We lost a rabbit, probably to pneumonia, and a hen, the one that had leg trouble. She crawled over to a corner in the coop and was maybe smothered by other chickens sitting on top of her. I noticed that they were doing that yesterday, and should have separated her.

I know other people suffer losses, too, but it makes me feel so inadequate--like I got into the animal business without really knowing what I was doing--like I should have waited till we had our own place and I could do what I wanted for sheltering them instead of going by landlord guidelines--like I ought to know more about animal diseases and what to do--like they should have had heated, "regulation" housing instead of things put together with scrap wood.

I've got to get on with it and try to learn more and make whatever improvements may be necessary instead of kicking myself. Thanks for letting me rant.

-- Cathy N. (homekeeper86@sympatico.ca), February 22, 2002

Answers

so far,, my only losses are from dogs,, and I was VERY compensated for the birds,,, but the last few days,, I have a hen , ( the south american bird,,I never remember the name),, she looks like a hawk,, kinda cool, ,but she has been lethargic,, and sleeping with her head under her wing,, ,think she is sick,, but not sure what to do.

-- Stan (sopal@net-port.com), February 22, 2002.

I understand your feelings of responsibility as the caretaker. Also, you wish that farm life was pretty and pristine and perfect. BUT......

Honey, things die. It is just part of the system to weed out the weaklings. Only "modern" Americans seem to have the idea that we can prevent disease and death and everything will live forever if we just manage things correctly. The rest of the universe is more in touch with the natural order.

Think like a pioneer. They made do with what they had, and they didn't go to Home Depot to buy treated wood and netwire to build rabbit cages. They didn't feed rabbit pellets and laying mash. If a critter died, they tossed it to the dogs for a snack or buried it for compost.

Let go of the guilt, hitch up your panties, learn, and go forth. HUGGS!!!!

-- Rose (open_rose@hotmail.com), February 22, 2002.

Thanks, Rose. You said exactly what I already knew. Sounds like what I tell my children sometimes: "Buck up, kid!"

-- Cathy N. (homekeeper86@sympatico.ca), February 22, 2002.

Don't beat yourself up. Animal lossses are hard to handle, but it happens. And always with a lot of tears on my part. It was particularly hard when we lost 15 chickens overnight the first time to a mink or weasle. And when one of the meatbirds flipped a plastic dishpan over on itself and suffocated.

Animals are mean to each other too, especially to the weaker ones. Just a few nights after we were here. A dog killed one of the 3 hens we brought with us, she was one of our originals. That broke my heart. The other two roost on the gas grill on the porch:~} THeyhavn't laid an egg since we moved here, but I won't let them go. I really get down when a cat get killed. I had to put our dogs down a couple years ago, cause they got out and killed a neighbors prize winning sheep/lamb.

-- Cindy (SE. IN) (atilrthehony@hotmail.com), February 22, 2002.

TELL me about it!!! Imagine losing animals that have been entrusted to you because you are supposed to be a "rescuer"! It hurts to lose anything that you love, but it's even worse to have tell someone that their pet, pr the rescued animal that they brought you, has died. I always feel terrible guilt about animal-deaths, even if it has gone naturally and painlessly. Accidents are the absolute worst...makes me wonder what the HECK I am trying to do here. There are times that I feel so inadequate, I wonder if God is telling me to shut the place down. Fortunately, my DH knows how to pull me out of that particular abyss. The worst part of having animals is LOSING them.

-- Shannon at Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary (gratacres@aol.com), February 22, 2002.

I know exactly what you mean. When our horse died last year it was just the most terrible thing I have ever gone through. It upset everyone in the whole family. We had him longer than we had half of our kids. Sometimes when I go out to yell for the horses I still call his name. I always expect to see him come tearing up the hill. He was one of the greatest horses ever and it still brings tears to my eyes to this day. It really made us wonder if we should even have horses. But a friend gave us another one, and the kids had their pony, and then Cale got a new one this summer, and life goes on. But it does make you appreciate each day with your animals. We have ahd 3 chickens die. The first one was the hardest, it was 2 years ago on Christmas Eve, his name was Rudy. We had 2 more hens die, one was Colleen, and one was Sue. Sue was old and laid green eggs. We kind of expected her to die as she was getting so slow, and we could tell she was going down-hill. Colleen was a complete suprise as she wasn't very old and seemed healthy...

-- Melissa in SE Ohio (me@home.net), February 22, 2002.

When I first moved to the farm, and I lost my first goat, my vet told me that there are two absolute rules about farming: 1. Animals die 2. You can't change Rule #1.

Even people who have been at it for dozens of years lose animals. The best you can do is learn as much as possible to prevent whatever you can in the future. And even that's no guarantee.

-- Fran (on MD's Eastern Shore) (simpleplesurzfrm@dmv.com), February 22, 2002.

As Grampa used to say "if yer gonna have livestock, yer sure as shootin' gonna have deadstock." Just the way life is! Tomas in B.C.

-- Tomas (bakerzee@hotmail.com), February 22, 2002.