Well, my morning started with a dead momma goat and two orphaned kids.
I knew when I saw the kids with the rest of the herd that she must have died during the night. Otherwise, they wouldn't have left her. I took them to the barn and tried to bottle feed them. They weren't interested in that, so I put them in a stall with the milk in a bowl, sweet feed in a bowl and a block of hay.
I am second guessing myself, though. They didn't look gaunt like I expected them to after not having nursed sufficiently for 24 hours. I'm beginning to wonder if either they are eating enough solid food to survive or if one of the other goats let them nurse. Normally, the momma goats knock babies away that don't belong to them. Is it possible that some kind of other instinct kicks in if a herd member dies?
So, now I have to figure out what to do with the goat body laying out in the pasture. She did manage to get herself outside of the shed at some point during the night and there she lays.
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4 comments:
Oh, I'm so sorry. Since I got up at 4:30 this morning..I was thinking about how to move her. I guess the best thing to do would be to tie a rope around her horns and attach the rope to the tractor Or even lawn mower and drag her out to the wooded area? I'm sure some coyotes would eat her? Do you think Harry would eat on her? I would think if you buried her..something would still dig her up.
Atleast the babies have a chance to make it. Can you leave them in the pasture and see if another momma lets her nurse?
Tom is calling some friends to see if they can come bury her. Our tractor is still in the shop (all spring...long story), but you're right, I could hook her up to the riding mower or truck and drag her. Eww. She will need to be buried where Harry can't dig her up, which means in the hayfield woodlands since we have that area fenced off now and he can't get in it. Also, I don't think coyotes go in there anymore because of the fence and we're letting the donkeys roam in there.
When it gets too hot in the barn later today, I'll move the babies out to the pasture with Pansy. For now, I want them to have plenty of time to eat all they want to without being pushed out of the way. I saw one of them eating sweet feed just a few minutes ago, so that's encouraging.
Push come to shove..you could always burn her body..is there still a burn ban? If so, you could put her in a metal barrel and burn the body.
I would try to move her body before her babies see her again..I think it would tramatic.
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