Extra Weekend Day!

Memorial Day is not only a day to remember those who have served so valiantly for our freedom, it is a wonderful gift to have an extra day on the weekend. It seems we are never caught up in the spring. There is always gardening, weeding, and the animals to take care of.

Today Vet2Be and Dad posted flags throughout our neighborhood. It is a fundraiser that the Boy Scouts do to earn money for camp. They post flags in yards on 6 holidays throughout the year. Memorial Day is one of them.

Dad had time to till the garden, again. There is still planting to be done now that the hard frost is past. Over the next week we will be planting the corn, pumpkins, squash, potatoes, and watermelon. It will be time to keep the chickens away from the garden so they won't eat the corn seeds. We hate keeping them in their pen, but we also don't like them to eat all the corn seeds!

It is also a day to weed the flower beds. A job I dread! I got the flower bed weeded where the flag is. It looks much nicer now. Unfortunately, this is the smallest flower bed, I've still got 4 more to go. Looks like I'll be busy weeding tomorrow, too!

Mastitis by Noah L. Goddard

This is a post that was on Managing Dairy Goats (yahoo group). Since we have had such a battle with Glacier and mastitis again this year (although not as badly as last year) it seemed like a good idea to post this for future reference.

Mastitis Vaccines
Mastitis Resistance: J-5 & Lysigin Vaccines
With kidding under way does are really stressed during this brutal winter weather and subject to acute mastitis at, or shortly after, freshening. If you have not already done so please consider vaccinating vulnerable does against Staph aureus and E. coli mastitis.

Fresh does always seem to be the most vulnerable to mastitis outbreaks. First, I want to emphasize that I am not a Veterinarian and that I make no claims of medical training nor am I recommending any treatments, therapies, or preventives. We use two cattle vaccines off label pursuant to the direction of our veterinarian, J-5 as an aid in the prevention of clinical mastitis caused by E.coli and Lysigin as an immunization against disease caused by staphylococcus aureus. While I am sure that these vaccines are sold by other vendors, both of these are shown about mid-page 43 of the PBS Animal Health Catalog or you can find them on-line at www.pbsanimalhealth.com or call them at 1-800-321-0235. They can be purchased without a veterinary prescription.

We follow the package insert instructions for dosage of each vaccine IM using a smaller needle, 3/4 inch by 22 gauge. We start about midway in their pregnancy and repeat it for a total of three times and then give a fourth injection about two weeks after kidding. We then give a booster about midway through their lactation. We do not give both vaccines in the same leg and do not give the vaccines at the same time. We rotate and give the J-5 one week and the Lysigin the following week. You may get an occasional injection site reaction resulting is a sore leg but that can be easily managed with Banamine. We also vaccinate dry yearlings before they are bred to freshen as 2-year-olds. Does that are historically more susceptible to mastitis are given more frequent boosters to heighten their level of immunity. You may want to consult your veterinarian about frequency of boosters.

We also emphasize overall resistance to mastitis which includes milk room sanitation. The worst germ carriers are on the end of our arms and they are called hands. One of the most crucial mastitis preventives is a hand sink and antibacterial soap in your milk room. I can't emphasize enough the need for frequent hand washing. Washing hands with antibacterial soap before milking is important.

We use Nolvasan and individual washcloths for each doe to prep them before connecting them to the milking machine. We use an Iodine based post dip called Astro Tek which is kind of like pudding. It clogs the orifice and keeps dirt and debris carrying bacteria from entering the udder when they go out and lay down directly after milking. A bacteria-free milking machine is crucial to mastitis resistance. We use Mitricin Plus and hot water to clean our machine, then use a solution of Clorox and hot water after milking. Before the next milking we run another solution of clorox and hot water through the system and then rinse the system with plain hot water.

