Tough lesson as a country kid

These were the words I just typed to my husband as we were discussing the events of today. On Mondays I work as an analyst with the State of Ohio and the kids spend the day with their grandparents. Andy let me know about an hour ago that Linus’s beloved little kitty had been hit by a car.

The saddest part is that the cat survived but was so mangled that Andy had to put him out of his misery. It’s times like this I am thankful for a husband to do that type of thing. I cried when I thought of how I’m going to break the news to my sweet little guy, who loved to carry the kitty around and wanted to make him a house. I still (sadly) remember losing many cats to the traffic on the country road in front of our house, which is now even more traveled and perilous.

We’ve worked really hard with the kids to not turn the production animals into pets, but cats and dogs are different. They provide companionship, safety, and teach the kids how to treat animals gently and with respect. Please pray for us when we tell Linus later today.

 

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Wednesday was a tragic day

If you tuned into the news at all last Wednesday (10/19), you heard the tragic tale of Mr. Thompson and his exotic animals. Sad to say we had our own tragic loss on the farm that day. The heavy rainfall, soggy conditions and our naivety lead to the deaths of around a dozen of our meat chickens that lived in the outdoor pen. We believe it just got too wet for them and they died of hypothermia. It was a tough and sad learning experience for us, one we are sure to not forget. We have since learned that putting down straw in the pen is a way to keep them warm and dry. Now that we have done this, during the more recent rains we have had no more loss. Amazingly, there are still 8 meat chickens living and we have yet to lose a turkey (they are supposedly hard to raise). I have heard that you should not eat the meat from animals that died of natural causes, but I have yet to find a scientific reason why. Anyone have an answer for me?