Psalm23Farm: Hot!!!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Hot!!!

Yesterday when I got home and moved my sheep and goats to a new rotation one goat was not acting right. She was the last animal to move into the new paddock and was walking a little funny and was holding her ears out. She also was the only animal not eating. (She was one of my Texas goats and they had about 7 months of mohair on. I was going to shear them in Aug. so they would have enough, but not too much mohair for the winter.) I took her temp and it was 105.2-heatstroke! Not good so I gave her Banamine and Penicillin and then brought her back (in my car as they are quite far away from the house/barn) and sheared her down.

This morning I got up at 5:30 to shear the buck and the other 2 does. (I also e-mailed both the other people who got goats and were also going to wait until Aug)

Her temp this morning was 98.5 (temps can drop when they have heatstroke) and she was still not right so I called my vet out and he thought she will make it and her problem now is her rumen is not working as a side affect of heatstroke.

I've never had heatstroke before and most of the time my sheep and goats don't have shade, but they did have shade yesterday and today. I'm guessing she just had too much mohair to cool down. She is probably 100-120 and had 7 1/2# of mohair (7 months growth. ) Angora goats don't have the bald arm/leg pits like sheep and the heat must just have gotten locked in. And of course she is the best Texas goat that I got. The other does had 6 and 6 1/2 # and the buck only had 4 1/2 #.

mohair!

The buck

The does-the one in the middle is the sick one

3 comments:

MimJune 25, 2009 at 7:46 PM
Oh my, from a cool fog to heat stroke. Did you say she had 7 1/2 pounds of mohair!?
When do they shear in Texas? Texas gets HOT.
Hope she gets threw this.
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LauraJune 26, 2009 at 4:20 AM
Yes she had 7 1/2 #. They shear in Jan and June. Around here Angoras are normally shorn the end of March and Oct. We were going to wait until Aug to shear so they would have enough regrowth for their first winter. I'm not sure if I'll she shear them in the fall or not. I did have an old Angoras who I skipped the fall shearing on and her mohair was not too long, but she was not in her prime!
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Carol B.June 26, 2009 at 6:48 AM
Your mohair is beautiful. I am glad you recognized that your goat had heat stroke and did something to help her before it was too late. I hope you can get her rumen back to normal. Let us know how she is doing in a few days.
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Welcome to Psalm 23 Farm

I'm breeding my NASSA registered Shetland sheep for fine and med. fine lustrous single coated fleeces in both the crimpy and the locky, wavy fleece styles. I have a wide range of colors and makings as well as the bright pure whites. I'm emphasizing on production, mothering ability and sound conformation. I have both horned and naturally polled Shetland rams and a few horned Shetland ewes.

I also produce fast growing grass-fed market lambs and commercial ewes with excellent fleece. (Shetland x Coopworth and Shetland x Australian Corriedale.) These F1 (first generation cross) ewes are great maternal ewes to put under a terminal sire for the ultimate grass fed market lamb.

Angora goats are my other love. I'm selecting for fine yearling grade mohair in adult animals. All of my goats are CAGBA (colored) or AAGBA (white) registered. I'm also selecting for sound healthy goats.

Posts will be about the Shetlands and Angoras with an occasional post about the other animals on the farm. Posts will also be about wool, spinning and a variety of other topics.

Psalm 23 Farm sells raw "jacketed" wool and mohair fleeces, mohair locks, dyed and natural Shetland and Shetland/mohair roving. Also sheepskins, quilt batts, handspun yarn, mohair lock yarn, and mill spun yarn.

From the Shetland Sheep Society

"Shetland sheep have for generations been noted for their very soft and well crimped fleece. The wool is the finest of all native breeds and shows an amazing variety of colours and patterns. There are 11 main whole colours and 30 recognized markings.

By selecting from coloured fleeces a range of naturally coloured yarn can be produced. This eliminates the need for dyeing and therefore retains the soft feel of the natural fibre and is favoured by those who prefer a totally natural approach.

Shetland wool fibres are of a simple construction witha central cortex covered by a thin scaly cuticle, and have an average diameter of about 23 microns. However there is a range from 10-20 microns for neck and shoulder wool to 25 to 35 microns for britch wool. the average staple length is 3.5 inches. The amount of crimp varies, and is most important in providing the 'bounce' required for knitwear. There is a positive correlation between fineness and crimp, with wool of the finest quality being crimped at between 8 and 12 to the inch. Wool from Shetland sheep is used to produce gossamer lace, the famous 'Fair Isle' knitwear, and fine tweeds. Pure bred Shetland sheep tend to shed their fleece in spring. The growth of new fleece can cause a rise or weak point and where this is present the fleece can sometimes be plucked or 'rooed' by hand. The timing of this can be different in each sheep, however, it is worth taking the care to get it right as rooed fleece can be amongst the softest because the fibers have no harsh cut ends as occurs with a sheared fleece.

Shetland fleece can be handspun straight from the fleece or made into rolags and then woollen spun. It can also be worsted spun by hand, used on a peg loom or handwoven. It also felts well using either dry or wet methods. When processed commercially the wool can be made into the finest lightweight worsted cloth or heavier weight, harder wearing fabrics and tweeds."

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Thursday, June 25, 2009

Hot!!!

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