 |
05/06/10, 08:37 PM
|
 |
More dharma, less drama.
|
|
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Texas Coastal Bend/S. Missouri
Posts: 30,482
|
|
|
no fabric softener in birthing towels!
We almost had a disaster. A buckling and a doeling born Wednesday. We used towels that had been dried in the dryer with fabric softener to dry the kids.
The dam had initially accepted both kids, but after a couple of hours, she started rejecting the buckling, which had received more toweling. She would sniff him and then start biting and head butting him.
We retrieved some of the afterbirth, recoated him with some of it and some of the dam's colostrum, and watched.
She cleaned him again and accepted him, again.
We really suspect the fabric softener.
Whew!
__________________
Alice
* * *
"No great thing is created suddenly." ~Epictitus
|
05/06/10, 08:43 PM
|
|
|
|
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 4,377
|
|
|
Yeah I think I read somewhere not to use it on birthing towels, but way to go Alice, getting dam to take them back!
And congrats!
__________________
Bob and Nancy Dickey
Laughing Stock Boer Goats
"Seriously Great Bloodlines"
and the meat goes on....
Near Seattle
|
05/06/10, 11:20 PM
|
 |
|
|
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Willamette Valley, Oregon
Posts: 5,492
|
|
|
I had that happen with a doeling that my kids had dunked in the water trough. When they came to tell what they had done the only towels available were ones that had a dryer sheet in with them. The doe ended up rejecting the kid even though it was a week old at the time.
__________________
Wags Ranch Nigerians
"The Constitution says to promote the general welfare, not to provide welfare!" ~ Lt. Col Allen West
|
05/07/10, 07:44 AM
|
 |
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: SW Missouri
Posts: 4,015
|
|
|
Don't use fabric softener sheets around here anyway...bad for animals all the way around.
It coats whatever you put it on with chemicals that if your animals are getting on rubs off and they can ingest.
__________________
SuzyHomemaker
rtfmfarm.com
LaMancha & Nubian goats
|
05/07/10, 07:46 AM
|
|
|
|
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: South Carolina
Posts: 6,090
|
|
|
White vinegar works well for softening towels. It also seems to increase the absorbancy. I use 1 cup per large load in the rinse cycle.
|
05/07/10, 11:23 AM
|
 |
why hide it?
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Lexington, Texas near Austin
Posts: 1,584
|
|
|
Interesting Rose. One way to get a mother animal to take back her baby or to accept another's baby is to put Vick's Vapor Rub under her nostrils.
__________________
Diane Rhodes
Feral Nature Farm
LaManchas, MiniManchas and Boers
Member ADGA, MDGA
|
05/09/10, 11:38 AM
|
|
The cream separator guy
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Southern MO
Posts: 3,919
|
|
|
I always let the dam lick the gunk off, then I take the babies away and dry them off when they just have fluids on them. Letting the dam eat the gunk is a real towel saver!
__________________
I'm an environmentalist, left wing, Ron Paul loving Prius driver with a farm. If you have a problem with that, kindly go take a leap.
|
05/09/10, 11:56 AM
|
|
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: SW Missouri
Posts: 4,015
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Heritagefarm
I always let the dam lick the gunk off, then I take the babies away and dry them off when they just have fluids on them. Letting the dam eat the gunk is a real towel saver!
|
That is not an option for those who practice disease prevention.
__________________
SuzyHomemaker
rtfmfarm.com
LaMancha & Nubian goats
|
05/09/10, 11:48 PM
|
|
The cream separator guy
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Southern MO
Posts: 3,919
|
|
|
Well, we aren't exactly lax on our prevention. We've done tons of CAE research, and do what works for us.
__________________
I'm an environmentalist, left wing, Ron Paul loving Prius driver with a farm. If you have a problem with that, kindly go take a leap.
|
05/10/10, 11:03 PM
|
 |
Crazy Goat Lady
|
|
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Central Indiana
Posts: 1,393
|
|
|
I never use fabric softener or sheets on towels. They don't absorb as well when you do. Plus, as a previous poster mentioned, I don't want to add any unnecessary chemicals into the mix. A downy ball with white vinegar works wonders.
|
05/11/10, 05:26 AM
|
|
Banned
|
|
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: NY
Posts: 3,830
|
|
|
Fabric softener sheets release oil into your machine that will eventually ruin your machine. Very bad things.
|
05/11/10, 02:12 PM
|
|
The cream separator guy
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Southern MO
Posts: 3,919
|
|
|
Not to mention it's just overall a wasteful thing to do. It pollutes.
__________________
I'm an environmentalist, left wing, Ron Paul loving Prius driver with a farm. If you have a problem with that, kindly go take a leap.
|
05/11/10, 04:17 PM
|
|
|
|
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 19,807
|
|
I use fabric softener sheets in the Winter time, but seldom use it on towels because it reduces absorbency.
It's a non-issue once the weather becomes nice enough, the laundry goes out on the line.
Good catch on that, Alice. Thanks for the heads-up. 
__________________
Je ne suis pas Alice
http://homesteadingfamilies.proboards.com/
|
05/11/10, 11:15 PM
|
|
Katie
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Twining, Mi.
Posts: 19,930
|
|
|
Well I'm glad you guys all gave me the tips on the towels & dryer sheets. I really had never heard anything about any of the problems with dryer sheets before. All good things to know though & I just got some of those rubber dryer balls that you use in stead of dryer sheets & so far they seem to work pretty good it seems like.
|
Posting Rules
|
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
HTML code is Off
|
|
|
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 10:10 AM.
|
|
