Tragedy in the goat barn

I'm not kidding--I would call this a tragedy. I've been accused of being melodramatic (probably inherent in a melancholy), but anybody who has ever loved a goat would call this a tragedy.

This morning, when Jacob and I walked into the goat barn, the first thing I noticed was that Josephine was not feeling well. You know how you get this feeling when something is not right? Well, she had her head down and she didn't jump up and say, "Hi," and she didn't shove her way in around the troughs when we fed them their oats. I knew that she was really sick and she was just fine last night. I can't stand the thought of losing Josephine as she is a sister to Christina. I loved Christina more than all the other goats as I had raised her to give as my love gift to some motherless children in '06. Christina's mom died shortly after giving me Josephine, and if Joe dies, I will be upset!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I walked further into the barn, I saw that Elizabeth was dead. She had a terrible disposition, but was a great milker. ): In the other corner, Andrew's yearling goat Hannah, was laying almost dead. Jacob and I decided to get them out of the barn back on pasture even though their cell is almost grazed clean and we haven't had time to hot wire another one for them.

Cora was spraying Sonic Bloom on the garden, but she came to help us move the herd. That was when she noticed that Karen, mother of triplets this spring, has "IT" too. Karen was very wobbly and obviously in pain although she made the trip over to the goat cell.

Robert came over to help move the herd and then he recalled that he had caught the goats in the Quonset yesterday afternoon. They were going after the kelp like mad, which couldn't hurt them, but some of them were also eating the barn lime which was in bags next to the kelp. ): OH NO. This was when Cora mentioned that her goat, Harriet, died a few weeks ago right after they were in there too! ):

A quick conference to plan the day ended up with the guys heading over to the fields to bale; Jacob's driving the 9030 over there; and Cora is continuing with the Sonic Bloom. This left ME to treat the sick goats. Robert suggested mineral oil and left, so this is what I just did.

After a quick prayer for guidance, I started with Joe as she is most precious to me. I gave her 10 ccs of Vitamin C in the rump which must have hurt for some reason as she bawled terribly. I put charcoal in the milk from this morning and she drank it all. Then I gave her mineral oil by tipping the bottle into the side of her mouth. She drank as much as she wanted.

I was out of milk for Hannah but gave her the charcoal in some water which she guzzled gratefully. She also drank the mineral oil eagerly. Then I went over to the cell where Karen was laying moaning. She also guzzled the mineral oil but didn't like the charcoal water as much as Joe and Hannah did. She's not as ill, though, so I guess she can afford to be picky.

When I was working with Karen, Andrew's goat Annette, groaned beside me and I could see that she was starting to get sick too. I gave her the rest of the charcoal water which she guzzled gratefully. That makes 4 of my does who are sick for now and 1 is dead already-plus Cora's dead goat 2 weeks ago. I'd call that a tragedy.

So now I used biofeedback to determine that they'll all need mineral oil again in 2 hours from now. I'm not sure how that will work as I have a lady coming from Linton for a session at 2:00. Maybe Cora will do it but she just does not like working with sick animals. She said, "It's just not in my disposition." I can't say that I like working with the sick, but it nags at me if I know something that can help them and I don't do it. That leaves me with going to do a BodyTalk session for them now, although I really do need to pick up this place some before 2:00.

PLEASE PRAY FOR MY GOATS TODAY. Somebody once said that watching a horse die is the hardest thing they'd ever done. I do recall watching Gabe die of West Nile in 2002. That truly was terrible too, but seeing my beloved goats suffering is worse. They're such a part of my life and they're so expressive that it grieves me so. PLEASE HELP THEM LORD!

Well, Jacob just called and said that he's by the bridge on the Braddock road so somebody needs to go and pick him up. If Cora is still spraying on the Sonic Bloom, I imagine that it'll be me. One bright thought this morning was when Cora asked, "So are you going to set up your massage table for your client, Mom?"

Can it be that I had forgotten about it? We had taken it down, as the only room big enough for it is in the living room, and we have a small living room. People were getting tired of going around it but today I have a paying client so she's going to get the ritz. :) I wonder if I remember how to set it up

Gotta go,

Dawn