While other herd management practices may vary, we do not bed our loafing barn with hay, straw, shavings, or similar materials. It is well insulated and well ventilated. We use a 12-inch thick layer of lime screenings in the loafing barn which we believe keeps down bacteria that causes mastitis. We clean off the top layer periodically as needed and replace it with fresh screenings. Our loafing barn has a 22 foot by 60 foot awning on the south side that is used to cover the hay feeders. The hay feeders are 2x12 skids so they can be moved with the tractor permitting us to clean under the awning which is also bedded with 12 inches of lime screenings. The area under the awning requires more frequent cleaning as the goats spend much of their time in this area (see loafing area at http://www.goddardfarm.com/aboutus.htm). This loafing area also has a thermostat-controlled automatic Brower water system so the does have access to a fresh drink during all weather conditions (see attached picture). Fresh clean drinking water is crucial to herd health.

In all cases, we strongly recommend against beginning any new therapies, treatments, or vaccines without first consulting your regular veterinarian. The manufacturers package insert instructions, and/or those of your veterinarian should be followed and not deviated from.

Good Luck with your Mastitis Resistance program.
Noah

***********************

I have an Alpine doe, kidded on March 25th,
she now has clumps of blood coming out in her milk

what do I treat her with?

she weighs 120 lbs.
thanks Misty

***********************

Misty,
You have a serious case of mastitis. First, get some milk samples of both sides of the udder and take them to your vet for cultures. Concomitantly start antibiotics immediately as follows, 8 to 10cc of Penicillin S.Q. twice a day for a total of 20cc per day for the first day. Then 6cc of Penicillin S.Q. twice a day for a total of 12cc each day for the next four days. Along with the Penicillin, give 5cc of Naxcel S.Q. daily for the same five days. Give 3cc of fortified B-complex daily for the same five days.

You need to vaccinate this doe and every animal in your herd with J-5 and Lysigin ASAP. Get into our list archive and read previous discussions on these vaccines.

Noah

Bee Larva

Hubby and Vet2Be checked on the bees last Saturday. The were thrilled with how the bees were doing. They are building comb and the queen is laying eggs.

The bees had connected one frame to a frame in the box above. When Hubby and Vet2Be took off the top box, they heard a 'pop' as the comb separated. The burr comb had some larva in it so Hubby brought it in the house so we could see what the larva look like.

You can see the larva in the bottom section of the photo. The top shows some of the comb that the bees are building.

My notes on Coccidia

Here is some of the research that I have found helpful while trying to treat Buddy for Coccidia.

Here is a page from Karin Christensen's Biology of the Goat site. It explains the life cycle of coccidia. I respect Karin's wisdom and knowledge about goats. She has always answered my questions in a kind and courteous manner. She has never talked down to me when I've had a question, in fact she has often asked questions so that she has more facts in order to answer questions better. She can be found on Biology of the Goat, NubianTalk, and GoatBiology. She is sensible and uses scientific papers and research to learn and teach about goats.

National Pygmy Goat Association also has an excellent article on the stages of development of coccidia and the treatment of coccidiosis. They also have a treatment dosage using Sulfamethazine sold as a poultry prep.

Corid is a thiamine inhibitor, which means that it will stop the organism from being able to use thiamine.

This is from the Corid site
"How CORID works:
Structurally, CORID mimics thiamin (Vitamin B1) which is required by coccidia for normal growth and reproduction. When coccidia ingest CORID, they experience thiamin deficiency and starve from malnutrition. CORID has been experimentally administered at many times the recommended dosage and duration with no signs of toxicity."

After talking to Hubby (Ph.D. in Synthetic Organic Chemistry with a minor in BioChemistry) he said that the cells in the goat would absorb the Corid, preventing them from absorbing the thiamine as well. If Buddy becomes thiamine defiecient, he has the chance of having polioencepholamalaica.

Other drugs for treatment of coccidia include Albon 12.5% solution, Di-Methox soluble powder, Di-Methox 12.5% solution, Sulment oblet, and Sulmet 12.5% solution. Information for those drugs and dosages are found here at the Maryland Small Ruminant Page.

