Freak Accident - Unbelievable

I don't know where to start with this post.
I'm sick about this.

Over the week-end we got the kids to follow their mothers up the alley to the first gate. The first day we had one or two kids "lose" their mother when they were busy browsing, and the yelling went on until a rescue by a sibling or the whole herd occurred. They've been on the ball since.

Yesterday evening, we moved a second shed across the alley for the nannies and their kids, and the four 2011 yearling does. We've had spring weather, but precipitation is back in the forecast, and all those goats needed more shelter. The whole group went to the barn door to wait to get in, while we moved the shed and the mineral barrel up the hill. I heard some gate banging and saw the group in the corral at the gate, and knew someone was challenging another goat through the gate.  It happens a lot.

Our move was done, and we went to the barn to get the stalls ready and get everyone in. We opened the barn door, the rush of caprine beasts came through, and I got everyone in their assigned stalls. As I was closing stall doors, Dave yelled to "Get out here!". Layla was on the ground by the gate with her horns locked into the wire. We tried pulling her horns every which way to free her and both of us couldn't get it done.  One of her kids was suckling her while all this was going on, and the four goats on the other side of the gate were getting irritated as they were hungry for dinner.

We stopped to try and figure this out, and Dave finally said, "Is she alive?". I looked down and realized she hadn't helped or fought or done anything for this eternal minute.  Then I saw her tongue.

Yeah! I swore!

Once her head was stuck, and at a low angle, I believe she got head butted back and her neck was broken.  My only relief is thinking it was quick. Since one kid was still nursing away, we brought her other kid out on the chance they could get any let down milk one last time.

We had to take the gate off the hinges and work a while longer to finally free her from it. It was horrible.

I barely managed to keep it together, but we now had orphans to deal with.  The saving grace I hope, will be they are so big and healthy, and at three and a half weeks have been eating grain and hay quite well.  The bottle feeding is messy and a struggle, but already Julia, my 4-H-er, was over to help this morning (no school because of conferences).

I'm praying all the issues with the change in diet and the stress won't set her twins back for too long. They are staying with the herd and playing, when they don't stop to call for their mother, so I hope we can keep them healthy.

Unbelievable.

Fleeting

It was so sad to walk into the barn this morning and find that one of the new bucklings was dead. We really shook our heads on this one. He seemed the bigger, healthier of the two. We did find a cut in his leg that may have been all it took to weaken such a young thing. So now we are extra worried about his brother, but at the 10:30pm check, all looked well. Aidan was napping, but I got him up to nurse, and gave Aziza some more grain. This was the first time that she seemed really hungry for it. I'm not sure how her milk is coming in. Her udder is small and the little guy goes back and forth to nurse. I'm not sure if he's just fussy, or that one side is better and he's figuring out which. Each time we loose an animal, we better appreciate the ones that make it, and try to make the odds the best we can for that to happen more often then not. But as in this case, we just shake or heads and realize that life can be so enjoyed - and so fleeting.

Uno and The Gravedigger

Uno was the first goat born on the farm in November two years ago. She was an eleven day early surprise. So early, that we didn't even consider prepping our neighbor who was watching our first two goats while we went to a funeral in Connecticut. Imagine Karen's surprise -no - shock, when she went out the first night we were away to find a bloody mess and a little spotted goat kid.

Her daughter Claire was late to march in her football game, and her dad, home to see her perform, got stuck in our barn. I had to fake my way through instructions on what to do next, even though I'd never done it myself. It was what was in my head from books and the Internet. Nanny Zola was engorged, and Uno had trouble latching on, so Karen and Ron milked Zola and tried bottle feeding Uno. By the time we went to the Saturday afternoon funeral and drove straight home into pea soup fog to the barn around midnight, the neighbors had a favorite goat!

Little Uno charmed the pants off of all of us. She was the first kid and got her way with people and the goats. She even had Jock won over. She was no Shrinking Violet when it came to finding her way in the world. Usually, and often with assistance from her mother Zola, she got the pick of food and choice spots in the sheds. Or the best place under the umbrella!

Last November, Uno was bred. On May 1st, during a thunderstorm, she had her twins, Kato and Saba, at 11PM. Like her, they were spotted and beautifully marked, and were a favorite of many of the little children, because they were the youngest, smallest, and most spotted of all the kids in their group.

This is my last picture of Uno before she became ill. On Sunday morning Uno was showing signs of intestinal distress. She was foaming at the mouth and grinding her teeth in pain. I followed the recommendations of the vet in the morning, and again in the evening, giving her an antacid and warm water, but by midnight she was dead. I considered a necropsy, but between discussing it with my vet and my mentor, I came away with the belief, the range of possibilities was too large, and likely we didn't have something contagious.

So the next problem was digging a hole large enough in frozen ground. We had temperatures in the 20's and lower in the past week, and several inches of snow cover. I took the John Deere up the hill, and with assistance from the old farm hand and his pick axe, added a new position to my resume: grave digger. It was a slow go on the snow and on a hill, but I got better at it with practice. It took an hour or so to get it done and covered back up, but I can now dig pretty well with a loader. A back hoe would be the proper tool, but I didn't get that option with my tractor. It seemed like a huge expense. There have been many holes I could have dug had I had one in the past three years, but I don't.

So we are sorry to loose our Uno, but we look forward to seeing her daughter carry the line forward in our herd. Saba has the great markings, and I think a better build, and certainly the bold personality of her mother. And so life goes on in her kids.