when we breathe them in. Like drugs, essential oils are handy, powerful, and easily available. Like drugs, essential oils are rarely made in earth-friendly ways.

Using herbs brings us closer to our roots, helps us reconnect with Nature, heals the planet as well as the being. Herbal medicine is people’s medicine.

GREEN BLESSINGS

HERBAL ALTERNATIVES TO ANTIBIOTICS AND ANTHELMINTICS

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 21:19:00 +0000

HERBAL ALTERNATIVES to ANTIBIOTICS and ANTHELMINTICS

Susun S. Weed, herbalist

Herbs are extremely effective in countering infections if used lavishly, repeatedly, and skillfully. Larger animals, like goats may be given tinctures directly into their mouths. I dose smaller animals, like dogs, cats, and rabbits, by adding tinctures to some liquid, usually milk.

Herbs That Counter Infecti

Echinacea (Echinacea purpurea or Echinacea augustifolia) is my mainstay anti-infective

Lomatium (Lomatium dissectum) is a specialty herb with broad-spectrum abilities

Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) is not recommended.

Poke (Phytolacca americana) kicks the immune system into high gear.

Usnea (Usnea barbarata) is a lichen that counters deep-seated infections.

Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) says she runs a “school of self defense.”

I rely on echinacea root tincture, poke root tincture, and yarrow flower tincture for ninety-nine percent of all infections that I deal with. Occasionally I make use of usnea, and lomatium. I have used goldenseal only once in forty years of practice – externally, at that.

GOLDENSEAL is, I believe, overused. The plant itself is so overharvested that it has become rare in the wild. Consumers are enjoined to buy only cultivated root products in order to protect what little goldenseal is left. Goldenseal root, taken in any form, tea or tincture, kills and damages gut flora and, if used in large doses frequently, can stress and ultimately cause damage to the liver and the kidneys. I avoid it.

ECHINACEA is one of the most widely-used and most commonly-known of all herbs. I “discovered” it in the early 1970’s when looking for herbs to replace goldenseal in herbal formulae. In an old book of Eclectic herbs, I found Kansas Coneflower root listed as an effective agent against all infections. (Ask me what they called it in the book; I can’t write the name they used then as I would get in trouble for using a “bad” word nowadays.) I was able to procure both purple coneflower (E. purpurea) and large-leaved coneflower (E. augustifolia) roots, as plants for my garden and as dried herbs to use medicinally. I soon became enthralled with the beauty of the echinacea flowers and the power of her roots to heal.

It took me several years to learn that more is better with echinacea. I was cautious at first, treating it just like the antibiotic drugs I was familiar with. I limited my doses and limited the amount of time I used it. But as we grew to know each other, I stopped thinking of echinacea as a drug that could harm and began to regard her as a longevity tonic and an ally who could prevent as well as treat infections. (Let us remember that pharmaceutical antibiotics are not meant to be used to preventatively.) David Hoffmann, herbalist and author, reports that mice fed echinacea on a daily basis live twice as long as their echinacea-less litter mates.

I prefer to use E. augustifolia/angustifolia. It is difficult to cultivate, so I buy dried root and make my own tincture from it. (Instructions for making your own tincture are in all of my books and at my website: All my experiences relate to this species.

E. purpurea is the species most commonly offered for sale as a ready-made tincture. If made from the fresh root – and only the root (no leaves, no flowers, no seeds), and offered by itself (no goldenseal or other herbs mixed with it), E. purpurea is probably as effective as E. augustifolia. Echinacea has become a favorite landscaping plant. Purpurea grows rapidly, stays in flower for many weeks, is tolerant of drought, cold, and poor soils, and spreads through seeds.

The effective dose of echinacea root tincture is a large one, given frequently. How large? I use one drop per two pounds (or kilo) of body weight. A 300-pound goat needs 150 drops as a dose. A dropperful is generally about 25 drops, so 150 drops would be six dropperfuls. More is not a problem; less is not enough. I repeat the dose every one to four hours depending on the severity of the infection.

Echinacea nourishes the creation of white blood cells, up to, but not beyond, the capacity of the blood. (It can’t create leukemia, for instance). A blood test will show elevated levels of macrophages soon after the first dose. Continued use will help maintain the body’s ability to counter infective bacteria. Echinacea enhances the immune system; it is safe to use even when there is an auto-immune disease present.

When I raised chickens, I was horrified to find that all the feeds for chicks contained antibiotics. Instead, I added about an ounce of dried, ground E. purpurea root to a pound of feed. It worked well; but my chicks were not crowded, nor did I ever have more than a few dozen at a time.

POKE is a large, unusual-looking plant found primarily in rich soils in the eastern half of North America. The freshly harvested root, immediately tinctured, provides an agent that “pokes” the immune system and gets it going. Poke is one of the few scary plants that I use. All parts of it are considered poisonous if incorrectly prepared or used in excessive doses.