Treatment and Di-Methox instructions can be found here at the Onion Creek Ranch site. They also state, "CoRid is no longer recommended by many professionals because (a) some strains of coccidia have become resistant to it, and (b) CoRid is a thiamine (Vitamin B 1) inhibitor. The importance of thiamine in keeping goats healthy is difficult to overstate."

Hoegger Goat Supply also has some information about coccidia and dosing with Di-Methox, 12.5% solution. They say, "We never had much success using Co-Rid. The huge doses necessary for treating goats (10 times the cattle dose) created a vitamin B1 (thiamin) deficiency that resulted in the goat getting polio. In other words, "the cure was worse than the disease."

Goat-Link also has an article on Coccidosis in goats. They also warn against using Corid. The page states, "CoRid is a thiamine (Vitamin B 1) inhibitor. Thiamine in the goat's system is essential for keeping the goat in good health, using Corid will undo anything you are attempting to do in getting your goat healthy!"

Baycox (toltrazuril) was also suggested as a a treatment for coccidia, although that is not available in the US at this time (I couldn't find it.) Here is an old post from NubianTalk (yahoo group):
"Toltrazuri (brand name is Baycox) is a fantastic treatment/prevention. It is manufactured for poultry, pigs and calves. It can be ordered via the internet from Australia. I used it last year on a several kids. As soon as they would start to get loose (3-4 weeks old) I would treat. It is a single treatment and within 2 days the manure was back to normal and the kids never missed a beat.

Be advised this is an extra-label use for this drug as it is listed for cattle, pigs and poultry. It is listed in "Goat Medicine" by Smith and Sherman for use as a single dose treatment at 20mg\kg body weight orally or prevention at the same dose once every 3-4 weeks. Below is an excerpt.

"A new coccidiacidal agent used in poultry, toltrazuril, has been evaluated in goats and a single oral dose of 20mg/kg produced rapid, significant reduction is oocyst shedding that remained low for 2 to 3 weeks suggesting that all developmental stages of the coccidia present were killed."

I used the formula for pigs that is 50mg/ml and treated per recommended dose. I only used it as a single treatment and never needed to re-treat.

Dan Greene
Greenehaven Nubians
Prosser, WA
www.greenehavenfarms.com"

We also have been giving Probios to support the rumen while we are trying to get rid of the coccidia. I have been told that Probios only supports the small intestine, not the rumen, as this article found in the Journal of Dairy Science suggests. (A paper titled "Direct fed microbial supplementation on ruminal digestion, health, and performance of pre- and postpartum dairy cattle" was published in the Journal of Dairy Science, Vol. 89, No.1, 2006.) Feeding Probios will help support and strengthen his digestive system, but not the rumen specifically.

This page at Fias Co Farm has information and dosages for both Probiotic Rumen inoculates (ProBios) as well as Seleneum-E Gel (like Bo-Se, but in a gel form and available OTC.) (Although we believe that herbs can be helpful at times, we are also grateful to the veterinary and science research fields. More often than not, we use medications when the illness is severe instead of using herbs as is generally suggested by Fias Co Farm.) It was suggested that because of Buddy's symptoms, he might have a Selenium deficiency. Since none of the other goats have any of the same symptoms, Selenium deficiency was ruled out at this time.

Searching through old posts on GoatBiology (a yahoo group found in the sidebar) I ran across one that said, "My theory is that he [a rescued buck] had Coccidia before I got him and it damaged his intestinal track and he wasn't able to absorb the feed he was getting enough to grow as he should. But as he did grow, however slowly, his intestines were also growing and as they did grow - more of the nutrients were able to be absorbed."

If Buddy's only problem is a bad case of coccidia, then perhaps he will just be slower developing since he can't absorb as much nutrition.

