Recipe of the Month: Crock Pot Goat Curry

This easy Thai-inspired roast is delicious over rice or mashed potatoes.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 pound boneless goat roast
salt and ground black pepper
2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon red curry paste (available in the international section of most stores)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
2 cups chicken broth
14 oz can of coconut milk
10 oz can of diced tomatoes with green chiles
3 tablespoons Asian fish sauce (also in international section)
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 3" piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced
juice of one lime
2 bay leaves
1 bag frozen Asian mixed vegetables or steamed fresh vegetables as you prefer

Directions:
Generously season roast with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet on high. Brown roast on all sides. Remove from heat and put roast in crock pot.

Add red curry paste to hot skillet. Add cumin and coriander. Rub mixture into hot oil to blend. Put skillet over medium heat.

Pour in chicken stock, coconut milk, diced tomatoes, fish sauce, brown sugar, garlic, tomato paste, and ginger. Heat to boiling. Add lime juice.

Pour mixture over pot roast. Add bay leaves. Cover and set crock pot on low for 7-8 hours.

Add vegetables 1/2 hour before serving.

Serve over rice or mashed potatoes. Garnish with cilantro.

Goat Night at Ward Lumber - June 4, 2013

Ward Lumber in Jay, NY will be hosting Goat Night: Part 2 on Tuesday, June 4, starting at 6:30pm. There will be free pizza and refreshments (the pizza is really good!). Rose Bartiss will be presenting a lecture on goats including information on breeding, kidding, and milking. There will be lots of information for the potential goat owner, the new goat owner, and the veteran goat owner. The lecture will apply to all breeds of goats, not just dairy goats. There will be baby goats to play with and a goat to milk.

Please register for Goat Night at http://www.wardlumber.com/goatnight.php

Wild Edibles for People and Animals

Exploring Wild Edibles …Can you really eat that?

 Pat Banker, Cornell Cooperative Extension  Program Educator

Humans have much longer history of foraging and gathering food than their relatively new relationship with agriculture. Until the early 20^th century, gathering and utilizing a multitude of wild plants, roots, nuts and berries was as common for rural Americans as going to the grocery store is for 21^st century shoppers. Many of the plants we now call weeds in our gardens were known as potherbs by our grandmothers and are still enjoyed by those who know how to identify and prepare them.  The history of many wild plants also included their uses as medicines.

Cornell Cooperative Extension and the Franklin County 4H Program will again be hosting a series of four workshops entitled “Truly Wild” with instructor, Pat Banker, 4H Program Educator, exploring the process of identifying wild edibles available in the northern New York area.  Workshops will be held at Heaven Hill Farm in Lake Placid and on the Uhlein Maple Plantation on Bear Cub Road in Lake Placid. Each hands-on workshop will follow seasonal wild edibles from spring to late summer. The 4H “Truly Wild” program is open to youth age 5-19 and their families.  Participants will be exploring the outdoors, plant history, science and the fun of foraging.  Participants will also prepare some wild plant dishes to sample in the kitchen at Heaven Hill Farm. 

Dates for the workshops will be Saturdays, May 11, June 22, July 27, and August 24 starting at 1:00 pm. The “Truly Wild” workshop cost will be a one-time $10 per participant fee with a special rate for families not to exceed $30 for the entire 4-part series.  Pre-registration is required. Register by calling the Cornell Cooperative Extension Office, 518-483-7403 or by calling Pat Banker, 518-327-3457.

Goat Night Part 2: June 4, 2013

Rose Bartiss will be presenting Goat Night: Part 2 at Ward Lumber in Jay, NY on June 4, 2013. Presentation topics will be breeding, kidding, and milking. I will talk about the selection of breeding stock (what a good goat looks like), breeding mechanics (heat cycles, sexual maturity, mating, etc), kidding (signs of labor, when to assist, what to do with mom and the kids), and milking (how to milk, milking sanitation, milking issues). The presentation is free to attend for all interested in goats or all who have goats. There will be FREE pizza and refreshments (it's really GOOD pizza!). Please RSVP at www.wardlumber.com.

