Hi Cecil,
Great message and I agree with you completely. Ensure that poor-milking ewes are getting sufficient nutrients for a year or so before culling.
Here is a more thorough explanation for my rather terse response to Herman. Herman first contacted me in mid-November asking to be put on the Listserv's Breeder Map. He was not a subscriber to the list, so I responded by letting him know I'd be happy to do so once he joined the list. I also offered to help if he was having problems subscribing. I received another email from him a couple days later asking again to be put on the map. Again, I responded saying I'd be happy to do so once he joined the list. Still no response back from him.
The day after Christmas I received his plea for help about his poor-milking ewes and he still isn't subscribed. He must be receiving the list under a different email address, else why bother posting?. His message contained one very short sentence with no information to help us diagnose the problem. His email was emblazoned with a large picture of a goat and a dozen animated smiley faces, indicating to me that he was an experienced goat breeder who loaded his email with enough HTML code to kill a horse. And finally, I confess that I have a short fuse when reading emails such as "Help!! It is 30 below zero and my ewe is having lambs!" and "Help!! My ewes don't have enough milk to feed their babies!! What do I do!!"
So when his message showed up the day after Christmas containing the kind of message that always sets me off anyway and he STILL isn't subscribed, it was all I could do to be civil. I had visions of these weak little lambs starving to death so I decided to write a note pointing him to some reading material. I posted my message to him privately and also to the list. I was curt, but I didn't write any of the things that I really wanted to write.
The point of this rather long-winded explanation is that the folks on this list are absolutely marvelous in their willingness to help people. We need to have some background information in order to give the best advice, such as where the poster lives, what the symptoms of a problem are, what the poster has done already to alleviate the problem, etc. While I never discourage anyone from writing, and there is absolutely no such thing as a stupid question on this list, unfortunately my patience is tested when I read messages that, to me, indicate negligence. I receive dozens of calls and private messages each month from people with just these kind of emergencies that could have been prevented. I'm entitled to the occasional fit of impatience, and Herman's message was the one that tipped me over the edge.
I urge people to be responsible breeders and learn as much as you can about any animal you raise BEFORE you bring it home. BE PREPARED for birthing issues. Most of the time you will know your ewes are pregnant so it's not like you don't have some advanced warning and time to purchase supplies. Read the materials on my Web site (http://www.critterhaven.biz) and search the archives of this list (http://www.awrittenword.com/listserv/index.html). We all have emergencies with our animals but so many of them can be prevented with a little preparation and reading.
And Herman, if you are reading this message, thank you for being the source of such a good discussion. Once again, folks on this list posted great information that all of us can learn from. Don't let my grumpiness prevent you from writing future messages, but please help us help you. Get properly subscribed, send your questions to the list, and don't post messages with HTML coding embedded in them. Do your homework and learn about your sheep.
Carol
At 08:50 AM 12/28/2004 -0500, you wrote:
I will take issue on this, and for this reason alone. My point in this ramble is NUTRITION, NUTRITION, NUTRITION!!!!!!!!!
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