Living On Farm Helping Me Accept Death

[CraftyCath]

I'm so sorry to hear about your Gretta dying Gloria, but you seem to have handled it so well. I lost my budgie, Misty about 7 years ago. He was having these convulsions and the vet couldn't do anything for him. I sobbed and sobbed as i watched him suffer and then I was told that our water supply was 3 times over the legal limit with chlorine and the poor little thing was poisoned! I was heart broke! I felt so guilty as I didn't know I wasn't to feed him tap water. I swore I'd never have another one.

But I do and she is hysterical to watch. I love her so much. She's an old chick now, about 6 or 7 and completely nuts! She wouldn't have a bath this morning so I had to dunk her in the sink! She didn't half make a fuss but she's OK and I wrapped her in a warm towel and dried her off! The things we do!

I absolutely adore your baby goats Gloria! They are so cute! if I move house I'd like to have some chickens, ducks and 2 pygmy goats!

 

[Gloria]

I adore my lone chick that survived. I had other eggs that were due to hatch in the last week but none survived so I'm worried about this tiny chick. He's smaller than any chick I ever saw but he's healthy as can be and getting feathers. And because he's an lone orphan with no other chickens to play with, he's very attached to me. When he sees me, he starts chirping. If any chicken is going to steal my heart, it is this brave and tiny survivor. Love Budgies! Does yours talk? I had one that said I love you and that was sooo weird!

 

[CraftyCath]

Oh I hope your little chap survives Gloria, he sounds so cute. My Budgie, Robbie, is a She. It's funny but the cere above the beak is lilac on a baby, blue on a male and brown on a female. Well, when we got Robbie her lilac cere started to turn blue so we gave her a boys name. But then it turned brown and she squawked more than sang so w knew she was a girl! We kept the same name as she was used to it.

She doesn't talk but we taught her to sing her name and wolf whistle. That's not bad for a female!

 

[Gloria]

I was up until midnight with my tiny chick. I don't know why or how he did it but he got soaking wet and was very cold and almost died. I dried him off, increased the heat in his aquarium and fed him electrolytes and cooked egg yolk. Then I thought he must be lonely so I put the big Silkie in with him. He was very happy and cuddled underneath her and I was very pleased but then when he came out, that &^%* Silkie starting pecking his feet and made him bleed. I grabbed her by the neck and put her back in her cage. I swear I could have broken her neck I was so angry!

Anyway, I got this ridiculously cute chick with bunny ears that walks and sings a song from the thrift shop. My dogs and cats went crazy for it. The problem is that even when I put the toy up high on a table, my little puppy managed to pull it down and drag it around and he was attacking it and chewing it. So I put it in with my chick to keep her company. But I won't squeeze his wing so he will start walking and singing or my poor chick will be frightened to death but i am so grateful that I managed to save him! He was dying and closing his eyes and laying down. Today, he's back to his old self. You can see even at one week, he has feathers on his wings. In another couple weeks, I can lower the temperature to room temperature after he gets all his feathers and at that point, my little buddy will kept in a cage right by my bed and I may carry him with me in a little box so he won't be lonely. He reminds of the tiny premature babies that are in incubators and too fragile to be taken out and held. I do pick him up and cuddle him and I can't remember ever being so attached and fond of a bird. He's going to so special to me. I am going to check with Farm and Fleet to see when they will get newborn chicks in. As soon as I can get another chick in with him, I will buy one but the funny thing is that a day old chick will be three times as big as he is at one week. That chick will grow so fast and he will end up being five times as big as the little guy. But knowing birds, a newborn will not attack a member of their flock so if I get a chick, he won't know that he could eat the little guy. At least I hope it will work.

 

[CraftyCath]

Oh gosh Gloria he's so cute!!!!!! Well done for saving him! I think I would have cried if anything would have happened to him. He's adorable!:D

 

[Gloria]

My chick is now almost two months old and I keep a cage with other Seramas next to his incubator. He has to have a heat lamp until all his feathers come in and I must keep him out of drafts. None of the other eggs hatched as I hoped so he is a lone chick and he's going to be what's classified as AA. That is the smallest Serama classification. I know he will not get over 8 ounces full grown. I guess it might have to do with not having brothers and sisters? But I do get my little goats soon. Sadly, I have decided that my other old goat should be put down. She can hardly walk and she is way past her expected life expectancy. I don't want to see her suffer. The problem is that there are no goat doctors in my area - only veterinarians that specialize in either dogs and cats or horses. I guess the livestock veterinarians live further away from Chicago. So I'm going to ask my horse doctor to put her down when he comes to give my horse their annual shots.

It would be impossible for me to put the goat down myself. I did put some chicken to rest when they were injured badly and in pain.

I have a stuffed chick in his incubator and he sleeps under her arm. Poor little orphan. I love him the most of all my chickens. When he is old enough to come out of the incubator, I am going to keep him in a cage in my room until he is older. I don't know if the chick is a boy or girl and won't be able to tell for anther month but I hope he's a beautiful little rooster. I'm hoping for a boy!

