Death comes in waves-we lose the runt and an old Rosie the goat

I don't know why death seems to come in waves-perhaps it helps us focus to the tasks on hand.

Yesterday afternoon we lost the tiny runt gilt who was born with a very weak hind end and quite thin. A litter of ten is big, so there was bound to be a runt or two. She latched on to the teat well, so I kept my eye on her and she seemed aggressive enough at the milk bar. Yesterday morning I decided to start her a bottle too because I felt she was getting more stumble in the hind end. I got some mil in her and she was strong fighting it, and was not near death at that point. Mid day she also did not seem in dire straights-she just needed time and milk. But at 4 pm when I checked on her, she was gone. In my previous check on her, she had been napping in the pig pile, and i wondered if she had been crushed, without the strength to move out.

I don't know.

I do know I tried, and she tried, and she had a short life of three days but was with her mates and mother in a warm, safe place. And I got to hold her a lot and care for her, so we all did what we had to do.

While we lost the tiny runt yesterday, today I approached the barn and had a thought just popped into my head as I opened the doors,

Death comes in waves...will there be another?

And there was old Rosie the goat, dead, Sir Tripod and Opie happily greeting me for breakfast.

She was never healthy - I took her on last fall from a breeder who said Rosie could not keep up at the hay stand and was getting thin, and wasn't aggressive enough to get enough feed. I had found this breeder and approached her via email, explaining how I took on old goats, and she said she let me take Rosie. When we picked her up I knew this goat was not long for the Earth, although I didn't say anything. The woman wanted $100, and I paid it and brought her home and did my best. I guess I'm a knucklehead for paying $100 for what was clearly a sick old goat, but she got one on one here and didn't get pushed around.

She was so thin and weak in the rear, often stumbling. I got a bit of weigh on her and got the lice under control, and wormed her. At on point she showed signs of congestion, but no fever, so I vetted her and brought her through that but every week she seemed to struggle with one condition or another. I felt sorry that she had given so much to this breeder and arrived here full of lice and thin as a bone.

I buried her and the runt together amongst spring floral to remind Old Rosie of youth and to show the runt the flowers she never got to see. They lie near The Head Troll and Scooby Keith, and the other piglets that died in the extreme cold farrowing in January. The gardens will be planted there though and it is a beautiful spot to be returned to earth.

Sometimes I question if what I'm doing helps or not.

{There are ways to support my animal efforts}

Rosie freaks me out and Little Lonely hanging in there

Last night I had a scare with Rosie, the goat Rosie not to be confused with the pig Rosie  {I have not told the pig there is another Rosie, I think it will only irritate her. How could there be more than one me? she'd ask.}

Rosie had just finished dinner-I have her on a bit of grain as she is a bit thin-and she got choke. If  you've experienced watching a goat with choke it's horrible. You feel pretty helpless. I've never had one die of choke, and typically they pull out of it, but it is so scary to witness, and the first time you do you think it is all over. It happens when a goat eats to fast, which can be compounded when they eat in a group. They toss their heads in distress as they can't breathe, and they foam and shake their heads, some cry out as Rosie did - good sign really. And Rosie would jump up and around trying to expel the choke. Some people misdiagnose this when they see the froth as frothy bloat, fyi.

Some people put rocks in their dishes to slow them down-that never worked for me. So I massaged her throat, got water down her and then did drum beats on her sides. I've never had a goat take so long to work herself out of it though. Of course it was night, and it was one of the chillier nights so there I was sitting with a goat, and of course Opie was trying to help. I finally went into give her some time to relax, as all the commotion can make them even tenser. She was breathing, she just could not expel what she needed to. When I returned she was much calmer, and I knew she was going to be ok, but she still had some fits. I was so relieved she worked herself, finally, out of it. No more grain for her for awhile and I will start to mash is in water I think.

Little Lonely is hanging in there. I have shied from constantly taking pics of him, but I will this week. I think he is getting enough milk, and Cornelia's bags are fill [some anyway] so i think he's milking well. He seems strong, in fact he's downright feisty when I work with him. Bugger even gave me a bite already. Pigs get teeth fast, and they are sharp. I tried to supplement with a bottle but he just refuses, but i think because he is getting enough at the mama milk bar, right now anyway, it is okay.

I'm pretty beat. Please forgive me if these past couple of posts wreak of exhaustion. I am determined to be back in the studio tomorrow and all month focus on painting, now that my little Spoken Word memoir is done-which by the way, NOBODY has purchased. I'm crushed! It is the sweetest story. Perhaps people don't think a frisbee has any insights-this frisbee does!

Two new Apiferians! Stinkin' cute alert!

Today we brought home two new Misfits. Rosie is a young-elder matriarch retired from breeding. She is very mannerly, walks pretty well on a lead and is calm and dignified. And then there is the little stinker. Man he's cute! The ten week old bottle baby lost his mother at birth. I thought he would be a great candidate for my traveling therapy goat, and I'm so excited to have them both here. Since he's been on a bottle since day one he is very personable and I will continue to bottle feed for about a week for bonding until I naturally wean him.

Right now things are a bit chaotic. I have Sir Tripod Goat living in the middle of the barn, where Scooby used to hang out. Tripod was getting roughed up a bit by the barrows, who can really get serious when they eat-they are pigs after all. So I have the little guy and Rosie with Tripod. Tripod gets along with anyone, he's a loner so had no trouble with introductions. But since Martyn is working on the new area above the barn-which I have not officially announced, but will next week- there is wood and building stuff all over. So I had to put the three goats in the chicken pen for the day-the indignity!The little guy was having a ball jumping up and down on the wood piles, much to the builder's annoyance.

I am really excited to get working with 'the little fellow' and will be making contact with some elder homes including one I've been in brief touch with. I'll be able to take him out in the winter, so Pino can have therapy duties in the summer, and this guy can travel with me-or that is the plan.

Life is pretty fun right now. Tomorrow is Martyn's birthday, which means it is also Goose's birthday which means we start our two week stretch of being the same age, until I turn a year older on March 10 which is also Moose's birthday. And somewhere in there, Cornelia will have piglets.

He has landed! (Copyright Apifera Farm) #pygmygoats #apiferafarm #therapygoats

A post shared by Katherine Dunn / Apifera Farm (@katherinedunnapiferafarm) on Feb 25, 2017 at 11:20am PST