We were able to contact a different vet today (Nebo Large Animal Clinic) who let us purchase some Albon pills. He said two pills tonight, and one each day for the next 4 days. Our Di-Methox was ordered last night. We ordered the powder because Hubby has extremely accurate scales and will be able to measure and mix smaller amounts so it doesn't go to waste. If he wasn't so good at chemistry, we would have gotten the solution because it is easier to administer. The Di-Methox should be here by Friday. We will always have this on hand since it is "one of those things you need but can't get quickly." (Karin Christensen)

We are lucky (blessed) this time that we haven't lost Buddy yet. Hopefully he will heal and do his job in our friend's herd. One of the benefits of using Albon or Di-Methox (both Sulfa drugs) is that it "will also treat any bad intestinal bacterial overgrowth as well" as the coccidia. (Karin Christensen)

This post will be added to and changed as I find more articles or information about Coccidia.

Karin Christensen's helpful emails

This post is the emails that Karin and I sent back and forth so she could help us diagnose and figure out what is wrong with Buddy.

******************

He is being dam raised, he is 8 weeks old tomorrow. Even though we are pulling the other kids at night to start to wean them, we are not taking this kid from his dam at all. All the animals have been treated for coccidia at this point because the vet said it is best to treat everyone so it doesn't go from one animal to another. They are now on the 1/2 dose in their water that is recommended as maintenance for 21 days.

We did clean everything, and it is dry where we live (intermountain west--pretty much desert). And you are right, we don't really have problems with worms, the vet is just trying to figure out how to get the little guy healthy again. He pretty much just sits around and can't stand up well--he falls down alot again.

He had polioencepholamacia about a month ago--the vitamin B shots are what made the coccidia bloom (since they love vitamin B!). So we treated for the goat polio, and he got a bit better. Then he got worse--we found out it was because of the coccidia.

The vet also said that he probably has some damage to his digestive tract that will need to heal--we're just trying to figure out how to get him healthy as quickly as we can. He's a good little kid!

He also gets some ProBios gel everyday to help his rumen keep working.

Since our vet isn't really a goat vet, but is willing to work with us, I really wanted some internet opinions from people who deal with goats everyday.

Thanks again for your reply. I'll hold off on the worming for a while.
If there is anything else you think I should be doing, I would really appreciate it.


I'd want to know the CAE status of the dam. Goat polio in a young (month old ?) kid would be very unlikely. However, encephalitis from CAE can happen in kids around that age and from the neurological symptoms you are describing I would consider this a high possibility. It can linger for some time before they die from it. The symptoms are similar to goat polio.

Selenium deficiency is another possibility but it sounds like the other kids are not affected so is less likely.

Coccidia will not bloom from B vitamin injections. It sounds more like the kid has a very weakened immune system which is allowing the coccidia to flourish.

Probios does not do anything for the rumen. It only supplies friendly intestinal bacteria which won't hurt given the serious coccidia infection. Is the kid eating anything else besides milk?

Karin Christensen

Hi Karin,
Thank you for your email. The dam tested CAE neg in the fall. He was about 6 weeks when he started with the polio. We never thought of CAE at that young age. It may be a possibility since I have heard that even a CAE neg herd will have kids that test positive from time to time. I didn't know that the symptoms for CAE in kids and goat polio were so similar. That is good to know.

No, none of the other kids are affected. Not even a hint of anything like this, so I'm not sure about the Se deficiency. Although we did buy some Bo-Se gel and gave the buckling some last night. The dose was 2cc (as the Goat Wisdom site suggests (http:// goatwisdom.proboards.com/index.cgi? board=references&action=display&thread=1354).

If the kids immune system was weakened already, and the coccidia was present (everything I've read says that coccidia is always present), the thiamine would encourage the coccidia to reproduce at a higher rate. There are a few papers that my husband found and read. I listed one of them on the GoatBiology group. We had no idea that coccidia was thiamine dependent. It makes perfect sense why Corid would be bad for goats (or chickens or other animals) that need thiamine.

Yes, the kid eats grass/alfalfa hay mix (from the supplier that supplies to the horse people) and grazes on the pasture besides drinking milk.