Country folk relish poke salat. A salat is a cooked green; young poke shoots are treated with boiling water to leach out the poisons and then cooked. I have enjoyed pokeberry jam and poke berry pie, although the seeds are quite poisonous. (So are apple seeds, apricot pits, and peach seeds.)

The dose of poke root tincture for people starts at one drop per day due to poke’s propensity for causing hallucinations when the dose exceeds ten drops a day. Poke contains many poisonous substances, including asparagene, an alkaloid that can damage the kidneys over time.

Since I don’t care if a sick animal hallucinates, I don’t hesitate to give large doses to them if I think it’s needed. If I don’t get the response I want from generous doses of echinacea given hourly for six hours in an acute situation, I bring on the poke. I generally add the poke tincture to the echinacea tincture in the ratio of one dropperful of poke per one ounce bottle of echinacea. Then I dose the echinacea as usual. Each dropper of echinacea contains about one drop of poke tincture.

I use poke only as needed. And never longer than is needed. It is especially effective in countering mastitis and engorgement of the udder from overeating proteins, such as alfalfa or acorns. Poke is not easily available. One source is www.redmoonherbs.com

YARROW counters infection, inside and out. The leaves or flowering tops, used fresh or tinctured is my favorite topical anti-infective. I discuss yarrow in my class (and notes) on treating injured animals. The tincture is for sale in most health food stores.

LOMATIUM has been shown to suppress the growth of sixty-two types of bacteria and fungi. It is also anti-viral, making it useful when the cause of the infection is uncertain. It is especially active in the mucus cells of the respiratory passages. It counters all colds and flus in humans and animals. Tincture of the freshly dug root, in doses as small as 5 drops taken three times a day, is used against brucellosis in goats and tuberculosis in humans; it is extremely useful in dealing with neonatal pneumonia. Lomatium tincture is not widely available. One source is

USNEA is a common lichen found on pine trees and fruits trees in cool, moist locations around the world. I have harvested usnea as south as New Zealand, as far north as Ontario, Canada, and as far west as California. It looks like old man’s beard and is related to it. The tincture of the properly-prepared plant is bright orange. Like lomatium, it has a special affinity for the lungs and respiratory organs. Like echinacea, it builds the immune system instead of stimulating it. Usnea is indicated if the infection is very deep-seated.

I use dropperful doses several times a day for mature animals with breathing difficulties. Dropperful doses, given every few hours, can counter rattles in the lungs of newborns. Usnea tincture is for sale in many places.

American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 15:47:00 +0000

In October, I attended the AHVMA conference in Coventington Ky; I met many knowlegable and wonderful people there who take a holistic approach to veterinary medicine. As I am often asked by interested producers for alternate or herbal remedies, I asked Susun Weed if she would write or give me permission to publish some of her conference presentations on this blog. Over the next week I will post these as a series of articles, which I am sure you will find interesting and helpful

Book Review of The Goat Production Manual 2nd Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Dr. Meg Smart) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 12:42:00 +0000

Aspiring goat producers get textual help

By BARB GLEN, EDITOR

Western Producer
23/09/2010 12:00:00 AM

When Dr. Marion (Meg) Smart offered us a copy of her book,Goat Production Manual, A Practical Guide (Second Edition),we seized it as an opportunity to learn more about the subject. Smart, a veterinarian and professor with the Western College of Veterinary Medicine, has a long history with theProducer,so it was a pleasure to receive a copy.

But there’s no sense pretending anyone on staff can objectively review its contents. None of us raise goats. As

Smart says in the chapter entitled My Goats, “I

always advise my students to listen to the seasoned producer, as nothing upsets a good theory like a little experience.”

Lacking aforementioned experience, allow us to at least observe that the book offers information on goat nutrition, health, breeding, common diseases and medications. It’s easy to read and understand.

The book says that “worldwide, people eat seven times more goat meat than beef.” Wikipedia, which is quite arguably a less reliable source than Smart, says goat is a distant fourth globally, behind pork, beef and chicken. Other sources at the universities of Alabama, Texas A&M and Auburn maintain that goat meat comprises 63 percent of all red meat consumed worldwide.

Suffice to say that goat meat is a popular protein, particularly in the Middle East, Pakistan, India, Mexico and the Caribbean. Its popularity is also increasing elsewhere.

Smart’s book arrived just after we had requested a review copy of the recently releasedRaising Goats forDummies.

As its name implies, the book starts with the bare basics, from getting acquainted with goats to 10 misconceptions (No. 1: Goats will eat anything.) Author Cheryl K. Smith raises goats, and we were intrigued by a note that she also served as legal counsel for the American Goat Society. What legal trouble might goats or goat societies get into? We know from Smart’s book that goats are intelligent, but apparently they are not as smart as lawyers.

Our assessment of the two books: If you have goats, Smart’s book is a good resource. If you’re just thinking of getting goats, start with the Dummies book. Once you’re in business, Smart’s book will serve well.