The Fat Ewe Farm and Bed and Breakfast
The Fat Ewe Farm and Moose Hills Inn
Organic Permaculture Farmin' for
the Lazy Ewes
  • The Fat Ewe Farm
  • About Us
  • Blog
  • The Fat Ewe Farm Store
  • Livestock Breeds (click here to see all the breeds)
    • Angora goats
    • Icelandic Sheep
    • Jacob sheep
    • Old English Southdown Babydoll Sheep >
      • Babydoll Sheep on the Fat Ewe Farm
  • Contact Us
    • Photo Gallery (click here for some awesome photos or watch the slideshow) >
      • Video Slide Show
    • Phone Number
    • Map
  • Sale Barn
  • Recipes From the Fat Ewe
    • Old Stuff
  • How Much Meat Do You Get?
  • Ukrainian Easter Eggs
  • Moose Hills Inn

Life is Fragile

2/18/2017

0 Comments

 
We come. We go. No one is immune to death. It is unnatural for a child to predecease a parent and yet, that, too, happens. Pets are like our families, albeit they do not share the longevity of humans, but they can be loved as much and possibly even more than human children. 

Charka went missing and was gone for 5 days. He was not there when I went out to do a quick round of morning chores around 9 am this morning. I looked for him with hope and promise and hung my head again, with tears in my eyes, not seeing that big black dog with the gentlest brown eyes, looking back at me, searching my face and looking for some love. But when I went out at noon, there he was. 

His head was down and he was very thin. Some of his coat was recently matted and his eyes were dim. I was elated to see him and hugged him gently, not knowing his state. He followed me around awhile, then laid with his good friend Jade, but he soon fell asleep in the warm sun and soft hay. I came to him to check his body then, while he was relaxed and not in any way threatened. Robbie was challenging him and wanted a fight. I whacked Robbie on the butt with a bucket and sent him away and he growled at me. I grabbed his collar and put him down, still growing at me. He has never done that before. Something was amiss. I made sure he understood that I was the boss and then took him to tie him up and went back to Charka. 

Charka's face is swollen badly. He was definitely in a fight and won, but paid the price at the same time. His throat was attacked with multiple bite wounds, his collar likely saving him from something more serious than what I saw. I felt his body for broken bones and further injuries. It appears that the worst was the throat under his neck, and he had a few more bites here and there, but nothing as serious. I came back with a shot of penicillin, long acting, and later gave him Metacam, a pain reliever for dogs. These things I keep on hand. Having over a hundred animals on a farm, there is always something that happens whether it is a cut on wire or a gash from a tree branch, a puncture wound or bites. I do not automatically use medications, and if the next day or two the animal appears to be recovering without swelling and other problems, I let them do so on their own. Charka definitely needed help. If the swelling of his face does not respond within 24 hours, he will have to see the vet. Last time it was Joe, who had an abscess in his cheek. $350 later, a shunt for drainage and antibiotics for a week, Joe was on the way to recovery, slowly. 

Life is fragile. We who are healthy sometimes spend little time concerning ourselves with living or dying. Here on the farm, I am much more in touch with how precious life is and how quickly it can be snuffed out untimely. Then there is my old ram, Bob, who has had a very good life and now, is just letting go slowly. I picked him up today, the second time he has been down and unable to stand on his own. One morning I will come out and he will be lying there in peace, the old soldier gone home. 

Sometimes baby lambs are born backwards and do not live, not often, actually only once in my 6 years playing farmer, but it did happen. Or a kid goat simply does not make it. New life is anticipated and babies are loved, but an old life like Bob, well, there is something so very touching upon the departure of a friend, be it four legged or two. 

I am so relieved Charka is home. He will once again sing to me when I come home, greeting me at the gate with his big tail wagging his body and those beautiful brown eyes, so full of love, searching my green ones, just vying for a moment of my time and pat that ensures his love. We never know when, how , where or why. But life is a gift and today, my gift has returned. With gratitude in my heart, I will sleep well tonight. 
Picture
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Airstream Land Yacht 1964
    Alpacas
    Alpine Goats
    Ameraucana Chickens
    American Buff Geese
    Ancona Ducks
    Angora Goats
    Angora Goats
    Angora Rabbits.
    Babydoll Southdown Sheep
    Babydoll Southdown Sheep
    Bed And Breakfast
    Berkshire Pigs
    Blue Faced Leicester Sheep
    Blue Swedish Ducks
    Boer Goats
    Border Collie
    Border Collie
    Bronze Turkey Standard
    Bronze Turkey (Standard)
    Canadian Horses
    Canadian Horses
    Cats
    Chickens
    Cotswold Sheep
    Crafts And Hobbies
    Cream Legbar Chickens
    Dorset Sheep
    Ducks
    Embden Geese
    E'st A Laine Merino Sheep
    Farm Life
    Farm Life
    Farm Store
    Finnsheep
    Flemish Giant Rabbit
    Flowers
    French Lop Rabbit
    Galloway Cattles
    Gardening
    Gotland Sheep
    Guinea Fowl
    Herbs
    Holstein Steer
    Icelandic Sheep
    Jacob Sheep
    Japanese Bantam Chickens
    Jersey Cow
    Kahaki Campbell Ducks
    Karakul Sheep
    Kiko Goats
    Kilo Highland Cows
    Light Sussex Chicken
    Livestock Guardian Dogs
    Livestock Guardian Dogs
    Maremma Sheepdogs
    Maremma Sheepdogs
    Meishan Pigs
    Miniature Nigerian Dwarf Goats
    Moose Hills Inn
    Muscovy Ducks
    Norwegian Red Dairy Cow
    Nubian Goats
    Nygora Goat
    Ossabaw Hogs
    Partidge Chantecler Chickens
    Pekin Ducks
    Permaculture
    Pied Guinea Fowl
    Polish/Ameraucana Bantam Cross Chickens
    Polled Dorset Sheep
    Potbelly Pigs
    Pygmy Goats
    Recipes
    Rigit Galloway Cows.
    Romanov Sheep
    Romney Sheep
    Rouen Ducks
    Saddleback Pomeranican Geese
    Saxony Ducks
    Sebastopol Geese
    Sheep And Goats
    Shetland Sheep
    Silver Spangled Hamburg Chicken
    Soap And Hand Made Cosmetics
    Standard Jack Donkey
    Sustainability
    Swiss Blackneck Goats
    The Llamas
    The Llamas
    Toulouse Geese
    Tunis Sheep
    White Chantecler Chickens
    White Danish Geese
    Wool

    Author

    Fluffy writes daily about the experiences on the farm and with the bed and breakfast patrons. 

    Archives

    October 2020
    September 2019
    June 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013

    view old blog site

    RSS Feed

Contact Us
Home

The Fat Ewe Farm 

All text and photos are the sole property of The Fat Ewe Farm  and may not be used without written permission.