Thanks for your help. I really appreciate your wisdom, advice, and experience. I admire all the research you do and I am thankful that you are willing to share it with newbies like us. You are always so kind in your replies, too. I may feel helpless at times, but people like you who are not judgmental, keep more goats healthy than you know. You are a gift! You encourage us to do research on our own, ask questions when we have problems (if someone was telling me continually that I was stupid, I would stop asking questions!), and hopefully in the future, I will be able help others when they need it.

I am glad to know about the CAE and goat polio symptoms. If I can get someone to draw blood on the kid, I will have it sent for testing. I haven't done that yet and I don't know any goat owners in the area that even know about CAE, let alone test for it. If I had known the symptoms were so similar last week, I would have taken a sample from the vet and sent it out for testing.

Thanks again. All the information has been very helpful. I think my brain is beginning to ache :o) Guess that is a good thing! And my son, who wants to be a ruminant and camelid vet, is learning so much. It seems that no matter how hard we try to do everything right, our farm gets 'hit' with all sorts of problems. We've come to the conclusion that it is because he needs an education before he gets into vet school. He is getting it, so am I.


It won't do much good to test the kid. If mom has become positive he will have her antibodies. It is also known that if the goat is having serious symtoms from CAE they may test negative even if they have the virus. It's not known why.

Was the kid disbudded? If so, I'd consider the possibility of a brain abscess. Polio in a young nursing kid just never happens. If he dies see if you can have a necropsy done. This will give you good information that you can apply to your whole herd.

And, thanks for the very kind comments.

Karin


Thanks,
I didn't know that they could test negative if they had the CAE virus. Am I ever going to get to the point where I know what is going on?! We'll test the adults again for CAE.

Yes, he was disbudded. How would we know that he had a brain abscess? Are there other symptoms to look for? We've never had problems with disbudding before this year--we had two other kids that had some infections that we are in the process of clearing up. The kid in question was born two weeks earlier than all the rest and didn't have any infections after the disbudding, at least not on the outside.

He was born on March 18th, disbudded on March 23rd. We first noticed that something was wrong with his leg on April 24th. We thought that he had been playing and gotten a little sore and that's why his leg was stiff. We separated him and his dam from the herd so he could heal without running around. We noticed that the symptoms spread to his other leg on April 26th. The symptoms pointed to goat polio--but there was no information in our books or on the internet that said they don't get it if they are dam raised, all the other indications were that he might have goat polio so we treated for that. He was much better in about 3 days after the vitamin B shots and the penicillin. He was better (but still a little wobbly) until May 10th. That day he had the same symptoms as he did at his worst. We were able to find a vet that doesn't mind looking at goats. He is about an hour away. He was the one who did the fecal as well as ran a blood test.

The blood test said that the white blood cell count was extremely high (so he had the kid start on penicillin again, 2 cc sub q or IM 2x daily for 5 days) and the red blood cell count was extremely low. He said that usually indicates a large parasite load and he did a fecal test. He found the coccidia was high enough that he told my son that when you see that much coccidia, you just say, "Oh, h---" and treat it. He didn't see any other worm load at that time. Since he hasn't seen a goat with a large coccidia load, he recommended the Corid. I'm sure he had no idea that we shouldn't use it in goats.

Good to know about the Polio. I guess he must never have had it, then. I guess the only thing we can be sure of at this point is that he had a bad case of coccidia because the vet did see that in the
fecals.

I have a call into the vet to find out if he has any Albon, Sulmet, or Di-methox on hand. If he doesn't, we'll be waiting for Jeffer's to deliver. I can't believe that none of the feed stores have any of those medications on hand. That was weird to me. It sounds like coccidia is something that pops up from time to time, maybe even do a preventative dose in kids.

So, when you have goat kids, do you just treat them with a preventative when they reach a certain age? If you do, what do you use, what dosages do you give, and how long do you treat them for? We've got Saanens and a Nubian. The little kid in question is a Snubian. My son really wants a snubian doeling to see how much milk they give.