 

[CraftyCath]

He's so lovely Gloria! He/she is going to be very handsome indeed!:tup:

I'm so sorry about your goat but I think you are doing the right thing. I know you would never let him/her suffer, but it is so heart wrenching isn't it.:cry:

Lets hope your little chick is a boy!:D

 

[Gloria]

Dear Crafty Cath,
I saw you met Loloma and some other forum members and I'm so jealous!! If you have another meetup, I have tons of airline miles and that might motivate me to get my butt in gear and see more countries. I think I've seen about twenty countries but I may be able to see more.

This morning, I brought raisins (her favorite food) out to my goat but she wouldn't come out of the corner. That kind of made it clear to me that she has got to be put down. I actually might take her to my vet to do it and he's going to charge me $180. I'm definitely not cut out to be a regular farmer. When I was growing up and lived on the farms in North Dakota (real farm country) I used to bottle feed the calves and then they slaughtered them and expected me to eat them.

Part of me thinks that I should take the goat to the slaughter place and use the meat to feed my dogs. It only costs $50 and I would get 60 lbs of meat but I just can't do it. I just couldn't do it.

Hugs and blessings,
Gloria

 

[CraftyCath]

Oh Gloria! How awful for you. I couldn't do it either, I love animals to much. My uncle used to trap rabbits on the farm he worked on and Mum would skin it on the kitchen table. That never bothered me but if I had a rabbit as a pet I couldn't do it.:(

I think putting an animal to sleep should be free. We pay to keep them healthy so why should we pay to stop their suffering?

The meeting with the other members was amazing. We were all so brave but Loloma especially having come over from Holland - she's a really lovely lady.:)

I have family in California and I think they are trying to get over to the UK next year. My Aunty is getting on a bit so my Cousin is coming with her. I think this might be the last trip she makes.

My sister has been to the US a few times either for business or pleasure so maybe I could pluck up the courage to go with her!

 

[Gloria]

Well, my son is going to Germany and Paris in May and I know that if he goes once, he will want to go again and again. I think you should come to America for a visit. Everyone loves your accent so much! California is awesome! They have Disneyland which isn't as cool as Disney World but it's quite nice. But I have been everywhere in California all the way from Tijuana (which is the southern border of Mexico) and a bit dangerous actually but San Francisco is something to see! They have the best food and trolleys and the whole is hilly and the houses are so awesome. They are the Golden Gate Bridge and a national park where there is giagantic trees. I am taking some medication and can't remember if it's the Sequoia National Forest or Muir Woods but it's awesome.

Then of course you could always stop and spend some time on my farm!!! Horses, puppies, chickens, cats and goats! I live in a really nice recreation area near Chicago with lots of huge state parks and I live on the river and have a boat.

I think you should travel! Even if you just stop over in Chicago on your way to California, I would be happy to drive 1 1/2 hours to O'Hare Airport to say hello!
Hugs,
Gloria

 

[CraftyCath]

That sounds amazing Gloria! I'd love to come over and have been thinking of getting a passport for ages. they cost about £95 though so it's a bit expensive! And because I haven't had one before I have to go to Liverpool for and interview with the passport office so they can check out if I'm really British!!

My Aunty and Cousins live in Plymouth, close to Sacramento. There isn't much there but it is close to lots of lovely scenery and not too far from Lake Tahoe.

 

[Gloria]

Lake Tahoe is so beautiful but do you know the phrase "yuppie"? It's very high class and expensive in Tahoe. I just got out of hospital with terrible scare (my heart) and came home to accept the fact the fact that my little dog doesn't have long to live. I was ready to accept my death because at one point the doctors were not very optimistic and I think it's because I thought of my animals dying and realized that death is just a part of living. I can't believe how calm I was. Well, I wasn't calm until my sons came (at my request) and I went over all the arrangements of my will and made them promise not to fight over anything. I asked them both stuff like "Who wants my car?" and "Do either of you want my antique china and stuff?" They were so great and came to an agreement on everything and promised me that they would be just fine no matter what happened and after they left, I felt good. I am so organized. This heart thing came on so suddenly that I was so afraid that I forgot something but my son brought my death folder and we went over everything. It didn't seem like I left anything out. I had a list of people to call and specific instruction on cremation and so they didn't have to worry about what I would have wanted. Dump the dumb ashes! I told them. My soul left my body so don't get sentimental about a bunch of ashes!

Now that they found that I have reversible heart problems (with meds), I feel I have a second chance just like the 24 year old cat I have that went on IV therapy because of liver failure. She has lived one and one half years with it so it's borrowed time and she's very happy. Life goes on. I'm still putting my old goat down. She was laying in the mud this morning and so Tuesday when the vet comes, I will put her down myself. You may think this is odd but I want the last person to handle her to be me. I'm closer to her than anyone else. When the stress test, I felt what it was like to die. My heart went into cardiac arrest and I know that she won't have to go through that. She will just fall alsleep and she is luckier than many animals and people if that happens. I have taken such good care of her and she had a much better life when I got her from a breeder who kept her in a tiny pen and made her have babies every year and took them from her as soon as they were born.

I hope no one feels sad about this because animals get slaughtered all the time. She was loved and well cared for.