Oh, for goodnesssakes.
You know the weeks you should just NOT get out of bed? This has been one of them, and the world has it out for me.
First Ygraine died.
And that was bad.
Then the girls' CAE tests came back.
Do I even need to say it?
Minerva-Positive
Lily-Positive
Dulcinea-Negative (YEAY!)
Oooh, I got one out of three.
Holy frikkin' crap, people. What did I ever do to the world?
As it stands, I have decided that Lilly and Min (who came from a "closed and clean" herd, mind you) will live a life of celibacy. They are now nun-goats. I don't want to risk missing the kids and having them become infected and then having to sell infected goats. No thanks.
Lilly? Minerva? This one is for you.
Maybe minus the high heels. That seems a bit much to me.
I have read that the most responsible thing I can do is to destroy the girls, and move on.
'Cause you know, farmers have no hearts.
Yeah, right.
I can't do that.
I've become too attached. They are the sweetest, wildest monkey girls ever, and I can't part with them. Besides, who would I walk to the bus stop? What other 90 pound animal is going to sit on my lap?
Exactly.
It ain't happening. So I'm doing what I see is the next best responsible thing to do, and making them pets. And yes, that kills me, because everyone here has a job, and now they've been fired before they were even hired. So I guess "Pet" will have to be a job, and that'll balance it out in my books.
I think I'll call it "Companion". That has a better ring to it.
By default, then, Dulci becomes the only breeder, and her kids will all be kept. As long as they're not all bucks. Hopefully the world is wreaking havoc on someone else that week, and will let me have a doe or two.
Dulci will kid, she'll be the milker, and her daughter/s will be bred when they are old enough, and then we'll have more than one milker, because one milker isn't enough for our family. And I'll worry about what do with with their kids at that time.
The only question I haven't answered for myself is whether or not I need to separate Min and Lilly out. It seems most people don't, and run a mixed herd without issue, but some do separate. And of course, the big question is, how much time will I get with my girls before their time runs out? That's the biggie.
Is it bedtime yet? I'd like to wake up sometime next month.
I meant CAE. I blame my phone's autocorrect. Sorry!
ReplyDeleteOH, NO! I feel like I know you just from reading your blog so, my heart is breaking for you. I think we have such similar goals for our farms and I know how disappointed you must be.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was told by my vet that the best thing to do would be to cull if we got a positive I did some serious thinking....we pretty much decided that if we got a positive we would build another little barn and have some pet goats. Their job would be to clear the brush and poison ivy or maybe learn to pull a cart. Thankfully we got negatives (because I really didn't want to build another barn).
You should not feel bad about having a Big Ol' Heart and loving your girls....Having a pet goat is no different than having a dog or cat, right? You can call them your mascots!
My hubs and I were just talking about your goats....he reminded me that the vet said that false negatives are possible with the test. Did they run the ELISA test? Supposedly that is the best one...
ReplyDeleteAND he also reminded me that sometimes goats are just carriers and the disease never manifests itself. Perhaps your girls will live lovely, healthy lives....I'm going to keep my fingers crossed for that!