Chat
04-06-2015, 07:22 PM
Today was a wretched day. We took Lilly to slaughter.
Phil and I decided to forgo the third CL test--at this point it just felt like delaying the inevitable. We decided not to wait and see if she became clinical. I knew I would spend all my time worrying and thinking, "What if I missed one?" or "What if she develops an abscess while we're out of town?" etc. We decided against the sale barn. I don't feel right passing our problems onto other people. We decided to go the butcher route. It doesn't feel good, but none of our other options did either. Since we decided to put her down, she must inevitably become food for someone. Better to be people food (or even dog food) than food for buzzards and coyotes and worms.
I've been told I won't be able to eat meat from a pet goat and right now I'm inclined to believe that, but I hope in time to get over it. I want to be responsible, and there is in fact something wholesome about knowing that Lilly's sacrifice is not going to waste. There's also something to be said for knowing where our meat came from and knowing that this animal was well cared for and had a free and happy life right up to the end.
Phil and I both spent a lot of time in tears today. Just because something is the right thing to do doesn't make it easy. I'm thankful that Lilly was not pregnant or lactating. She also has very "clean" meat since I haven't vaccinated since last year, and she hasn't had antibiotics ever, and she has not even needed to be wormed since last fall. If it had to be done, this was a good time to do it and a good goat to start with. I've been worried about her hurting one of my pregnant mamas or perhaps hurting or even stealing babies when they are born. She had developed quite a nasty streak over the last year, and I've been concerned about what might happen when everyone but her started having babies.
So anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know what we decided. I plan to vaccinate my boys in May and I'll keep ya'll posted on how that goes.
Phil and I decided to forgo the third CL test--at this point it just felt like delaying the inevitable. We decided not to wait and see if she became clinical. I knew I would spend all my time worrying and thinking, "What if I missed one?" or "What if she develops an abscess while we're out of town?" etc. We decided against the sale barn. I don't feel right passing our problems onto other people. We decided to go the butcher route. It doesn't feel good, but none of our other options did either. Since we decided to put her down, she must inevitably become food for someone. Better to be people food (or even dog food) than food for buzzards and coyotes and worms.
I've been told I won't be able to eat meat from a pet goat and right now I'm inclined to believe that, but I hope in time to get over it. I want to be responsible, and there is in fact something wholesome about knowing that Lilly's sacrifice is not going to waste. There's also something to be said for knowing where our meat came from and knowing that this animal was well cared for and had a free and happy life right up to the end.
Phil and I both spent a lot of time in tears today. Just because something is the right thing to do doesn't make it easy. I'm thankful that Lilly was not pregnant or lactating. She also has very "clean" meat since I haven't vaccinated since last year, and she hasn't had antibiotics ever, and she has not even needed to be wormed since last fall. If it had to be done, this was a good time to do it and a good goat to start with. I've been worried about her hurting one of my pregnant mamas or perhaps hurting or even stealing babies when they are born. She had developed quite a nasty streak over the last year, and I've been concerned about what might happen when everyone but her started having babies.
So anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know what we decided. I plan to vaccinate my boys in May and I'll keep ya'll posted on how that goes.