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May 19, 2005
Squirt
We always laugh at poor Squirt. So pregnant, she lays on the ground and somehow manages to roll onto her back, legs in the air, and can only wait for someone to roll her over.
Yesterday, no one was there.
When a very pregnant goat is on her back, it is very difficult for her to breathe with all the extra weight bearing down. I am not sure how long she was like that. When I got home her eyes were glazed but I had it in my head to save those babies. Stumbling, crying, I rummaged through my husband's things for some hunting knives. I knew what I had to do and had to gather my resolve to do it.
Problem was, I had no idea how to start. My first cut was loud. Intestine exploded out the hole and I quickly realized I had no idea what I was doing. She was so big I could not even heft her over the 3' fence. I felt helpless and inadequate, and now I had ravaged my little goat with no results.
The vet was on her way over anyway -- I will be showing some of our goat kids and they needed health papers as well as rabies vaccinations. By the time she got here, I had opened the fence up enough so that I could drag Squirt out of the pen. I tried putting her in a wheelbarrow. but even with it on its side, Squirt was too heavy for me alone. I placed the wheelbarrow upside down on her to cover her from flies and curious pen-mates.
My vet took the time to look over this dead doe and my mangled attempt to save the kids. When a doe dies, her kids have at the most 2 minutes to be saved. No doubt the movement I saw inside Squirt was only the build up of gasses. Goats have 4 stomachs and some of their digestion is performed by fermentation in the rumen. This continues even if the goat is not alive.
Amazingly, my cut into the goat was at about the right place. When I saw what the vet had to do to get to the uterus, I knew I would not have been able to do this myself. Not today. Squirt had 2 kids, one each, and they were not yet fullterm. We continued cutting into her to assess her overall condition. She nad a nice layer of fat, but not too much. Her overall muscle tone was good. We went through the 4 stomachs and looked at all of her organs. We looked at the amazing honeycomb pattern of the second stomach. The fourth stomach was opened to examine its contents. The most deadly parasite to a goat is Haemonchus contortus, or the baberpole worm. It is found in this organ. Squirt had 2 visible. Although these are small worms, about 1.5" in length and the width of a thread, the can ingest one teaspoon of blood a day in this rich environment. The barberpole name comes from the twisted red and white coloring of the female worms; the goat's blood mixes with eggs to cause this effect.
I suppose the more practical meat goat producer would not only know how to butcher her own livestock but would harvest what meat she could from this downed doe. I don't think it ever crossed my mind. This was our Squirt.
The vet told me of a British saying, that when raising livestock you also raise dead stock. This is true and it can be overwhelming at times. There was a time this day when I considered packing up, selling out, and growing flowers or herbs, something with a smaller emotional investment than animals. I thought about this even as I started the afternoon round of chores.
But then the adult chickens came running after me, eager to see what I had in my buckets. The chicks outside peeped my way, having also learned that buckets are a good thing. The baby turkeys had found a spot of dirt and were dusting. Ducklings were comicly swimming in their water.
I knew I would not be selling anyone soon.
Posted by roosterh at May 19, 2005 6:28 AM
Comments
Oh Mo, I had so sorry to hear about losing Squirt. You must be very raw from the whole experience. I know you loved Squirt.
As you know, we too have had our losses and it hurts each time -- more so when there are babies involved. In those cases, not only do we lose the tangible, but also some of the future. So sad and yes, sometimes unbearable.
Being a farmer certainly has its low points, but we find the triumphs and seasonal rhythms rewarding and worth the effort and pain. We love this lifestyle and hope even the losses benefit us and somehow make us better people (and farmers) in the end.
Besides, few of us have a choice in the matter. It is deep something deep in our soul and fundimental to our very being that draws us to animals and this more 'real' life. I almost said 'simple life' but realized whoever says farming is a simple life does not know a thing about farming!!!
Do you have any idea what caused Squirt's death?
On a bright note, has Norman arrived? Not a name that exactly rolls off the tongue...
Lisa
Posted by: Cross Creek Farm at May 20, 2005 11:20 AM
Posted to Goats