Okay, I am bursting at the seams to tell you about Arabella. It would appear that I am being challenged with goats because of Alice not being pregnant (just a bummer) and now this. . .
I have to rewind to when I asked Melissa (my awesome mentor on goats) about a lump on Arabella's private part. Melissa said that sounded interesting, she had no idea what this lump could be, so I had Arabella checked out by a vet. He said she had a swollen clitoris from rubbing when she's in heat. He said to wipe that area with Tuck's three times a day and it'll go away in a couple weeks.
It never went away.
Meanwhile. . .
Arabella has been acting strange since about four months old and has been increasingly peculiar as she has gotten older. I refer to her as my lesbian goat because she does weird things like sticks her nose in the other girls' pee stream, "talks" to them with noises the other girls have never used, pushes their back ends with her head, and mounts the other girls when they are in heat--aggressively. She mounts the other girls when SHE is in heat, lol! She just doesn't act normal and being a newbie at all this, I thought she was just in her own world and she's my lesbian goat. Well, I wasn't too far off! I've been doing some more reading and apparently, I have a hermaphrodite goat. . . she has girl outside parts, but boy inside parts. And what she has been behaving like is a buck, but with a girl twist. And that "swollen" part on her clitoris is basically, a wanna-be penis. Likewise, she has next to nothing in teat size--another symptom. Crazy, huh!? I had to know for a fact, so I had Arabella checked out by another vet and he confirmed my goat is a she-he.
I sound all light-hearted about it, but I was crushed. I cried. No babies and now my best pedigree is absolutely worthless. She was the one Melissa asked me to milk test and everything. She's not worth $100. I paid a bazillion! (Not really, but you know what I mean. It was a chunk of investment in my world.) I was mad and I am still sick to my stomach about it, but who was to know? It's not anyone's fault and it's not Arabella's fault. I blame no one because there is no one to blame. It is what it is, I suppose. So I have been having my on/off grieving days. The only thing she is good for is being what's called a "teaser". . . she knows exactly when my girls are in heat and tells me about it. I don't know what to do with her. Do I keep her, do I sell her as a pet? Business wise, I should toss her, but sentiment-wise, I am tied to her. What would you do?
Aside from goat talk, we had more bad news in the vehicle department. Our truck requires about $2000 worth of repairs since the engine block is cracked. We found the truck, one day, leaking oil and antifreeze mixed and Scott says he thinks he can actually see the crack. I feel horrible because I think it's my fault. . . when that hose gave out on the truck and I drove it about ten minutes while it was full-blown overheating. . . I know in my gut that did it in.
So that's that. *Sigh* Life is such an adventure! Aside from my whining and venting, I just want to point out how good God has been to us even in our seemingly constant troubles. Everytime something has gone bad, we can see where God was at work so it could still go good. Like the truck, for instance. . . we actually had the jeep down for awhile and the truck lasted just long enough to get the jeep fixed before it broke down. Praise God! It could've been two vehicles down at the same time! And as for Arabella. . . Melissa wants to make it "right"~she doesn't have to, but she wants to. How amazing is that? And then there are blessings to count: my kids are doing better with school and they are healthy (just had their check-ups so I can verify that, lol!), Scott and I have each other instead of going at all this alone, our electricity isn't turned off, there's food on the table, my friends are family. . . the list goes on! I hold onto these truths because they are exactly that: the truth. I try to remind myself that this life is so fleeting, so enjoy the ride.
No comments:
Post a Comment