The heat has been awful and we are all suffering. The corn in my garden seems to be loving the heat and doing well. We have been getting up very early to do chores and then come in when it gets to hot.
We have been experimenting with canning in a pressure canner and want to can everything, including meat in a pressure canner. This would enable us to not worry about freezers and electricity if the economy really took a nose dive or a hurricane blew through. The picture on the left above is the canner and the jars on the right is the first batch of carrots canned. All went well and we will try some carrots for lunch Wednesday.
I was chatting about parasite problems and happened to get a good example of a bottle jaw in a ewe. Bottle jaw is caused by the internal parasites causing anemia and the blood becomes thin. The swelling is like an edema under the jaw. It is possible for the entire face to become swollen.
If one treats if fast enough, it can be reversed. I have seen 4 bottle jaw cases in the past 3 years. It is uncommon, but very serious. If not treated quickly, the animal will usually die. My regimen to treat an ewe with bottle jaw is as follows:
First check the eyes and see if pale to white in color. Then inject ewe with 1 to 1 1/2 cc of Vit A,D, E and give 5 cc Super B complex (150 pound ewe). Then I would worm orally with Valbazen for 2 days in a row, wait a week and worm a third time with Cydectin. Do not give Cydectin to a sheep or goat who is down or really weak. My experience has been that Cydectin will push them over the edge and kill them. I am not sure why, but that has been my experience. Do not use Cydectin on kids or lambs under 4 months of age.
After 24 to 48 hours I give the sheep a 1 cc IM shot of Dextran, which is an iron supplement. Continue to monitor the animals and if not eating, give them a good 30 to 60 cc of power punch. This has vitamins and sugar and gives them a boost.
Got to go to bed to get to work in the am... more later...
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