{"id":698,"date":"2015-03-04T16:51:27","date_gmt":"2015-03-04T23:51:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/dirtheartwitch\/?p=698"},"modified":"2015-03-04T16:51:27","modified_gmt":"2015-03-04T23:51:27","slug":"goats-and-gas-a-dangerous-combination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/dirtheartwitch\/2015\/03\/goats-and-gas-a-dangerous-combination\/","title":{"rendered":"Goats and Gas ~ A Dangerous Combination"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the routine of bringing the goats out in the morning. Last week, we had a little deviation in the pattern, all to do with Thistle, our little wether.<\/p>\n

\"thistle<\/a>
gods only know what this little dude\u2019s been getting into\u2026<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I had let all the girls out onto the hillside and I\u2019d let Thistle out to play on the milkstand while I was tending to little Rose in the shed. He had his nose in the feeder and was happily manging on alfalfa pellets. Two seconds later, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that\u00a0he\u2019d lifted his head and was shaking it back and forth. Oh, and by the way, he was also *foaming at the mouth*. Yellow foam\u00a0was spraying all over as he shook his head from side to side and bleated his distress. Scary!<\/p>\n

I called for backup and Matthew came out immediately to hold Thistle for whatever weird doctor-y biz we\u2019d need to do.<\/p>\n

Thank god for the internet, can I just say? \u00a0I ran to the computer\u00a0and googled a few of my best sources for \u201cyellow foam goats\u201d. \u00a0Lots of info on that, if you can imagine. \u00a0All the signs pointed to him either being poisoned (but there were no other symptoms) or having bloat (aka too much gas in the tummy (really, it\u2019s called the \u2018rumen\u2019 but when it\u2019s owie, it\u2019s called a \u2018tummy\u2019). Goats get bloat from eating too much rich food, generally, or just too much food, or something weird. \u00a0It\u2019s a delicate balance. \u00a0Luckily, we had on hand the easiest and quickest remedy for bloat: baking soda. Just like you\u2019d give a human-person.<\/p>\n

I filled\u00a0a pint glass of water, and put in about a 1\/2 tsp of baking soda, then I used a dosing syringe to administer the liquid to him. He drank it happily, like he knew it was just what he needed.<\/p>\n

A moment later he began belching. A lot. Like a really lot. Like maybe he was belching the goat alphabet and was really impressing the other goats, who\u2019d gathered to watch.<\/p>\n

Anyway, that went on for a while, while Matthew held him and I rubbed his tummy. Matthew, sadly, was right in the line of fire of those belches and not only were they loud they also smelled like\u2026something less than pleasant, let\u2019s just say.<\/p>\n

When things calmed a bit, Matthew set Thistle down on the grass and he scampered off. I kept a keen eye on him that day, but he was fine and has been ever since!<\/p>\n

Blessed be the easy problems, by which we learn! \u00a0Blessed be simple solutions! \u00a0(See what I did there? \u00a0\u201cSolutions\u201d? \u00a0Baking soda in water? \u00a0Okay, that\u2019s enough\u2026)<\/p>\n

Clearly, I am not a vet, and there are lots of reasons why ruminants get sick and lots of treatments that are suggested for their healing, from Granny Aching\u2019s turpentine cure<\/a> to complicated nutritional and medicinal options. \u00a0To learn more about goat husbandry in general, the best site I\u2019ve found is at\u00a0Fias Co Farm<\/a>. \u00a0There are many forum-type sites that are full of good info as well, including the Goat Spot<\/a>\u00a0and one of my personal favorites, the ning group for Nigerian Dwarf Goats<\/a>. \u00a0 Enjoy.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What’s the solution to this little goat’s problem? Jenya writes on the scariness of poor health in the herd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1721,"featured_media":703,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,105],"tags":[35,96,33,34],"class_list":["post-698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fauna","category-goats","tag-homesteading","tag-illness","tag-pagan","tag-paganism"],"yoast_head":"\nGoats and Gas ~ A Dangerous Combination<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What's the solution to this little goat's problem? 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