Blueberry Hill Farm

It is with sadness of heart that I share that we lost  Merry Cathy, our newest alpaca addition, on Saturday morning, August 29.  In the last entry I had shared the problem we had with getting her mom, Sue, to nurse her.  That got only a little better.  Try as we could to supplement what little contribution Sue was making with bottle feeding, Cathy never gained more than a half pound, which she turned around and lost.  She stayed frail and every feeding was basically a forced feeding event. 

I had taken Cathy on an emergency run to our vet on the 21st after finding her stretched out in the pasture and unresponsive.  Dr. Dixon had to give her an IV to rehydrate her and bring her blood sugar back up. Saturday morning, I went down to the barn at 4:00 a.m. to feed her and found her in the same situation.  After talking with Dr. Dixon, by 5:00 a.m. we were on our way to NC State University Vet School in Raleigh, some three hours away, for emergency treatment.  Even though we tried to get enough formula into Cathy to keep her going until we arrived at State, about an hour and a half into the trip she died.  After talking with the emergency vet at State, we decided to proceed on to the University's Large Animal hospital to have a necropsy done to see if they can determine the problem that led to her failure to thrive.  I feel sure there is more to it than just the fact that Sue was a bad mom or didn't have enough milk.  (I've bottle fed enough baby squirrels to know that when they are healthy they highly anticipate a feeding, even if it is from a bottle, and greedily slurp up everything they can get.  Something our Cathy never did.)

There are many comlex emotional issues surrounding a farm loss.  For a small farm, such as ours, each member -- alpaca, hen, duck, blueberry bush, vegetable -- is part of our "family" and represents more than a mere passing surface relationship.  Each of these members represents a financial relationship, as cold and callused as this may seem.  Each member contributes to the "operational cost kitty".

A hen may contribute up to $80 per year.  Not exactly a sum that will make us rich, but then, added to 60 other such working hens, the contribution raises significantly.  The contribution these hens make serve, not only to feed themselves, but to help feed alpacas, or purchase seeds or other needed supplies for the farm.  The sale of an alpaca can mean an entire year's operational expenses.  The revenue generated by a year's blueberry crop can equal the off farm breeding fee of one or more alpacas or mean the development of another aspect of the farm. 

Each member of a working farm is important, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant that member.  In the case of little Cathy, her value was increased by the fact that she was 1. a full Accoyo Suri alpaca; 2. a female; 3. beige with fawn patches -- rare colors for full Accoyos. She added to our full Accoyo line of alpacas and to our breeding stock in particular.  Hers was a significant monetary loss for our farm.

Even greater was the emotional loss.  Realizing that livestock losses will happen -- just goes with the "lay of the land" -- there in an attachment that is formed.  It is no little thing to wait with great anticipation for almost a year for a little one to arrive.  There is a special attachment that is formed with the extra handling involved in bottle feeding that makes the loss more painful on a personal level.

The chapter on BLUE Accoyo Merry Cathy was a short one, indeed.  There will be more chapters to come.  Some will include losses; others will include gains; most will include the day to day workings of a small farm.  All will add to the story of Blueberry Hill Farm, established in the mid-70s and, hopefully, continuing for many generations to come.