Farmyard Crime

Judge, Jury, and Executioner

*Disclaimer* I tend to keep things light and positive here, but this isn’t that - if you prefer to avoid sad stories and mortality - skip this one.

In the morning, I went into the barn to give the goats some hay and everything was normal. Momma and her two babies in one stall. Eeyore and Roo, who are about 9 months old in the other. I usually put them all outside together, scattering their hay down a snowy path to keep them entertained, but on this morning it was cold and breezy so I let them stay inside with their breakfast.

The Crime

I went out an hour later to start scattering hay and made a grizzly and horrendous discovery. The baby girl, who I’d begun calling ‘Sally’ was over in Eeyore and Roo’s pen flat on the ground, still warm as though she’d just taken her last breath. My whole body vibrated. I knew what had happened but couldn’t believe it.

I picked up the little limp body, in denial. Just as I did, Curt called to me from outside. All I could yell back was ‘Problem.. PROBLEM’ He came in and asked what was the matter.

I replied, ‘It’s baby girl. She’s dead.’ He too knew exactly what had happened since I was standing in Eeyore and Roo’s pen.

She’d jumped onto her mother’s back and made a huge leap up and over the partition, and into the pen with her older half-siblings. They then expediently pummeled her.

We took her little body to the milking table and laid her on it. I was still vibrating. Maybe she’s knocked out? We looked for vitals, but nothing. I pressed her chest and could feel broken ribs. She was undoubtedly gone.

We sat for a moment in shock, then I showed the dead body to the culprits. Eeyore still wanted to beat on it, not in the normal goat-pecking order kind of way, he was going for blood.

Deliberation

Tears occasionally finding their way to my cheeks, I looked for ways to blame myself. If I’d made a bigger partition she wouldn’t have gotten in, sure. But at the end of the day - they did it and they did it on purpose. They’d committed infanticide.

Eeyore had already shown he was aggressive toward babies and had a large part in what they’d done, but Roo’s fate was still hanging in the balance. I was more attached to her, and had hoped to make her my future milking doe. She’s friendly toward people, but that doesn’t mean much if she can’t be trusted around her own kind and kin.

I decided I’d have to do a test. I put the remaining living kid in with her. The baby boy was terrified as Roo took chase, cornering him and dropping her pubescent horns, points out. I grabbed him up before anything more could happen and apologised for the trauma.

This is where I have to say, not all animals are created equal. Goats are known to be sweet, empathetic animals. The culprits obviously weren’t. From what I read this kind of behaviour is uncommon and generally hereditary.

Ramifications

I processed the little body into edible parts. Being so young, it smelled more like milk than meat and was the size of a large rabbit. As I did, there was no question it was very thoroughly beaten by the two bigger goats. I did a careful job on the hide so that I can make something out of it in memory of Sally the goat.

Though I could use their help clearing weeds come spring, Eeyore and Roo won’t be there. It’s a hard decision to make and one I’d rather avoid by selling them, but I couldn’t with a clear conscience send them off to someone else’s farm. They’d decided to do the unthinkable and this behaviour simply cannot stand.

Before this, I never thought I’d butcher any of my goats, but not long after they’d committed their crime we dispatched and processed Eeyore and Roo. ‘Off to freezer camp’ as they say.

Positive From a Negative

I’ve started tanning Sally’s beautiful hide and have decided to make it into a quiver for my arrows. I have learned that fresh goat is very tasty and not really ‘goaty’ at all. It’s the older billies that are pungent, a flavour many people prefer (but not me). I have healthy meat in the freezer and will make rugs out of the hides of Eeyore and Roo.

I’ll always blame myself a little, and putting three goats in the freezer was less than ideal. I’ve learned that goats can be killers and what to watch for insofar as aggressive behaviour. In the future, I hope to know when to make that call before something like this happens. I’m glad to say that we did what needed to be done and made the hard decisions.

To quote The Mandalorian,

‘This is the way’