If he dies, we will have a necropsy done. We hope he doesn't die, but my son's 4-H leader said that, "If you have livestock, sooner or later you are going to have dead-stock." She didn't say it to be mean, just to let us know that if we lost an animal, that is part of raising livestock. Anything we can learn means that we are able to ID problems better in the future. Hopefully all this training will help my son when he becomes a vet. Although I love working with the goats,
his is his dream and I am trying to do the best I can to support, help, learn, and teach him. I don't know if I am doing a very good job. But he sees me spend hours a day with him, the goats, books, and searching the internet for the 'right' way to do things.

Thanks again for the information. My son said thanks, too.

Given the high white count and the neurological symptoms I'd say that he has some type of encephalitis. They call this meningoencephalitis due to the area of brain that is usually affected in kids. This can be an infiltration of bacteria from the naval, or the kid did not get enough colostrum so it didn't get enough passive immunity, or it could be from lesions and abscess from disbudding. You would not see any infection from the disbudding on the surface.

Encephalitis from CAE will usually affect the hind legs first like you are seeing. But, since the dam was negative that isn't high on the list, now. Also, the white count usually isn't sky high, but may be only slightly high or high but within normal range.

The antibiotics are probably what helped him feel better for awhile. You don't mention if he had a fever at any time. About the only sure way to diagnose brain abscess is with a necropsy, unfortunately. High doses of antibiotics that cross the blood brain barrier such as penicillin may help, but according to Smith and Sherman's, Goat Medicine, prognosis is guarded. If he were mine, I'd go ahead and hit him with penicillin at least twice the recommended amount and continue for 5 days. At this point if he is going downhill it can't hurt. Super high white counts mean bacterial infection.

The coccidia is probably going on along with it not the cause of it. I'm not sure but the high white count could be due to coccidia, but not the neurological signs.

Young kids on milk usually do not get polio because this is a problem caused by the rumen bacteria. Certain types overgrow usually after a sudden change to a higher plane of nutrition and produce an anti-thiamine enzyme. The rumen in young kids is not developed enough to have this type of overgrowth. Given the good diet your goats are on also would not usually lead to polio. Milk has enough B vitamins for kids.

I always keep sulfadimethoxine on hand. It's one of those things you need but can't get quickly. Some feed stores will carry a pouch of the powdered version which works, too. Mixing it up is a bit complicated then you have a bunch that you never use again. You can get a bottle of 40% liquid which I mix with some sort of fruit juice. The kids do not mind it all. I do not use any prevention for coccidia, I rarely have problems. I live in a dry area and even when the pens are not as clean as they should be I rarely have a kid with diarrhea. If one develops diarrhea I treat with the sulfa drug. The sulfa will also treat any bad intestinal bacterial overgrowth as well.

I wish I could send you flowers or something.

We'll get him on another round of penicillin. We will have sulfa on hand from now on. My husband is a chemist, he does calculations extremely well, so I'm not worried about the powder (which is what he ordered). I'll let him know that it will be not last after he mixes it up. He has some extremely accurate scales in the lab, he may be able to cut down on the amount he mixes up so we don't have to throw so much away.

No, he didn't have a fever. I forgot to mention that. We live in a dry area, too. I guess that is why we haven't had any problems with coccidia before. He didn't have scours, either, which threw us off the coccidia trail at the very beginning. Looking back on it, we did clean the stalls a few days before his symptoms appeared. We also wormed his dam with Safeguard about the same time. The stalls weren't terrible since we have a beautiful horse barn with 12x12 stalls (courtesy of the last owners). And the stalls had been cleaned out 2 weeks before we started kidding. The stalls have the special horse mats with layers of lyme, gravel, and sand underneath, so they stay drier than if we had a dirt floor. We use straw as bedding since we had trouble with shavings one time (everyone got scours from the shavings--probably just a bad batch of shavings).

