The following post is an archive of our GoFundMe campaign which began in 2020.
Hello everyone,
Tonight I like to share something with you that happened yesterday. It is a matter very close to my heart, as it concerns my favourite goat Sunshine who had already mastered quite a challenge in her life. (When she broke her leg as a teenager she required lots of extra care and we had the opportunity to spend a lot of time together and through that we became very close.) And then yesterday morning we were all reminded how fragile and precious life is and it showed us once again how much we care about our animals. Even in the middle of this crisis that we are all currently living through life is going on, with all its challenges. While we had a phenomenal start to our fundraising campaign life at the farm is totally dictated by the needs of our animals.
We have 3 goat sisters living here at the farm, they are a very special trio, as closely bonded as we’ve ever seen. There names are Sunshine, Venus and Moon. Many visitors of the farm have certainly made their acquaintance, they are always hanging out together and that bond makes them a really strong unit.
This year they were all expecting babies for the first time – how exciting! Venus and Moon both gave birth on Tuesday. Venus had 4 beautiful little babies in the early morning and Moon had her 3 little ones in the evening. While delivery is never easy (as I’m sure every mother will agree), we were there with them and assisted them as much as needed. Mums and babies were doing great, we were all happy and excited for Sunshine’s time to come. Knowing how they always go through life together, she wouldn’t be very far behind her sisters. And true enough, she went into labour and tried to give birth yesterday morning. As with any other of our expecting mums we were right there beside her, to help wherever she needed it. But despite our best efforts Sunshine had a stillborn birth. We focused on saving Sunshine’s life as she went through this very exhausting and painful process. Our vet put her on medication that will hopefully heal her body and we can provide her with lots of different feed and treats to help regain her strength.
But more importantly we have to try to mend her soul. Her spirit seemed broken after going through a very hard delivery and then not being able to welcome a baby. She desperately needed someone to love, she was a mum now. “Luckily” her sister Venus had given birth to 4 babies which is really a lot for one single mum to feed and we decided to try to help Sunshine to adopt the smallest of Venus’ babies, a cute little boy. This is always a difficult thing to do and there is a high risk that it won’t work: We wouldn’t be able to force a bond, we could only try and be patient. Now, if this could work, it would have several positive effects: Sunshine would have a reason to keep going by having someone to love, Venus would have less stress on her body feeding one hungry mouth less and the little boy would have a mum and her milk all to himself. We introduced them carefully and after first meeting tentatively, Sunshine showed very soon that she would like to care for her little nephew and he started nursing from her. That was a first step in the right direction. The first 24 hours were the most critical, but they made it through together. Now, they will need time to let their bond grow and tighten and we are by their side and monitoring them very closely.
I’m still devastated about Sunshine’s loss and pain but at the same time I’m very relieved that she has adopted this little boy and I’m hoping that she can give him all her love and he will help her see a brighter future.
Best wishes to new mum Sunshine, her little adopted son and all of you.
Stay safe,
Claudia
