Em Nau Farm BLOG

Joy and Sorrow Sit Together (Part 3)

In September and October 2014 I wrote on this Blog about joy and sorrow being inseparable.  The twins have again returned to Em Nau farm in a big way over the past week.

The joy has come in the way of four new kids, two does and two bucks and two new lambs, one ewe and one ram. 

On July 26 Heather and I were preparing to have dinner when we heard a “scream” coming from the goat area.  Having recently put Kapuk in the kidding enclosure we thought she must be in the throes of kidding, I wondered up and Kapuk was standing on the hill quietly munching on grass.  I then thought one of the yearlings must have their head caught in the hay feeder (something they do with regularity – they get it in OK and then move to the side and with the angle get stuck – once I straighten them up they can pull their head out without any trouble) but again this wasn’t the cause of the scream so I shone the torch around and saw none of the goats looked in distress so assumed that whoever had their head caught had gotten themselves out.

I wondered back down to the house and told Heather all was good on the hill.  I had turned off the oven and was getting ready to dish up our tea when dinner another scream came.

I grabbed the torch and back up the hill.  Once again Kapuk was standing looking at me so I went into the goat pen and found Kiana in the midst of having a kid.  Kiana, we knew was pregnant, but from her size we thought we still had a couple of weeks before she was due.  I must also explain at this stage that Anglo Nubian goats are renowned for being very vocal goats, so I should have realised what was happening on my first trip up the hill. I grabbed Kiana and took her into the kidding pen, went down to tell Heather what was going on.  By the time we got back the first of her kids was being born, as its front feet were protruding.  Overall it took her about five minutes to give birth and then Kiana was going through the cleaning process when we noticed another sac hanging out her rear.  Within another five minutes she had had her second kid, and she had started to clean up that one.

Heather and I sat for a while and watched and then went down to have tea.

On the 28^th due to a couple of reasons, one I will mention a little later, I was planning to go into work a little later than normal.  Heather and I had just finished the morning feeding and watering when I noticed that Saira Rose, one of our sheep, was in the throes of lambing.  This was to be her first lamb so I decided to sit and watch to ensure everything went according to plan.  After about 20 minutes of sitting down, getting up, pawing the ground, sitting down, getting up, moving to a new spot, pawing the ground, sitting down, Saira Rose finally had her lamb, a little ewe.  I sat and watched until the lamb was on its feet and sucking her mother and as both mother and daughter seemed fine I left them to explore the paddock and do sheep stuff.

The sorrow came on the 28^th as well when we had to put one of our cows down.  It all started on the 27^th when, on returning from a trip to the dump and shopping, we noticed Shirley had fallen and was laying down in the broken dam on the far side of the goat paddock near our neighbours fence.  Heather and I went over to get her up, we successfully sat her up from the lying position and got her comfortable but she was too heavy for the two of us to successfully lift up on to her feet.  We gave her food and water and thought we would allow her time to regain her strength from being on her side for, we assume was about 18 hours, and we would come back in the late afternoon to see if we could get her on her feet.

When we couldn't get her on her feet that afternoon we rang our neighbour and asked if he could meet us early the next day (0630) to see if the three of us could put her on her feet (hence me planning to go in late to work on the 28^th as I normally leave around 0400).

Long story short we had success in getting Shirley onto her feet and we then started walking her back to the house yard (about 300 metres) which she did albeit slowly.  We were heartened by this and thought if we leave her in the house yard for the day she might regain more strength and we could put her with the house cows that afternoon or the next day.  I made the decision with both the need to keep an eye on Shirley and the birth of Saira Rose’s lamb to work from home on the 28^th.

Around lunchtime our neighbour came over to give me a hand to try to get Shirley on her feet again, she had sat down again about 10AM after walking all over the house yard, annoying the ducks, geese and chickens, having a feed and drinking plenty of water.  With just the two of us we could not get her up (Heather had gone to work) so our neighbour said he would come back about 1630 and we could give it another try.

At 1630, after much struggling to get Shirley to her feet with no success, I made the decision to put her down.  This was mainly based on the fact that two people couldn't lift her successfully, the longer she was down the weaker she would become in her leg muscles and it would be at least another five days before all three of us would have the opportunity to try to get her on her feet, which wasn't fair on Shirley as she would suffer over this time.  I rang Heather and advised her of my decision and the neighbour went to get his rifle. 

Heather and I are happy that in her final day Shirley was not suffering, she had plenty to eat and drink and got the chance to sit in the winter sun and watch the world move on around her.

The second tentacle of sorrow came that night at around 1930, just as Heather was getting home, when I went down to check on Saira Rose and her lamb.  The lamb had been lethargic all day and had had a prolapse around the umbilical cord area, so I had been checking every hour or so that she had been walking and sucking.  When I went down at 1930 the lamb had just died and Saira Rose, being the good mother was sitting with it and protecting it from me.  I decided to leave it there overnight and remove it from Saira Rose the next morning before I went to work.

At 0400 on the 29^th I took the little lamb and put it in the shed so I could bury it when I got home.  Heather told me later that from when I took the lamb until she left for work Saira Rose was calling for her baby.  When I got home that afternoon Saira Rose was still searching but was less vocal in calling out.

The final couple of pieces of the twin joy and sorrow saga came on the 29^th of July when Kapuk had her two kids.  When I got home I went up to check on Kiana’s kids only to discover two extra kids bouncing around the kidding pen.  By the looks of it Kapuk had had a fairly trouble free kidding giving birth to a buck (which I assume must have been first by the size of him) and a medium sized doe.

Over the past week it has been a joy and very entertaining watching the four  “cousins” bouncing around the kidding pen jumping on each other and their mothers, chasing the stray chook that ventures in and when tired out all curling up together in the corner of the kidding shed.

Finally on the night of the 1^st/2^nd of August Dot, another of our sheep, had ram lamb which was fairly big. 

I will keep you updated.

Until next time remember to live your dash.