Just dont know....

hi everyone...

i know this is going to sound weird...but we feel like we have lost a whole lot...again...

Eli's cow "moowhistle" passed away yesterday afternoon...the word 'devastation' comes to mind for so many reasons...She delivered K.T. really well...but when pete got up there yesterday morning...he felt she was looking crook...he raced home to get some antibiotics and by the time he got back, she had passed away...

We have NO idea what the hell is going on...we have had vets advice on what the likely theory is..."Black mastitis" is one very good bet. A terrible and lethal bug that results in death very quickly. Its a bacteria that cows can pick up and it gets into their udder and does damage from there...We had a vet come out and do some sampling on moowhistle to work out exactly what is going on and whether any of the other cows may be at risk...

We are just so sad...we just loved moowhistle...she was the matriarch of the herd, bossed everyone around (including us!) really well and she was one of a couple that we can hand feed. She loved jubes, apples and carrots and was fantastic with kids. We gave her to Eli when Eli was born and have gone on to sell her first calf "steve" and donated the money we got for him to charity...We were hoping to do that with all of her calves, to keep eli's memory alive.

We feel like in some ways we have lost Eli all over again...one of our strongest connections that we had with him is now gone...But, we will move forward...and our focus now is just to keep a very very close eye on the rest of the herd to try and prevent this happening again. We are hoping to get the results of the tests next week.

We think we have 3 left to calve...so it will be all hands on deck...

On a brighter note, K.T. - Moowhistle's calf has gone to live with "poppet" the other little calf who lost her mum a few days ago. Pete said that K.T. is very fiery and really different to poppet. We know she will be in a good home and will go well...

anyways..best go 

luv and hugs

the simpsons

xox