Midnight Raid ~ Mystery Solved

Our hopes of having baby goats yesterday fizzled out as the sun went down. It was Sugar's birthday and I couldn't think of a better present to get. I went to the barn before bed about 10pm to check on Anna. Who we had penned up yet again due to the mucus discharge she was showing. Plus for some reason she was limping on her front right leg. Not sure why, no visible injury. Could have been just a case of stepping wrong to get out of Samson's way. All day I watched her. I even sat with her for a spell. Something was obviously going on as she seemed unsettled. Checking her heart rate and respiration's revealed that both were elevated. Was it due to the leg issue or did she have something else going on? Lon has already checked on her early this morning before work. She was laying there quietly enjoying her warm stall and peace and quiet. All of this breeding & birthing is new to us. We do not have any experience to pull from. So we are quite puzzled and a little concerned about her. It would be nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of or to ask question from, who have walked this road before. I need a goatie friend in the worst way!

Lon has left for the station and will be trying for an extra shift. So it could be Thursday before he is back home again. I'd hate for him to miss it all and don't cherish the idea of being alone with the deliveries. It seems things always go wrong when he is not here. A difficult birth, alone with no help, for my first time is not what I would like to see happen. But I also hope she doesn't wait till then to deliver either. By our calculations Sugar should deliver in the next 2 days on the 11th. Amber is looking quiet ready herself. I don't know which would be a better option. Each one choosing a different day - spread out over the weekend or all at once, possibly back to back. I pray that if possible Lon will be present for one of the births at least. At this point he says he is just ready for them to get done.

Rain is on the way and will be here for the next 24 hours. A sure opportunity for things to get crazy. Having supplies and hot water handy would be difficult in the muddy mess it is sure to create. . .


Evening came with no baby goats. It is now 11:26 pm and I am still hyped from my scare tonight. Making a late night trip back to the barn to check on Anna and Sugar, allowed me to be present when the most awful screaming occurred right behind the barn. Sounded like a terrified woman was being attacked! My first thought was something was attacking either Amber or Samson, who I had just checked on. Without thought and on pure adrenaline I raced back to their pen to find them wide eyed with fright too. As the sound repeated it's self I realized it was coming instead from the rooster's pen. Additional squawking confirmed that something was definitely going on in their pen. . . fighting? Hurrying through the woods to where they were with a small flash lite was difficult. Beau, the Brahma roo was frantically running inside their pen with the other rooster no where in sight. It was then that I realized that something had come into the top of the pen and attack the missing roo. Feathers were everywhere, so I looked up to see if a owl had managed to get a free meal. Spotted two glow in the dark eyes looking back at me from a tree right overhead. I hurried in to get Beau out when I found the other roo barely breathing in a heap at the base of the tree with the bandit still in it. Trying to see the culprit was hard it was so high up, but with the rounded shape and it's movement around the tree, it looked like a raccoon. I should interject that it could have been a bobcat or some other creature that could have been more dangerous. I was vulnerable and where was my shotgun? Back at the house, after all I was just going to check on 2 pregnant mommies.

I knew it was hurt badly and contemplated how to put it out of it's misery. While distracted by the injured bird, Beau decided it was a good time to get out of dodge with the open gate before him. I turned to grab him, when the dying rooster decided to resurrect itself behind my back. Scared the life right out of me. At this point you are probably enjoying a chuckle if not a right out rolling in the floor laugh. I will tell you in was not funny at that moment, but I'm sure some day in the future when my heart returns to a normal rhythm I will probably laugh right along with you.

Okay back to my midnight raid ~ at the moment this rooster who was suppose to be on death's doorstep began running around frantically. I scooped the broken bird up and placed him in the hospital pen in the barn. Not knowing what else to do for the moment. I had to get Beau caught and put in a place of safety before the killer eyes got hold of him too. Believe it or not I found him in the darkness, but catching him was another story. Pushing him towards the barn, he finally jumped up on the fence. I couldn't believe my luck when I reached for him, securing both feet in my shaking hands. Safely tucked in a transport cage let me mind settle just a bit. It was then that I realized that the roosters haven't been fighting. We have a murderer on the premises, killing or injuring them at night. We have lost 3 all in this past week.

A double check back on the goats and I decided I have had enough excitement for a lifetime. Only to find Sassie, my horse frantically running tight circles and snorting out of fear. From the screaming, of me running around in the woods, of Beau's maneuvers in the dark, what? All I knew was I had one upset horse who no longer wanted to be in the pasture with all the activity. One who was coming very close to running into a fence and getting injured herself. I stayed with her for awhile and she stayed calm as long as she could be near me. But returned to the frighten response if I tried to go back to the house. Cold as it was I knew I shouldn't stay out all night with her. (Did I mention Lon is at work = I am all alone? Told you things go wrong when he is not here.)

I am a basket case by the time I make it back to the house to call Lon with the news. With the episode of a deer scare last week, I've decided I don't like the WILD side of farming! But if it had been for 2 pregnant does and concerns over them. I wouldn't have been at the right place at the right time to solve the mystery and at least save one rooster. I was already anxious because of an email concerning labor signs that spoke of dangers for Anna. But then to add the "banshee" screaming attack in the dark was a push over my comfort level. I guess once a mother always a mother and my natural instinct took over despite the danger I could have faced. If you would have told me that my actions would have been as I just described I don't think I would have believed you. I don't like being out in the woods, running around in the dark, by MYSELF!

At this point I'm not sure how or if I will sleep tonight,

Deborah