The following post is an archive of our GoFundMe campaign which began in 2020.
Hello everyone,
There has been so much happening lately that it’s not easy to pick out the most important event – what makes it especially difficult is the broad mix of highs and lows and the many emotions that often come with life and work at the farm.
Let’s start with some lighter news: On June 12th we celebrated our 40th farm anniversary and it was really a wonderful enjoyable day that went on through the entire weekend. This time was filled with happy faces, kids taking part in activities like scavenger hunts and collecting stamps, listening to story time or informative animal talks and overall just reconnecting with lots of old farm friends, former staff and volunteers and also meeting many new visitors who got to know our special little place. It was a day brimming with joy about the past and what the future will hold for us. Thank you to everyone who came by to celebrate with us – together we created this special day of memories.
Our anniversary kicked off the start of the summer, the last few weeks before the end of the school year were filled with fieldtrips – busy times at the farm. July came around and now it’s really summer and vacation time brings many new and old visitors, kids with summer camps and guests from all over the world.
In July we were also looking forward to our last three expecting momma goats Plum, Slipper and Purple to give birth. What happened next was a blur of happy and sad. I genuinely have trouble writing about it, it still feels raw and fresh, and we are not done processing it. But it’s real – even if I hope it could just have been a nightmare. These last few weeks have shown us again that there are things that we can’t plan or control. We can and will always do our best and continue to learn more, we can fight for the best possible outcome but sometimes it’s simply not in our hands. As we care so much for our animals, this is hard to accept.
The first goat to go into labour was Plum, one of our first time mums. She progressed very slowly, didn’t really know what to do and we took her for a check-up to the vet. She was not fully dilated yet and our vet advised us to take her back home and let her take her time overnight to let her body get ready to deliver.
The next morning didn’t bring much change in Plum, but presented us with a very vocal, worked up, grumpy and ready-to-give-birth Slipper. Slipper is also a first time mum and I admit that despite assisting many goat deliveries in the past my anxiety ran higher than normal. It’s always a huge responsibility to accompany these mums through labour and help them to bring their babies into this world; with Plum in the next stall and her unclear condition including likely complications the pressure was up. But Slipper needed us now – there was no waiting. Luckily Slippy is a straight forward, single minded goat and once she decided she was ready, she pushed out 2 babies within short succession, not even taking the time to welcome or look much at the first baby and she pretty much went right to work on the placenta too. It all went really well, no complications, just a short time in labour. Slipper welcomed a girl and a boy, both strong and healthy. Huge relief on our side.
Unfortunately for Plum things didn’t seem to be so easy and we packed her up for another trip to the vet. Upon arrival she was finally dilated, but her baby was too big to be born the natural way and we had to go for a c-section with her. She was a champion through it all, sedated but awake, she just bravely endured this scary and upsetting procedure, with some of her humans by her side for comfort and assistance. Sadly her baby boy was still born, but Plum came out of the surgery with a good prognosis. We took her back home with pain meds and antibiotics and were ready to accompany her through her recovery. Unfortunately, she encountered complications as she didn’t pass her placenta and that led to an internal infection with a high fever. The vet came for more on site visits, she was prescribed more meds including stronger antibiotics that finally brought her temperature down. Her prognosis is again optimistic. Since her stitches were removed and healing looks well, she he is now allowed to spend time together with her mum Peach who is very gentle with her. It will still take a little longer for full healing and then the time will be ready to reintegrate her into the herd.
Sadly this has not been the lowest point for us yet, destiny still had something planned for our animals and us. This is the part of the story I’m dreading to tell: I know what happened, I don’t know why, and while I know it’s real – all too real – I don’t want to see it. I’m sorry, it’s not a story with a happy ending. Our great girl Purple, of whom we were not even sure if she was pregnant, went into labour but just didn’t progress. No contractions – even though Purple is an experienced mum – Purple was in trouble. We called the vet who was able to come really soon. An internal exam showed that Purple wasn’t dilated and the prognosis for a natural birth wasn’t good. On ultrasound we could see that her baby wasn’t alive, but we were determined to save Purple. So we were going for the second c-section in just over a week. It seemed unreal, but at least we had just done one “successfully” and the same staff were in to be able to help. The surgery was well underway, when the unexpected happened. We heard our vet ask “where is all this blood coming from?” and from that moment on the clock was ticking. I won’t go into detail, it was stressful and intense, what had started out as a “routine” procedure became an emergency surgery. Our vet did everything in his power to save Purple’s life. He was really fighting for her, even when her chances became slim, he still tried – for her and for us. For that we’ll be forever grateful. But it simply wasn’t possible, it was a race against time that I’m so sorry to say we lost. Purple had lost too much blood too fast, we made the only possible decision to put her down to prevent further suffering. We are all heartbroken, and while sharing this news with you is important and feels right, it doesn’t make it easier. Each time I tell the story, I feel like it’s happening all over again.
This day was devastating – there are no words to fix it. We are mourning a loss that is as huge as Purple herself, her kind heart, her deep blue eyes and her special soul. If we could have saved her, we would.
We know that Purple was special to many – visitors and farm team alike – and we like to invite you to remember her with us. We have decided to name Slipper’s babies in memory of Purple: The little girl is called “Pansy Purple” to remember Purple’s colourful name and her brother is “Wizard” as due to her long wavy hair and wise look Purple was often referred to as the “wizard goat”. Let’s keep her alive in our memories.
I like to close today by saying that everyone did their very best on that tragic day: the vet, the team members helping with the surgery and the team members continuing to work with the animals and the public. And there also was a huge group of staff and friends supporting us after. Thank you!
It wasn’t for a lack of trying that Purple isn’t with us anymore – we fought with all we had, but it still happened. Life is precious but can be frail – let’s remember that every day and show our loved ones how much they mean to us. You never know what tomorrow holds.
Thank you 💜
Claudia