Wild Edibles for People and Goats

Pat Banker will be doing a four part Wild Edibles Workshop at Heaven Hill Farm in Lake Placid this summer. The dates and times are: Saturdays, 1:00pm, May 11, June 22, July 27, August 24 at Heaven Hill, Bear Cub Rd., Lake Placid. The fee is $10 and covers all 4 sessions. Sessions last 2-3 hours on average. We strongly encourage that you bring a "kid" of the human variety with you as this is a 4H sponsored program. Family rates are on a sliding scale. We will be doing a little hiking and  She will show both edible and poisonous plants for people and animals, and everyone will share her wild lunch! Pre-registration is required.

Don't Forget! Register Today!

Integrated Parasite Management/FAMACHA Training for Small Ruminant – Saturday

April 6 from 10am-3pm, Paul Smiths College, Freer 120, $30.00 per farm. Learn how to manage

parasites on small ruminant operations, how to do fecal egg counts with a microscope and how to

FAMACHA check animals to determine treatment. Register with Betsy Hodge at 315-379-9192,

bmf9@cornell.edu or Rose Bartiss at rosesgoats@gmail.com. You can pay at the door.

Pregnancy Complications in Goats

 From Onion Creek Ranch (www.tennesseemeatgoats.com)

PREGNANCY COMPLICATION

COMPLICATIONS OF PREGNANCY
There are many health problems that can impact a pregnant doe. Below are some of the most common ones. The Articles page at www.tennesseemeatgoats.com contains articles detailing diagnosis and treatment for most of these conditions.

Congenital and Developmental Defects: Many birth defects are never seen by the producer because the doe's body either reabsorbs the embryo in early gestation or aborts the fetus.Visible birth defects appearing at parturition (birthing) include cleft palate, atresi ani, and mummification.
Cleft palate is a lengthwise split in the roof of the mouth. Atresi ani is no rectal opening. Mummification is a kid whose limbs are *frozen* in place and unmoveable. A dead mummified kid may have to be taken apart in pieces to get its body out of the doe. A live mummified kid may be born but will be unable to move.
Cleft palate, atresi ani, and live mummification are conditions requiring immediate humane euthanasia. All three conditions may or may not recur if the same doe and buck are bred again.

Ringwomb: Incomplete dilation of the cervix. Manual manipulation of the cervical opening should be done by an experienced person -- preferably a vet. The tissue involved is very easy to damage. Ringwomb may be the result of inadequate levels of minerals or hormones.

Uterine Rupture: This condition can occur at any time during pregnancy and is usually the result of being hit. Impossible to diagnose without veterinarian assistance. Uterine rupture can also occur when assistance in kidding is needed and the pushing-pulling-rearranging of kids inside the uterus results in tearing it. Uterine rupture is often not repairable surgically and the dam will die within 24 to 72 hours.

Uterine Torsion: A twisted uterus is very difficult to fix but repositioning it is the only solution.If uterine torsion is suspected, vet help is necessary.

Periparturient Edema: Swelling of lower legs in long-bred does. Often but not always associated with worm load. Usually occurs when multiple fetuses are taking more nutrition than dam can replace, putting her in a nutritional deficit.

Pregnancy Toxemia and Ketosis: Nutritionally-related metabolic diseases occuring at the end of pregnancy and early during lactation. An improper level of nutrition is the cause. As the dam draws upon her own body's reserves and her tissues begin to starve, deadly ketones are produced. Oral administration of high-energy products such as propylene glycol, molasses, or Karo syrup given orally are necessary.

Abortions and Vaginal Discharges: Red, brown, or very foul-smelling discharges are not normal and may indicate early termination of pregnancy. Examples of conditions causing abortions include interruption of the fetal blood supply when injured, poor nutrition (insufficient energy), stress (moving, changing feed, illness), abortion diseases, toxicity (ingestion of poisonous plants or other substances), surgery, malformation of the fetus during development, and labor-inducing drugs (dexamethasone). The usual drug of choice is oxytetracycline 200 mg/ml (LA 200 or generic equivalent).

