And now that Christmas is over, our lives can settle back into a somewhat normal routine. Although, what is considered normal for some of us is quite different for others. For example: Of all days in the year, we had an alpaca get sick late in the morning of December 24th. Yup, just like when the kids were little......getting sick late on a Friday afternoon or just before a big holiday when you hated to bother the doctor. Do we call the vet or wait until after Christmas? We decided our alpaca was sick enough to warrant a call to the vet. We proceeded to call the vet and explained what we observed going on with sweet Calico, our tamest female alpaca.
He was so gracious and said that after his family luncheon he would be on his way here to make a farm call. True to his word, he showed up with his veterinary wife and we four proceeded to walk down to the barn. He diagnosed Calico with an infection of a parasite, not uncommon in alpaca. We had been giving preventive shots to our herd, but this particular parasite was not being covered by the meds we had been using. She was very anemic and he gave us some meds to use and instructions about how to care for her. After almost a 2 hour farm call here, the vets left and Joel and I walked back up to the house after settling Calico on an old rug in the stall.
And so I trooped on down to the barn early Christmas morning, singing Christmas carols all the way. But when I walked into the girls side of the barn, I was heartbroken when I saw Calico's lifeless body on the ground. Joel and Jeremy joined me as we knelt by her side and stroked her soft fleece. I cried for the loss of such a sweet animal and was so sorry that our inexperience may have cost her an early death. We carried her out of the stall and laid her gently in my large wagon that tows behind my tractor. Um, what else do you do on a holiday with a dead 135lb. animal? Tell me, please.
The phone rang all morning in our house as well wishes came our way from family and friends, wishing us a Merry Christmas, but our hearts were heavy from the loss of our first alpaca. I was torn between acting "all happy", forcing myself to not let on to others what we had experienced that morning, or should I just be honest and explain what had just happened to us. I felt that if I didn't tell why our hearts were heavy, our voices would betray us and folks would know something was amiss. So we finally just let everyone know what had happened and went on with our day.
Now, this morning, it's 24 hours later and poor Calico is, shall we say, getting bloated? Gross! Sorry to be so graphic, but, you guys have been walking step by step with us thru this new farm life adventure and this experience is no exception. I may as well tell you what it has been like for us today. Giggle.....aren't you glad you read my blog now? I called a farm friend of ours who works for the city, asking if he knew why the phone number for the city landfill(where large animals are laid to rest) was disconnected. Oh, yea, he said, that no longer exists. Hmmmm. Now how are we supposed to dispose of Calico? Dig a hole, he says.
Seriously, it's been raining here since early this week. We had 2-3/4" of rain fall yesterday alone. Our farm is as soggy as a huge sponge. And now we have to dig a large hole....in all that mud.......and bury her here?!? Deep breath. Alright. We can do this. At least it had stopped raining late in the morning and we had a short window of dry weather that would allow us to get the digging done. And so Jeremy and Joel proceeded to a spot they thought was appropriate and starting digging. And digging. And digging. Now they're getting silly. And making all kinds of goofy remarks about burials and leading the processional with the Polaris. Joel said he'd turn on the headlights of the Polaris after he hooked up the wagon loaded with poor, sweet Calico in it, and drive her nice and slow to the hole.
And then Jeremy blurted this out:
Twas the day after Christmas,
And all over the farm,
All the creatures were stirring,
Except the one in the barn.
Oh. My. Goodness. I almost peed my pants. Where does he come up with these things? Now he says he's going to finish the rhyme and post it on Facebook. I'm afraid to look. And that, folks, is how we have dealt with the first major death of an animal on our farm. (Yea, I know, we lost a couple of chickens to the fox, but they just never showed up again, so, it wasn't as bad as this.)
First thing this morning, I had to run into town to buy a 50lb. bag of lime to "dust" poor Calico with before they put the dirt back on top of her in the hole. Aw, geez. And I also picked up the new kind of feed with meds to protect the rest of the herd from the same parasite that killed Calico. Lesson learned. And a new bond has been formed with the very patient, very kind vet who so graciously spent some of his Christmas Eve trying to help out our animals.
So I do hope you all did something "normal" today like shopping the after-Christmas sales, or returning gifts, or watching your kids play with all their new toys. I'm certain whatever you did today, it was a lot more sane than what we did!
This is one holiday for the books, folks!
Debbie
