First the glad news . . .
I'm very happy to report that little Rosie has improved enough to be let out with her extended family. Actually, she insisted on being let out last Sunday night. I was feeding the other animals and I could hear Rosie in her dog crate in the house yelling as loud as she could. I hurried to finish my chores and fixed Rosie her bottle. She drank that and then stepped out of the crate. I knew that meant she wanted to go outside to do her business.
I took her out to the backyard. She did her job and then began grazing on her favorite treat in the yard, my only rose. After a few minutes of that I took her back inside and placed her in the crate with much protest from her. Soon she began yelling that yell again. I thought she must want some more greens so I went outside and picked her a very nice salad of greens from the yard. There was a cup or more and she ate most of it. Then she began to yell again. Back out to the yard I took her. Back inside and more yelling. It was apparent that Rosie was finished with being cooped inside. It was also apparent that if she did not go out with her family I was not going to sleep that night.
Rosie went out to be with her family. Mom was happy to see her as was brother and they welcomed her back. Rose was ecstatic and jumped and ran and butted heads with her brother. She has been out for a week now and finished off her round of meds out there. She has a bit of residual cough, but it is improving and she is eating and playing like a normal kid.
And now the sad news . . .
I have had the pasture divided with an electrified net fence because I had some work to do on the perimeter fence to make it goat and coyote proof. I felt the goats were safe behind the net fence and the perimeter fence was not a high priority.
When I came home from work on Friday--the 13th--I saw one of the mother goats laying next to the net fence far apart from the other goats. Then I noticed that part of the fence was toppled over and I had a sinking feeling about what I would find there. I went to investigate and found two-month-old Goldie laying dead, caught in the fence. She had apparently stuck her head through to eat the grass on the other side and her horns prevented her from pulling back. In her panic the situation went from bad to worse and she died. I'm heartbroken to think of how awful her last minutes were. Her mother called all weekend listening for her kid to call back. I have apologized to her for the part I played in the tragedy.
The net fence is now gone. I will never again use that type of fence with horned baby goats.
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