Hypocalcemia: Commonly but improperly called "milk fever," hypocalcemia is an imbalance of calcium occuring just prior to kidding. The first recognizable physical symptom is usually cold and dragging rear legs. This nutritionally based illness involves hormonal changes that occur in the mobilization of calcium when the doe begins to produce milk. Calcium-rich feeds/hays need to be cut back during the last 30 days of gestation to prevent excess calcium from being deposited in her bones. The dam's body needs to be releasing calcium already stored in her bones for use in milk production. Oral administration of CMPK or MFO solution are recommended.
Prolapses. Prolapses of the vagina or the rectum can occur in a doe heavy with kids. Purse-string stitches and prolapse retainers may help. Prolapses recurring in multiple pregnancies means that the doe should be culled.

Cloudburst Pregnancy: False pregnancy, pseudo-pregnancy, more specifically hydrometra.Everything about a cloudburst pregnancy is normal except that no kid was formed and a "cloudburst" of liquid comes out of the dam's body at delivery. Infectious diseases like toxoplasmosis and border disease may be the cause, as may certain plant materials that contain phytoestrogens. A more common cause is the chemical alteration of estrus through artificial induction into heat of does by producers who use gonadotrophin-releasing hormones.

Mastitis: The infected udder becomes swollen, hard, and hot from bacteria entering through the teats. The milk, if any, is stringy, bloody, and unuseable. Cleanliness of pens and feeding areas is critical. Because the udder is an interwoven mass of fibrous tissue that is walled off from the rest of the doe's body, injectable antibiotics cannot get to the source of the infection. Because mastitis organisms can become systemic and infect the doe's entire body, a broad-spectrum antibiotic like prescription Nuflor is recommended. Cai-Pan Peppermint Oil Cream applied externally to the udder can provide relief from discomfort to the doe. In some breeds mastitis may occur in certain genetic lines. Mastitis is usually chronic and therefore a *cull* factor in a meat-goat herd.

Congested Udder: Unlike mastitis, congested udder is readily treatable by applying hot compresses to the udder until the over-filled tight udder softens enough to get useable milk out.

Retained Placenta: Placental tissue (afterbirth) should be expelled by the doe's body within 12 to 24 hours after parturition. Retained placenta can be caused by abortion diseases such as toxoplasmosis or chlamydiosis or can be the result of selenium deficiency in the doe's diet. Tall fescue grass or hay can be the culprit. A prescription oxytocin injection may be needed if the placenta has not passed within the normal timeframe. Do not pull the placental tissue out, even if it is dragging behind the doe; doing this can kill her. After a difficult birth, the uterus should be flushed with a solution of Nolvasan or Chlorhexidine antibacterials to prevent infection (metritis).

Metritis: Infection of the uterus that can occur with retained placenta or dead kids inside the dam.

No Milk. If the doe has been a good milk producer previously, then the problem is either mastitis or nutritional. Feeding tall fescue grass or hay can cause poor milk production. A non-mastitic freshened doe who is not producing enough milk should be fed a diet high in legume hay (alfalfa or peanut hay) and extra grain rations. Occasionally an injection of dexamethasone can bring a doe into milk. In some breeds, certain genetic lines are poor milk producers.

After any abnormal or difficult kidding, the producer should glove up and manually go inside the doe to check for undelivered live or dead kids. Be careful not to disturb the tissues attached to the inside of the doe's uterus. Pregnancy in goats is accompanied by great risks, occurring outside under a wide variety of dangerous conditions and usually occurs unassisted. It is remarkable that more pregnancy-related deaths do not occur. There are many things that producers can do themselves to assist their goats but there are times when vet help is essential.

Suzanne W. Gasparotto
ONION CREEK RANCH
5/09