|
|
|
Starting Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 5:15:01 PM
Posts: 48,
Visits: 73
|
|
Hi,
I'm just wondering how other farmers deal with geriatric livestock on their farms -- particularly goats and sheep. How do you ease them through those final years, as arthritis sets in and tooth problems develop? Do you contact a vet when senior health problems develop? Do you let nature take its course? Or do you take the practical approach and slaughter before they die of natural causes? And what about disposal, when that sad time finally comes?
I'd be grateful to hear any thoughts on this subject. Right now I have two 13-year-old goats and one 13-year-old sheep, plus several who are only a few years younger. They've all been incredibly healthy all their lives. A few months ago I lost a very dear old sheep (13 years old) after a bout of pneumonia, and now one of the goats is acting depressed and OLD.
Thanks so much for your help,
Cherie PS. Sue, how many years can goats live, anyway?
|
|
|
|
|
Junior Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Today @ 7:27:43 AM
Posts: 170,
Visits: 340
|
|
Cherie Langlois (5/14/2008)
Hi,
I'm just wondering how other farmers deal with geriatric livestock on their farms -- particularly goats and sheep. How do you ease them through those final years, as arthritis sets in and tooth problems develop? Do you contact a vet when senior health problems develop? Do you let nature take its course? Or do you take the practical approach and slaughter before they die of natural causes? And what about disposal, when that sad time finally comes?
I'd be grateful to hear any thoughts on this subject. Right now I have two 13-year-old goats and one 13-year-old sheep, plus several who are only a few years younger. They've all been incredibly healthy all their lives. A few months ago I lost a very dear old sheep (13 years old) after a bout of pneumonia, and now one of the goats is acting depressed and OLD.
Thanks so much for your help,
Cherie PS. Sue, how many years can goats live, anyway? Well, the oldest goat I've personally known was a 16-year-old Alpine doe. Fourteen seems to fairly doable and one person at my HFSheep list has two 15 year old ewes. This strikes very close to home as my two favorite sheep are very elderly too. I shot pictures of the sheep on Sunday and when I looked at a closeup I took of Dodger, one of my first two sheep, I noticed his face was totally gray. Since he's a Hampshire, I thought, "Hmm, the color must be off." So I marched out to check and no, Dodger's face is gray! Since I see him many times a day, it hadn't registered. I've been feeling kind of blue about it ever since. Our oldsters live out their years as comfortably as possible. We recently built a separate pasture for the four old sheep, so I can feed them away from the shove and bustle of the main flock. My flock matron, old Baasha, is 12 and her oldest daughter, Rebaa, is nine. Dodger and his friend, Angel, are grades but we've had them five years and they were already well into middle age when they retired here. I'm thinking of starting the old sheep on MSM as both Dodger and Baasha are somewhat arthritic. We feed them pelleted feed and chopped hay (bagged alfalfa) since Baasha and Dodger are gummers and the other two have broken mouths. When they die, we bury them (and in the rocky Ozarks even burying a sheep is a formidable task. They served humans all their lives and I feel they deserve retirement and burial. BTW, they will 'tell' you when they're ready to go. I bet your depressed goat is beginning to do that. It's a phenomenon we discovered working with rescue horses. They soldier on into old age and then seemingly overnight they seem to fall apart. I think their passing is harder on us than it is on them; they accept it. I never quite do. Sue
|
|
|
|
|
Starting Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 5:15:01 PM
Posts: 48,
Visits: 73
|
|
Thanks, Sue.
You were right, it was the beginning of the end. Our goat Annie passed away over the weekend  Interestingly, I thought our other goat would show some signs of depression after losing her buddy of 13 years, but she just went about business as usual, hanging out with the sheep and acting like, "OK, who can I boss around now?" That's a goat for you!
Cherie
|
|
|
|
|
Starting Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 5/21/2008 12:59:17 PM
Posts: 21,
Visits: 16
|
|
| I've often wondered what the end will look like for my beloved goats, too. A year ago, when one of our dear Pygmies died unexpectedly, my husband build a nice, sturdy casket from scrap wood (this was done on the fly, and fast!) and we laid her in it on a bed of nice grass hay. We also placed photos of ourselves and her herdmates in the box before burying her on our property. We ordered one of those engraveable rocks online and had her name, date and a short message (We will always love you) engraved on it and placed it on the site. I know this is a lot of trouble for livestock, but this goat was a special pet to us, and we wanted to honor her. Knowing that we gave her an appropriate send-off made the grieving process a tad bit more bearable.
|
|
|
|