The following post is an archive of our GoFundMe campaign which began in 2020.
Hello everyone,
Time for an update from the animals and the farm. These past two weeks have just been especially busy, unexpected and full. But first I like to welcome many new donors and followers to our fundraising campaign and I’m sending out a big THANK YOU to all of you for supporting us through all this time. It’s been now well over 13 months that the farm has been closed and just more than a year since we’ve started this fundraiser. It feels like quite the journey we all went on together. When we started I had no idea what to anticipate, how the response would be, what would be expected of us, but I’m glad we took it on and I’m very happy to share our stories and our daily life with the animals, and I’m more grateful that I can say for all your support and kind messages.
But now let me tell you about the animals. So much has happened in a very short amount of time. First we had two more goats join us in Beacon Hill: Bronwyn and her companion Aurora. Bronwyn is currently our oldest goat, she turned 14 years in March (as a human she would be 84 years old). Until now, Bronwyn liked to live with the herd on our farm in Metchosin as she really enjoys to snack on the fresh grass in the fields. But with her advanced age, some dental problems, low appetite as well as arthritis, she recently showed signs of slowing down. We wanted to give her the chance of a more quiet and sheltered life with just one companion and we also liked to get her checked through by our vet. So, now she and Aurora live together in the former sheep barn. After getting settled in and with a bit of special additions to her food, she happily eats a soft mash made of alfalfa cubes, grain and grated apple and carrot. And to help against the discomfort from arthritis in her left back leg she is getting regular injections of pain meds. So far she really enjoys her new accommodations and food, she always keeps a hopeful eye on the staff coming along the path as she really cares for some fresh greens which we regularly drop off for her.
The next day our momma goat Alexis went into labour, it took a long time and was a very difficult birth. In the evening she delivered a beautiful baby girl, but then she had severe complications to deliver her second baby. We assisted her as good as possible and together we delivered a very large but unfortunately still born boy. Alexis seemed exhausted and weak afterwards, and as advised by our vet she received pain meds and antibiotics. Her baby girl was strong and could nurse from her, but Alexis needed our help to stand up regularly. We spent a lot of time with them – day and night. Unfortunately, the night after she had her baby, she developed further complications, an emergency vet call was due at 4am. We are very grateful to our vet to make the trip to see Alexis right away and help her as much as possible, we all knew that her condition was very serious, but we still hoped she could pull through – for herself and her precious little girl. But then at the end of that Wednesday when our vet came back to check on her, we had to accept the sad reality that we had done all we could for Alexis – she would not recover anymore. We did not want her to suffer any longer and put her down the same night. We are all heartbroken about this loss, it is very hard to accept the cruel fact that no matter how much we know about our animals, how hard we try, how much love, time and energy we spend for them – sometimes it’s just not enough. R.I.P. Alexis – sweet girl and great mum. You will be missed very much.
Alexis is leaving behind her little daughter – just barely 2 days old when this happened and the responsibility to raise her and care for her at her mother’s stead falls to us now. In honour of her mum we named her after the herb “Rosemary” which stands for remembrance. May she, and all of us as well, always remember the kindness and good goat nature of her mum and may Alexis’ love and strength live on forever in her daughter. Rosemary is currently staying with the staff over night, being bottle fed and getting lots of cuddles and snuggles to make up for all the missing interaction with her mum. During the day she comes to work with us to spend some time around the other goats. Her first few days of this new routine were very difficult for her as she missed her mum with her warmth and food so very much. For part of some days Rosemary refused to drink and exhibited some respiratory problems which “earned” her a visit from our vet again. We are very relieved that her lungs appear to be working fine and she was prescribed special supplements and a new feeding schedule. We’ve been watching her very closely, always knowing that which such little creatures the smallest weakness can become a big health issue very quickly, but I’m happy to say that so far she seems to be getting stronger – be it very slowly. Little Rosemary has already been through a lot in her short life of 12 days. We’ll continue doing all we can to help her grow into a strong, happy and healthy goat.
And in the middle of all this on Wednesday afternoon our momma goat Mia went into labour without much warning, and luckily it was a very smooth delivery with minimal assistance needed and no complications at all. In what felt like no time Mia had delivered 4 stunningly coloured babies: three girls and one boy. They all got cheesy names: Brie, Camembert, Chevre and Gorgonzola! The entire family is doing great.
The cheesy kids and Rosemary get to hang out a lot during the day and they all learn to play and act like real little goats. It is great to see them run, bounce and climb – on sunny days visitors by the fence might catch a glimpse of them zooming by.
Caring for little Rosemary reminded me of what magnificent creatures our mums are and what a tremendous job they are performing every single day. Our goats mommas are awesome mums, but honestly all mums are real hidden champions who deserve our greatest respect. With Mother’s Day approaching very quickly – only one week from tomorrow – we have created a special Mother’s Day sponsorship certificate. If you are looking for a unique gift for a special woman in your life check out our website beaconhillchildrensfarm.ca and maybe the cute pictures and heartfelt sayings appeal to you.
As always, thank you for all your support and for following our story. I’ll keep you up to date about our life on the farm and especially on how our little orphan Rosemary is getting on.
Enjoy the sunshine and stay safe,
Claudia
