Rainy Day

I'm pretty sure it's been raining for a solid 36 hours. We have water standing everywhere! In fact, I'm certain the ducks would have loved it if their pen was moved a couple feet over. They'd have a lot of fun in that puddle!

We got a good start to our rainy day with this delicious egg scramble, made with Thrive sausage crumbles and chopped onions. It was so quick and easy throwing this together, and I loved that I didn't have to mess with raw sausage or chopping onions.  

  Having such a delicious, quick breakfast, ensured I had plenty of time to give our Lucky boy a hair cut. It was long overdue! The poor guy was so good while I was trimming him and he looks so much better now. It might not be a professional job, but it works for us!

It's Hard to Say Goodbye...

Being an animal lover and owner, we get to experience parts of life that some people never see. The lessons our children learn through animals are unequaled anywhere else.

 

The consistent, daily care teaches them responsibility, discipline, and nurturing skills.

 

They learn to detect the subtle (and sometimes the not-so-subtle) ways animals may communicate with us. They observe their natural behavior and learn to tell when something isn't "quite right."

 

Animals and pets help teach confidence to our children. They are always happy to see us, and never judge us.

 

I believe most importantly, in this day and age, where it seems as though our younger generations have such a selfish, "me" attitude, animals teach our children empathy and compassion. To truly FEEL for something (or someone) other than ourselves-  is a very precious thing- and that compassion can come from caring for a sick, disabled, or even a dying animal.

 

And it is that lesson that brings us to the hardest part of owning an animal.... letting go.

 

We had to say goodbye to our dear, sweet Lucky today. Watching her struggle with something that we knew she could not recover from was so difficult. It never gets easy to see something or someone you love die. But knowing that they are in a better place and are no longer suffering in pain is really the only way to get through it. This was the lesson the kids learned over the last couple of days... determining when "enough is enough"... when the medications you keep pumping into an animal are only prolonging her suffering, and ultimately, her death. We have to ask ourselves: are we doing it for us? Or for her?

 

Lucky showed us that she had had enough medications. Her body just couldn't go on. When it became obvious that our efforts at saving her were fruitless, that there was nothing more we could do... then the hard decision had to be made. It wasn't easy for any of us, but we've all seen her suffering for far too long, and knowing that we could help her in this one final way, we knew what we had to do.

 

 

 

We will love you forever Lucky girl.

To us you will always be "the goat who thought she was human."

RIP sweet girl.

 

 

 

New Kids on the Farm!

Lucky gave birth on Friday, May 25th to two beautiful little bucklings.

Mom and babies are doing very well.



Belated Baby Face/Critter of the Week

I am running behind this week so I'm combining Baby Face Tuesday with Critter of the Week and posting them both a day late.

This week we're honoring Lucky, our purebred Nubian doe, born February 8th, 2009. Lucky was the only surviving kid out of triplets. Her mother, Princess, had difficulty birthing due to the first kid being mal-presented. All three kids were pulled, but only the tiniest one of the three, Lucky, was alive. She weighed a mere 4 1/2 pounds.

Due to the traumatic birth, Princess rejected Lucky, and raising her became our responsibility.

She was such a joy to care for!

With it being early February, and having no mother to snuggle with in the cold, Lucky spent the first weeks of her life living in the house with us. We would take her outside on nice days as often as we could so she could socialize with the other goats.

Having a goat in the house sure was a fun experience and she gave us SO many photo ops!

Here's a video of one of Lucky's romps with her half-brother Willy:

But as the weather became milder and she grew more self-sufficient, her time spent outdoors with the herd became more frequent and for longer lengths of time, until she was no longer coming inside at all.

Here she is, above, at four months old, and below, here she is now (sorry about the bad picture quality- my camera thought I was taking pictures of the thorny twig, instead of the goats!).

Furry Friday Picture

Lucky- one of our Shih Tzus.