Homesteading Isn't Always Sunshine...

It's been a rough few weeks here at the Quirky Homestead. I had all kinds of posts planned about foraging and preparing and planting our garden. I'll get those up eventually, but for now,

Rascal and Lily

Rascal sunning himself in the dog bed.

I have some sad news. Our boy Rascal passed away. There was a sickness going around my house, then my dad fell and fractured his rib, and I just didn't check on the animals as much as I should have while I was taking care of all the humans. I had just put fresh hay and water in with all of them before everyone got sick, and I unfortunately went about 24 to 36 hours without checking to make sure they were ok. When I did, I found Rascal lying on his side, barely able to move or make a sound. When I could get him up, he was walking in circles before he'd fall back over. He was also slobbering a lot. It was pitiful. It was 11 pm on a Saturday, and no way for me to get ahold of a vet. He ended up passing the next day. I believe the hay we bought and I had just put in was moldy in the middle, and he got listeriosis. The symptoms matched almost perfectly with that. I gave him vitamin B complex shots in case it was a thiamine deficiency. However, he showed no improvement and didn't make it much longer after I found him. I keep telling myself if I had checked on him earlier, maybe I could've gotten him to the vet and saved him. But no amount of what-ifs will change what happened. I just have to take this as a lesson to make sure I always check their food for spoilage and to make sure someone checks on them a couple of times a day if I can't do it myself.