Hindel Kidz 38: A Sad Triad
HINDEL KIDZ #38
A SAD TRIAD
Unfortunately, Coco never got the chance to prove she could also win over all grand champion. On February 10th, 2014 Coco passed away after a brief unknown illness. Jack had taken her to the vet that morning and she had walked out to the truck and into the vet’s office as perky as anything. At first he thought she had pneumonia. He had given her shots for two days, but they weren’t working.
Dr. Robb noticed a large CL lump right underneath Coco’s jaw. When he stuck a needle in to see what was inside the lump, Coco screamed bloody murder, fell over and stopped breathing. Dr. Robb put a tube down her throat and gave her oxygen for a half hour.
At home Jack put her in the birthing pen along with Jane and Susie to keep her company. Coco would stand up wobble around and then fall over. She was very disorientated. It was like she was one of those fainting goats. She fell over again and never got back up. Jack gave her two shots and by then end of feeding time she was gone. He wondered if it could have been a lack of oxygen, although she never seemed to be short of breath. It was such a big shame. Jack couldn’t bury her yet since the ground was still frozen solid.
A couple of years ago something similar had happened to Faith. She would constantly scream. Jack had called the local vet and he was able to save her. This vet said, “If you had waited any longer, she would have been dead by morning.”
“She’s just a baby for Pete’s sake,” Grace said. Coco was only two months shy of being one year old. Her life had been cut way too short. Grace was remembering when Jack lost Ruby. Earlier she had been thinking what would happen if the same thing happened to Coco. She told herself, “Stop thinking it. Coco’s going to be fine.”
As far as the fair went, they had a couple of options. Joey would have to show another goat. Jack would stop breeding and buying. They could called it quits altogether and be satisfied to know they had gone out on top. They claimed they still wanted to show so Jack was going to go along with it. Since they had done so well in the past, Savannah said, “We are the people they fear now.”
“I miss Coco every time I drive around the house on the four-wheeler,” he said.
COCO
Apr. 3, 2013- Feb.10, 2014
Jack thought Jane and Joy might be bred now. He called the vet to get inducers for them and set up appointments for C-sections. He had decided to get a milking machine since last time it took Jane three days to come out of the knockout gas. Grace hoped at least one of the babies would be caramel.
She would feel Jane’s sides and ask, “Do you have a little caramel baby in there?”
Jane was scheduled for April 3rd…just like last year. Grace was more than willing to go, but she wasn’t going to ask. She wouldn’t have been able to pick Jane up anyway. She had been anxious all morning.
Sven came home to get a backhoe and said, “I have to go do a burial.”
Grace wasn’t sure what to make of it. The baby may have died. But it didn’t mean that Jane didn’t have more than one baby. She could have had twins or triplets and maybe one of them had survived. It was also possible Jane had died, but the babies were okay. One of the other goats could have up and died as well. She wasn’t going to hound Sven about it because then he might not tell her at all.
When Rhonda said, “I want to know about the goats,” Sven answered, “You don’t think I needed a backhoe to bury a little baby goat, do you?”
“Jane?” Grace asked. She wasn’t sure if she believed him or not.
When Dr. Robb took Jane back she just laid down. It was normal for her. There was a big bugle on her side. Jane had been bleeding internally. Her insides were full of blood.
“Things aren’t looking good,” Dr. Robb said.
They tried everything they could to save the baby. In the end, they ended up not only losing the baby, but Jane, too. They thought the baby might have drowned in all the blood. A blood vessel could have burst. Dr. Robb was very upset and there was a choke in his voice. He didn’t know what had happened.
“I’m sorry, pretty girl. I’m so sorry,” he kept petting the bag they had put Jane in.
“How much do I owe you?” asked Jack.
“Nothing.”
The baby had been a dark caramel, a single and a doe. Animals aren’t like people. They can’t tell you where they hurt or what was wrong. It was a little harder with Coco’s passing being so recent. Five goats have gone to the vet and then later died: Ruby, Sassy, Coco and now Jane and her baby. Jack was down to thirteen goats now.
Jane was a friendly pretty goat. She didn’t care who or what was in her way. She would just bulldoze to get where she wanted to go. Half her time was spent sitting or lying down. She even lied down to eat. If Jack was sitting out in the yard petting another goat, she would wedge her way in between them so he had to pet her, too. Poor little Susie. She and Jane always cuddled up together at night time. She had lost her mom and both sisters. One is better than none, but two isn’t always better than one. It wouldn’t be the same without Jane.
JANE THE PAIN BABY DOE
Jan. 15, 2007- Apr. 3, 2014 Apr. 3, 2014