We were thinking about neurological signs and the only thing we could come up with was, maybe it wasn't neurological--maybe the coccidia was making him weak and it just started in his hind end? I don't know, it sure looked like he had a stiff leg, not a weak leg at the beginning. Now he just acts wobbly and weak again. He does eat if we put hay in front of him. I know he is nursing still because the dam is empty on one side, but full on the other. She is one that is usually fairly even.

We found another vet about noon who has some Albon (pill) that he was willing to sell us. He was very nice and said that he has good success with Albon. Maybe we will switch vets, after all. The other one wasn't too thrilled when I asked for something besides Corid this morning.

Great idea to mix meds with fruit juice. I love that! I will remember that one for anytime we have to drench someone :o)

Really, I appreciate everything. Two people that I really trust on the internet--you and Willie Boepple, have always been very kind in your responses. Thank you for taking so much time out of your day to help us. Your advice and help has been invaluable.

And we love your CD, that was the first reference 'thing' I bought when my son started his goat adventure. I've recommended it to others when they start with goats. I'm not sure if they purchased one or not, but I am very glad that we have one.
Thanks again.

Cajeta

Cajeta is a wonderful Mexican sweet sauce. It is a delicious concoction of goat milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla. So smooth and sweet I want to eat it by the spoonful! (But I don't :o) It is traditionally made with goat milk, although you can use cow milk. I'm not sure how the cow milk will taste since we have only made it with goat milk. As we often do, we use what we have from our farm.

Since Vet2Be's big brother is on a mission in Mexico on a mission right now, Vet2Be likes to try different things from Mexico. Of course we would try Cajeta because it is traditionally made with goat milk!

Here is the recipe I use:

Ingredients
• 2 quarts of fresh goat's milk
• 2 cups white sugar (although we have also used 1 cup honey and 1 cup sugar)
• 1 cinnamon stick (or 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon mixed with the sugar)
• 1 stick vanilla or 1 teaspoon of Mexican vanilla
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda

Directions

• Stir together the milk and sugar in a heavy pot. The Cajeta will foam at one point, so make sure the pot holds at least twice as much as the recipe calls for. Add the cinnamon stick and the vanilla bean. Bring mixture to a gentle boil on medium heat while stirring constantly. Be careful not to scorch the milk. This may take 15 minutes.

• Remove from heat when the milk just starts to boil. Add the baking soda. The mixture will bubble and get foamy, keep stirring! When it stops foaming, you can put it back on the heat. It may foam a bit more, just be careful that it doesn't overflow the pot.
  
• Simmer the mixture just under a boil until it starts to turn golden brown and thicken. This will probably take another 45 minutes to an hour. Keep stirring! If you need to leave for a moment, turn the heat down (or remove the pot from the heat source) until you get back so you don't scorch the mixture.
• When the milk mixture starts to turn a golden brown, remove the cinnamon stick. (If you used a vanilla bean, take that out now, too) Watch it very closely because it will start to thicken quickly and has a tendency to scorch.

• Keep stirring (your arm should be tired by now unless you've had your kids helping to stir!) When the cajeta is a rich brown and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon it is ready. Add the vanilla. Cook until it reaches softball stage, about 230 F- 240 F (at sea level).

• Pour into a glass jar and cool. When it is cool enough, store it in the refrigerator.
  

On the left is the amount of milk I started with, on the right is the amount of Cajeta the recipe makes.

Two quarts of goat's milk makes a little more than a pint of Cajeta. This batch took me almost 2 hours to make from start to finish.

Serve Cajeta over ice cream, on toast, as an apple dip, or anything you would use caramel sauce for. Yum!

More Turkey Poults

Our first two turkey poults died. We were able to buy two more from some friends who have a farm about 40 minutes away. Vet2Be's 4-H leader told us last year that, "When you raise live-stock, sooner or later you are going to have dead-stock." Sad, but true.

Then I did some more searching on the internet and reading in some books to find out if there was anything else that we could do that we weren't doing. The three things that we decided to try were to add some 'sparklies' to their water and food, put a 'spotlight' on their food and water, and never give them cold water.

