SOP: Kelp and Kop-Sel Blend

As any homesteader knows, when you ask questions on the healthy management of critters, the advice you get can be as varied as it is endless. Every person you seek out in your research will have something differing advice with no list of  products and procedures being the same.

For us here at Fable Haven, we have had to make our own choices, choosing carefully from the tons of advise, the vast gigabytes of online info and the many shelves of books in our study.   This posting is all about our choice  to use Thorvin Kelp and Kop-Sel together for our tribe of goats.
 
Thorvin Kelp is an all natural product that is making a positive impact in our tribe.. We offer it, mixed with Fir Meadow's Kop-Sel blend free choice and I believe the health benefits are readily apparent.  Thorven Kelp is a rich and dependable source of 60 minerals and elements including iodine, 21 amino acids, and 12 vitamins (including A, C, B12, thiamin, and vitamin E or tocopherol). Because the minerals are in plant tissue they are easily digested and assimilated. Many of the trace minerals contained in kelp are essential for producing enzymes which in turn promote healthy body functions. 
   

Kop-Sel is a traditional herb blend from Fir Meadows that focuses on Copper and Selenium. It is especially helpful for those living in areas facing the challenge of these minerals lacking in their soil. Since it will NOT build up in their system it is used by us as a daily supplement. Other herbal sources of Copper and Selenium are Alfalfa, Lobelia,  Comfrey, Burdock Root, Nettles, Chickweed, Red Raspberry Leaves, Catnip, Rosehips, Cayenne, Chaparral, Bringham Tea, and Raw Pumpkin Seeds. You can be sure that many of these herbs are in the Kop-Sel blend.
  
Fable Haven's SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) in offering Thorvin Kelp and Kop-Sel to our tribe of goats is to offer  it free choice. However, in this case, free choice does not mean just going dumping both out in buckets and letting them have at it. Instead, we mix the two together in a 1 cup of Thorvine Kelp to 1 teaspoon of Kop-Sel ratio as shown in the following  pictorial:

Empty container, Thorvin Kelp, Kop-Sel and a funnel.

We add one cup of Thorvin Kelp.

Followed by one hefty  teaspoon of Kop-Sel.

Repeating the layering until full.

Then shake until well blended and ready to free choice.

Goatlings keeping me hopping!

Just had my heart lock up and skip a few beats. I should learn to trust my instincts! I heard the goats making a ruckus that they do not usually make and a peeked out the door at them but did not go out to get a closer look. About 30 minutes after that, went to take them food and water and behold... Dyson had gotten himself stuck in the hay feeder.

Thank goodness he didn't panic and thrash about breaking his fool neck... We got him out safe and sound.

Guess I need to put the wire guard back into keep them from being back to stick their heads into it. We took it out a few months ago because they were rubbing the hair off their nose on the wire.
  

The Feathered Flock's Groggy Gruel

Fermented grains with deWormer and Milk Kefir

This concoction that we have dubbed 'Groggy Gruel'.  To create this the grains soak in Water Kefir for 48  hours. I then strain them, pour them in a feeding dish, add 1 quart of Milk Kefir, 1/4 cup Thorvin Kelp, about one tablespoon of Vitalerbs or Herbal deWormer, depending on which day of the routine we are on and they love it.

The Grains soaking in Water  Kefir

The first three days with the new hens here, I put a herbal deWormer in it instead of the herbal vitamins/mineral mix. Routinely, I will give them the Herbal deWormer in the Groggy Gruel once a week and  the Vitalerbs Groggy Gruel the rest of the week