Nettle licking off one of her new born Boer mix boys |
Windy died Sunday morning about 9 am |
After returning from a Beltane potluck dinner at a friend's farm, we bottle fed our little Nubian girl Wendy. She was normal, sucking down the bottle of goat milk in two minutes. Sunday morning when I went up to the barn to feed her I noticed something wrong - she wouldn't eat. She has always been extremely hungry so this alarmed me. I noticed blood and poop flowing out of her behind so we went into emergency treatment, talked to our vet, and tried to comfort her. She died about 9 am that morning, just three hours after we noticed her problem. So quick and sad. Pam held her as she took her last breath, singing to her a song about passing on to the next phase of her existence. I buried her in the raspberry patch that afternoon.
Our Cherry trees are finally blooming! |
I took a beekeeping class on Sunday afternoon and found it interesting. That afternoon with the outside temperature in the upper 60's I opened the hives and checked things out. The queen is starting to lay eggs - she will lay up to 1500 per day, and I put in the first mite treatment - formic acid in the form of strips. I'm told it's the closest thing to organic treatment but can be dangerous to humans and have to be handled very carefully.
Our apple, pear and cherry trees are now in full bloom - much later than past years. With our new bees I'm hopeful we'll get good pollination.
Oh gosh, Gary. I'm so sorry to hear about Windy. However, I'm really glad to hear Nettle's babies are born and that she's being a good mother.
ReplyDeleteWe are terribly sorry to learn about Wendy and are very thankful we got to meet her. You folks and Windy were such blessings to each other. Thank you for sharing this on your blog..........happiness shared is doubled...sorrow shared is halved.
ReplyDeleteTurquoise & Mike