The lid is off in the pictures so you can see how things are set up. We usually leave the lid on to keep the heat in and the cat out. When these guys get a bit bigger, they like to fly up to see what is in the outside, so the lid keeps them in at that point, too.

Sparklies! We used an old necklace in the feed dish and some decorative glass pebbles in the water dish. Vet2Be said that they drank most of the water on Sunday, so the sparklies seem to be helping.

We cleaned and sanitized the brood box (large plastic tote) and the water dish they are using. We are still using grass hay for their bedding, since we have so much of it. And the new poults have a light on them for heat, just like all young poultry. Hopefully these two new poults will do better than the last two.

We have divided the brooder for a few days. The turkey poults are on the left, the chicks are on the right. Both little flocks are hiding under the light. I used an old piece of foam insulation as the divider. It is tucked against the sides securely. As soon as they decide the divider is something fun to peck at, I'll have to put each little flock in their own brooder. That means I'll also have to go by another reflector lamp cover.


New turkey poult.


The other new turkey poult.

This is taken from Grange Co-op.

Tips on Raising Turkey Poults
Turkey poults are fairly easy to raise if you follow a few simple steps.

Turkey poults love heat. They will be happiest if you keep their brooder temperature at 95-100 degrees F for the first week, then lower the temperature by about 5 degrees F per week, until they are fully feathered, approximately 6-8 weeks old. They will still appreciate a heat lamp at night for a few weeks after this period if the nights are cool. You can tell if they are comfortable by the way they arrange themselves in the brooder--all clumped under the heat source, they are too cold; all far away from the heat source, they are too hot; spread all over the brooder, they are comfortable. They will also cry if they are cold or ill, and will be fairly quiet if they are happy. Always make sure they have room to get away from the heat.

Keep them clean and dry. Pine shavings, ground corn cobs, or rice hulls all make good bedding. Never brood them on slick surfaces like newspaper.

Never give a turkey poult cold water, as it can kill them. The water should always be lukewarm, and it is a good idea to add a vitamin and electrolyte supplement to their water. You can also get them eating and drinking well by placing shiny colored marbles in the feed and water to get their attention. Change waterers daily or when they get dirty.

Turkeys need higher protein than chickens. The poults will need a starter crumble with 28%-30% for the first 6-8 weeks (Rogue Gamebird Starter is a good feed for this period), then you can change them over to a feed with about 18% protein (Rogue All-In-One works well). Never feed them layer pellets, as the calcium level is too high for growing birds. When they are about 3 weeks old, you can start sprinkling a little chick grit on their feed, like you would salt your food. Do not give them scratch until they are at least 8 weeks old, then you can give them a little as a treat. I feed my adult breeder birds a gamebird breeder ration during the breeding and laying season, but you can feed them All-In-One with good results. When the hens begin to lay, they should have free choice access to grit and oyster shell. They will appreciate greens, bread, garden trimmings and other treats as well.

Turkeys are very personable birds and you can easily teach them to eat out of your hand, come to your call, and they will often follow you around, begging for treats and attention. The more you handle them, the tamer they will become. Contrary to popular belief, turkeys do not drown in the rain, although young birds have been known to become ill and die if they become wet and chilled. They are not stupid, and they can be a very enjoyable bird to have around.

The turkeys you purchase from us are heritage turkeys, the old-style varieties that are still naturally mating, long-lived and hardy. The turkeys you buy at the feedstore are usually broad-breasted varieties, used only for meat birds, so they are not meant to be raised beyond 3-3-1/2 months. They must be artificially inseminated, will squash their eggs if they try to set on them, and usually die at an early age either of heart failure or their legs fail.

If you wish to use heritage turkeys for meat birds, it will take 6-8 months to grow them to eating size (approximately 9#-10# for hens, 12#-16# for toms), but you will have a much better-quality bird, moist and flavorful, unlike anything you can buy in a grocery store. They also make good breeding or show stock and pets. They are much more disease-resistant than broad-breasted varieties, and will do well on free-range or in pens.