there are hard days too with hobby-farming

When I began the accumulation of animals I knew that it would come with hard days.

I knew it but I didn’t really know it.

I told myself that if there would be a sick day happen along that I would just take care of it without the help and expense of a vet…hoping all along to never experience anything real serious.

On Friday, after dropping off Noah with his mom, I came home and knew that I had two sick goats.  One, Daisy {pictured above as a youngin’} was the sicker of the two.  Bella was just a bit down and depressed looking.  It didn’t take me long to remember that Daisy, the previous evening, had gotten out of her pen and into the feed.  That will make a goat so sick and her symptoms went right along with what bloat would look like.  By the next morning I was very concerned about her so I took a ‘sample’ to the vet to see if would divulge any problems. It didn’t show anything to be real concerned about [but did verify that she had had an excessive amount of grain] but I made sure to go home with a thermometer to take her temp, which was also fine.  I almost didn’t take Bella’s because she just didn’t seem real sick but I went ahead and took it because it seemed like a good idea.  Her temp was 106.8º which is high and very serious for a goat.  I took her right down to be seen.  [never say never]  We got her on penicillin right away.  The Dr. showed me how to give shots…both in the muscle and under the skin.  I took her home, isolated her from the others and watched her very close.  She was worse by the next morning and by that evening {a Sunday, no less} I called the same Dr., who was the on-call Dr…she said bring her right down [she said she wouldn't charge the on-call fee...so sweet].  Long story short, she stayed for two days, got amazing care but was showing signs of possible permanent damage, probably caused by the high fever.  Together we made the difficult decision yesterday to have her put down.

It’s been a hard few days…so very draining, emotionally and physically.  I haven’t felt much good for anything and yet, in all honesty, it takes me two seconds to think about the tragedy that touches people’s lives daily and I’ll take my sadness over anyone else’s…any day!!!  I guess, thoughts like that help me cope through the difficult times.

The good news is that I’m seeing Daisy improve each day.  She loves raspberries…especially the leaves and we have a plentiful supply of those.  And, I have Bella’s two babies…Liberty and Justice…I think I’ll change Liberty’s name to Liberty Belle and at this point I will probably keep her.  One of the demands at hand right now is figuring out a way to get a gallon of milk a day to feed these babies.  I really don’t want to seem too sappy but Bella was the sweetest goat a gal could ever have.  I will miss her for her gentleness and sweetness.

I’m also going to add that I love the vet that I worked with.  Dr. Robinson is young and new to this clinic.  She was so good to us…at times I think I needed her more than Bella did.  I know that she waved so many fees and the costs incurred anywhere else would have probably been 4 or 5 times what they charged me.  I have a deep appreciation for how she helped me/us.  I get teary just thinking about it. Another thought that makes me tear-up is the help that I’ve received from Carissa.  Carissa is 15…I purchased my goats from her.  Her support, knowledge and encouragement has been so very helpful.  She is sharing her own milk supply with me and she’s on the search right now for a new milk goat for me. 

Thank you for listening.  I share so much of my life here and it didn’t feel right to skim past this.

I recently made a few batches of soap with Bella’s milk so I’m thinking I’ll add them to a give-a-way sometime soon….keep an eye out!

Liberty Belle and Justice…born on July 5th