Letter from Laughing Oak Farm

Hello All…

After a brief teasing look at the ground, we're back in the throes of the late winter snows – you know, the ones you hope you won't get but know you probably will – and their only saving grace is that we know they'll melt fairly soon. The geese are moving daily now; tundra swans, too, and there were groundhogs sited last week. If you look, you can see wee sprouts of comfrey and daffodils, but no coltsfoot yet.

I got a note from a long-lost classmate of mine last week. We'd known one another as grade-schoolers in rural Manitoba more than 40 years ago. He's running the family farm and writes that they've recently converted to an organic grazing operation. He says it's one of the smartest things he's ever done, and wishes he'd made the move sooner.

Anyhow, he writes:

FYI: We had a bred heifer go away past her due date and ended up with a difficult calving. (A big bull calf, vet attended, hard pull etc.) We probably should have done a "zipper", but felt by the appearances of the swollen head and tongue, we didn't have time.

The calf lying in the birth canal, and hard pull didn't make the heifer very thrifty to get to her feet. (The slippery barn floor didn't help either.)
After a day of frustration, I got looking in my books and [homeopathic remedy] kit to see what I might have to help.

Dr. Sheaffer puts a lot of faith in Hypericum...so I liquefied a few pills and gave them to the heifer. I went off to do something else for a few minutes, and came back and she was standing on her feet looking at me! I didn't push my luck, she was wobbly, so I let her stand in one spot for a moment to let her legs appreciate the blood flow and respite from laying on them.

It took another day or more before she was able to get to her feet without effort, but I was very impressed. This is just an anecdotal story for you to tell about the usefulness of homeopathy.

I’m still grinning as I sit here retyping his words! It's such a kick for me to hear about difficult situations turned around easily by the use of some simple homeopathic remedy.

Hypericum is made from St John's Wort. One of its characteristics is that it is indicated in times of injury to nerves or areas rich in nerves and blood vessels. Most certainly the impingement to the obturator nerve as this big bull calf was first stuck in, then dragged through the heifer’s pelvic inlet, fit the bill for Hypericum.

In addition to being used as an oral remedy in potency (homeopathic dilution), Hypericum can be used topically, as a diluted tincture or as an ointment/salve or oil. I often mix it equally with Calendula tincture to make a solution we affectionately call HyperCal. I use this for a myriad of things: tramped or torn teats (or toes or fingers or ears!!), foot abscesses and punctures, sore feet after hoof trimming, general washing and flushing of wounds and injuries. It can even be used as a mouth rinse for man or beast after extractions or dental work, as a uterine infusion after a rough calving, and after dehorning/tail docking or injuries to the horns or tail.

I mix several drops of the tincture into a cup of clean water and apply that directly to the area.

Hypericum is useful orally, too. Situations such as those listed above will also respond to the oral mixture. As my friend did, liquefy a few pellets in a small amount of clean water and give that by mouth.

Nerve pain that is sharp or that extends is very responsive to Hypericum. Think of how it feels when you slam your fingers in a door or mash them with a hammer: that shivery pain that goes from your finger all the way up your arm. Hypericum can also be useful in puncture wounds, and there are references, both modern and less so, about its usefulness in preventing and treating tetanus.

My friend was able to take the bull by the horns (or by the hooves in this case) in a situation that might not have had so great a resolution. His proactive use of Hypericum in this downer heifer allowed a speedy recovery.

The reference book my friend mentioned is “Homeopathy for the Herd” by Dr. Ed Sheaffer – available through AcresUSA. It was also important that he had a homeopathic remedy kit on hand so the remedy he needed was right there.

The remedy kit he keeps nearby contains fifty of the most commonly used remedies and is small, portable, and above all, cost-effective. The entire kit costs under a hundred dollars and contains enough medicine to make over a hundred liquid treatments!

While there are several sources for kits, I've purchased my remedies from Natural Health Supply in Santa Fe, NM for nearly twenty years. Jim Klemmer is the homeopathic pharmacist there and makes excellent remedies. They also carry a selection of books, tinctures and other supplies. I stock remedy kits from Jim at my office or you can go to his website: www.a2zhomeopathy.com

I also get supplies from Joe Lillard at Washington Homeopathic Products in Berkeley Springs WV. Check him at www.homeopathyworks.com. Joe makes lovely ointments and tinctures – and also has one of the premier homeopathic museums and collection of historical documents in North America.

Keep in mind that these medicines create no drug residues, and there are no meat and no milk withdrawals. And yes, you can use some of these same medicines with your family as well as with your cattle.

Let me know if you need some help finding a remedy kit for your farm or ranch.

Take care,
Susan Beal

Questions or comments for Sue?
beal@northamericandevon.com