What Dreams May Come…
It’s been a rough few weeks for the farm. We had 2 chickens and a goat die all within about a 2 week time frame. We were never so starry eyed to think that we wouldn’t have to deal with things dying on the farm. We knew going in that if we were going to farm that we would have to deal with death. Death is a part of life. Especially farm life.
We noticed that JayZ was not feeling well. We were unsure what was going on at first but then realized that he kept straining to pee, but wasn’t peeing. He was eating and pooping and moving around so we decided to do some research and keep an eye on him. Now we know better. Now we know that we should have done so many things differently. JayZ had Urinary Calculi aka goat kidney stones. We also found out that we were partially if not completely to blame for his condition. We were feeding him the wrong kind of diet. Did you know that goats have to have a specific amount to calcium to phosphate ratio? I didn’t. I thought they just ate whatever. I was wrong. The other thing that we were unaware of was how fragile goats can be, especially male goats that have been castrated too soon. Their urethra doesn’t have the testosterone it needs to grow to the appropriate adult size and therefore can not pass any stones that form because of poor diet. We fed him too much sweet feed trying to get him to like us and ended up killing him. I feel absolutely terrible. Seriously, watching an animal die and knowing that you had a part in it and knowing that the chances of it surviving are slim despite changing the error of your ways… SUCKS!
We are trying to keep an eye on JayZ and nurse in back to health. Steve heads toward the pump at the pond to get the piglets water. He yells back across the easement at me that he thinks we lost a chicken. Our 5 chickens that have been on the farm free ranging to their hearts content. The same 5 that every neighbor has told us are going to be eaten by coyotes since February. Our 5 sweet chickens that would follow us around the farm while we fed all the other animals, was now down to 4.
JayZ didn’t make it. His condition just kept getting worse to the point that he couldn’t even lift his head. We made sure that he wouldn’t suffer anymore. Poor Beyoncé lost her brother and companion.
A few days later we were given 17 chickens and a rooster. Our plan was to contain all of them, especially since the death of one of the five, in electric netting. Setting that up was easy. We just kept them in the crates that we transported them in while I set up the fence and the coop, then let them out. Catching the 4 remaining was a little tougher. I can usually catch all of them fairly quickly, but it was getting late and I had work at the hospital the next day so I wasn’t able to do it. Steve was able to catch 2 of them, but by the time my off days rolled around we had another chicken go missing. We hadn’t yet seen the evidence that she was killed though. We found the tell tale trail of feathers that lead to nowhere the next day.
These deaths bothered me, especially JayZ’s. As I was thinking about these deaths and the different things that I have read or seen, I became thankful that at least they weren’t senseless. The chickens were eaten; we haven’t found the bodies. JayZ is no longer suffering and we learned very valuable lessons from the mistakes we will be sure to never repeat.
I am sure of a few things: this is not likely to be our last brush with death on the farm, we will most likely have worse days then even these, and we will continue to learn and grow with our farm.
“.. .what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause: there’s the respect”
