Chickens / Goats / Horses / WayMaker Acres

A Rough Couple of Weeks

It’s taken me a couple of days to process the events from earlier this week. They were the cherry on top of a not-so-delicious sundae of animal mishaps that happened one right after the other. I’m still not sure I’ve processed it all. Let’s start at the beginning, shall we?

At the end of April we were finally able to bring some pygmy cross goats to WayMaker Acres! We tried on a few names and finally decided on Callie and Pobby (AKA Eucalyptus and Copaiba). Their job was to help with weed control. It was quickly apparent that they simply weren’t big enough to do much of anything in that department so when the opportunity to bring two more goats (Lamancha-Boer cross) home, we took it! Frankie and Woody (AKA Frankincense and Cedarwood) joined our family a couple of weeks ago.

The day after Frankie and Woody came to live with us, we had an incident where our big dog, Daisy, got out of her gated area and into the pasture. While she was never in the same pen as the goats, she did have a standoff with them. Woody decided to jump the fence, while Frankie decided to ram himself into another fence. We didn’t realize until we got Daisy put up and the goats into the barn that Frankie was bleeding. We believe that his lip got caught on a wire of the fence and caused the damage.

I did what any newbie goat owner would do and texted the rescue that helped us adopt all four goats and then turned to my Goat Talk Facebook group for advice. About half of the people said wait and see, the other half said to call a vet. Turns out I did both. After waiting the night through, I decided I didn’t like the looks of it and called the local vet the next morning. We picked up Ed’s truck, borrowed a horse trailer, and headed into town to have the vet look at our new goat. Thankfully, stitches weren’t needed but we did do a week’s work of antibiotics and pain reliever.

With a care plan in place for Frankie, I was ready to tackle the rest of the week. Or so I thought. The next day, our young filly, Star, decided to try to jump a fence and didn’t clear it. Instead, she got her back hoof stuck in the top wire of the fence and fell. Thankfully, we were eating dinner on the front porch and I noticed the bushes shaking as she tried to break herself free. We found her when we went to go investigate. So, for the second time in two days, I called the emergency vet phone line to report that another one of my animals went up against our fences and lost.

Seeing our horse on the ground, breathing heavily, scared, stiff legged, and obviously in pain was frightening. Thankfully, we had friends on the property at the time who were a Godsend with their calm presence and helping hands. After about 15 minutes, Star was able to get up and walk. We were so grateful! We kept her on stall rest for a few days and she’s back to normal for all intents and purposes.

That night, The Equestrian put up the chickens. She didn’t realize that one of the chicks, Twinkie, didn’t make it to the coop. In fact, we didn’t notice until the next day when I saw her making her way towards the wood pile looking like she’d been out in a storm all night because that’s exactly what had happened.

We thought that was that and she had learned her lesson. Apparently not, because that night she didn’t return to the coop again. After dark, it’s nearly impossible to find a chicken in the thick foliage that surrounds our yard. We prayed that she would be able to make it through the night again. Unfortunately, she didn’t show up the next day.

That next night, I realized we were missing yet ANOTHER chicken. This one was one of my favorites…Gwendolyn. Again, I turned to a Facebook group to seek advice. What do I do about these Polish hens? I was told to give it time as Polish hens are notorious for traipsing off to sit on eggs. Seeing as how these birds aren’t yet laying, I didn’t think that was the case here. But, I remained hopeful.

Lo and behold, that afternoon, as I went to get the big goats from their lunching spot, I found Twinkie roaming the trails. I picked her up and brought her back to the coop. She ate happily and the got her fill of water. I figured she would stay put after a few nights in the woods.

I went to lead a Zoom meeting and could see her from my window. She was inching her way back to the woods. You probably know what happens next…she didn’t make it back to the coop that night.

I did what I could to come to terms with the fact that we might not be able to get this chicken to stay if we don’t lock her up. That’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. I went to bed and said I’d figure it out in the morning. I had no idea how difficult that morning would be.

As I went out to do my morning chores, I noticed a line of feathers about 20 feet long heading into the wooded area and knew that Twinkie didn’t make it through the night. I assumed it was an owl that got her. She probably never even saw it coming. (After finding her remains, I’m not sure it was an owl.) “Oh well, you win some and you lose some,” I told myself and went about the rest of my chores. Of course I was sad. I really love my chickens. They bring me much joy and I love that they earn their keep by providing us with fresh eggs (or at least they will…the young ones aren’t laying quite yet). But, I also know that when we moved to the country and we made the conscious decision to let our birds free range, that comes with inherent dangers. Predators are a real thing. I’m not oblivious to that fact. I know that if a chicken doesn’t make it to the safety of the coop at night, it’s fair game for all the critters out there. That’s the reality, and we accept it.

What is harder to accept, however, is what happened next. After I finished up chores, I went inside to read my Bible. The Firefighter had taken the van into the mechanic’s so he wasn’t home. He sent a text asking if I could come pick him up. “Sure,” I said. “Let me shower first and I’ll head that way.” As I got up off the couch and headed to get in the shower, I saw a dog through the window. A dog that didn’t belong to us. Then I saw the piles of feathers strewn across the yard. My stomach knotted.

I headed outside to scare the dog away and the reality of what had happened sank in. In the span of the 30 minutes I had been inside, a young dog made his way onto our property and killed five of our young hens. My heart shattered at the thought of my birds meeting such a frightening end. Not only had I also lost Twinkie, but now I was looking at the loss of King Ube III, Genevieve, Dottie, Myrtle, and Frenchie (with Gwendolyn STILL missing). I cried most of the morning.

It’s one thing when you lose an animal to some wild predator – an owl, a raccoon, a fox. They’re typically attacking to survive, to feed their young. I don’t necessarily want to sacrifice my animals for that cause, but I can accept it. It’s nature. It’s life. It feels different when it’s a neighbor’s dog who shouldn’t have been on your property anyway. We know that the dog was just following his instincts, but I hate the fact that he’s tasted blood, and I can’t let my chickens out to roam free without supervision anymore…at least not yet and maybe never again.

I know that free ranging comes with risks, but even the most secure coop can never be 100% predator proof either. Dealing with death and loss on the homestead is part of the whole package. We accept it. In fact, we embrace it. A friend put it so simply and beautifully when she told me, “This is a hard day on the farm. It will make the good days feel yet even sweeter.” She’s right.

I think dealing with this loss after a week of difficult situations with animals made it harder, too. A new-to-me goat that busted his mouth, a young filly that got the wind knocked out of her, two Polish hens that refused to come home at night – one meeting her end and the other almost assuredly the same, and then losing 5 birds to a vicious and senseless dog attack, all in the span of 8 days almost felt like too much. But it’s not because I know that God uses all of this for my good and his glory.

Even in my heartache, I can rest in Him. He is my strong tower, my refuge, my song. He is my ever present help in times of trouble. So yeah, these past couple of weeks have been hard, but not too hard for my WayMaker.

~Louise