Post by Laura G in Idaho on Feb 25, 2008 22:19:00 GMT -5
We started off this birthing season with Sweetie (ewe) giving birth to triplets. They froze to death before I could get to them (or they may have been stillborn). Next day, the 4 month old beef calf died unexpectedly and unexplained. The ewe lingered between life and death for nearly two weeks... ketosis. I finally shot her when she would no longer eat or take liquids that we were squirting into her mouth. I'd put nearly $150 into her, and lots of time-consuming nursing care, and she wasn't getting better... only worse. All my nursing was only prolonging the inevitable.
Whew, that was hard on me.
In the last 8 months, I have lost about 150 baby chicks. One batch of 50 got loose and got too cold before they figured how to get back. Another batch of 50 got killed by my new dogs. The next batch of 25 was nearly all killed by the dogs, but we rescued a few. Then I got 25 more and a few of them got killed by dogs... (not that I didn't put measures in place to prevent this after the first time, but children let dogs loose sometimes when adults don't know... until it's too late). So, my mom graciously offered to raise the remaining chicks for me. I gratefully let her do it. She brought them back all feathered out and looking great. They got out of their pen and stuffed themselves in between hay bales overnight (probably trying to stay warm), causing them to die of suffocation. I need chicks, but I'm not sure what to do to prevent more losses. So, I'm not ordering more chicks until I figure something else out.
Buttercup (doe) had twin boys... very cute. So far all is well with her and her babies. This morning Precious (ewe) gave birth to one lamb. A very cute mottled baby. Some black, some white, all messed up paint job on that one. My son said it was a girl, but I haven't checked for myself... not wanting to inadvertently make a bummer out of it by handling it in the sensitive hours right after birth. I noticed Faith (cow) looked really bagged up and sunken in this morning. I thought this might be the day. Behold and lo, this evening she gave birth to a little bull calf. All seems to be well so far. I'll check on them in the morning. Faith seems very happy with herself, and very attentive to her baby. She's giving those soft little motherly moos to her baby, encouraging him to stand while she licks him off.
Next animal is due in July... Ruby, the heifer. Then comes Fancy (Ruby's mother) in August... and I'm undecided on whether this will be her last calf or not. She's underweight right now, and has had chronic subclinical mastitis... she has arthritis... not sure how long I should let it go before I let her go. Fonda (our new cow that we got in January) should be bred back on her next heat in 3 weeks.
Hopefully my string of bad luck is over and I can look forward to success from here on out.
~Laura
Whew, that was hard on me.
In the last 8 months, I have lost about 150 baby chicks. One batch of 50 got loose and got too cold before they figured how to get back. Another batch of 50 got killed by my new dogs. The next batch of 25 was nearly all killed by the dogs, but we rescued a few. Then I got 25 more and a few of them got killed by dogs... (not that I didn't put measures in place to prevent this after the first time, but children let dogs loose sometimes when adults don't know... until it's too late). So, my mom graciously offered to raise the remaining chicks for me. I gratefully let her do it. She brought them back all feathered out and looking great. They got out of their pen and stuffed themselves in between hay bales overnight (probably trying to stay warm), causing them to die of suffocation. I need chicks, but I'm not sure what to do to prevent more losses. So, I'm not ordering more chicks until I figure something else out.
Buttercup (doe) had twin boys... very cute. So far all is well with her and her babies. This morning Precious (ewe) gave birth to one lamb. A very cute mottled baby. Some black, some white, all messed up paint job on that one. My son said it was a girl, but I haven't checked for myself... not wanting to inadvertently make a bummer out of it by handling it in the sensitive hours right after birth. I noticed Faith (cow) looked really bagged up and sunken in this morning. I thought this might be the day. Behold and lo, this evening she gave birth to a little bull calf. All seems to be well so far. I'll check on them in the morning. Faith seems very happy with herself, and very attentive to her baby. She's giving those soft little motherly moos to her baby, encouraging him to stand while she licks him off.
Next animal is due in July... Ruby, the heifer. Then comes Fancy (Ruby's mother) in August... and I'm undecided on whether this will be her last calf or not. She's underweight right now, and has had chronic subclinical mastitis... she has arthritis... not sure how long I should let it go before I let her go. Fonda (our new cow that we got in January) should be bred back on her next heat in 3 weeks.
Hopefully my string of bad luck is over and I can look forward to success from here on out.
~Laura