Loss

We’ve had a rash of loss on the farm this past year I’ve been off on my detour.  It’s been challenging at times.  Loss teaches us how temporal life can be. There is always a lesson in loss, even if it is just “farm animals”.

We lost all our ducks to what we think was an owl; they disappeared one by one without a single sign of a predator.  Perhaps they were carried off?

Our flock of chickens dwindled down little by little.  The first few without a trace but then we started seeing the signs loud and clear.  Mangy raccoons!

But the worst of our loss came this past July when our amazing, one-of-a-kind farm dog, Killick, disappeared.  

 

Good-bye Sweet Killick.

It was the saddest weekend ever.  Killick was at least 10 years old but very well could have been older.  He had been having a lot of health problems and the most recent were hip and joint issues with quite a bit of pain.  We are pretty convinced he went off to die in peace.   

We’ve had to move on.  Moving on can be hard, not so much with chickens and ducks as we’ve been through many flocks and they often become food for us.  But with a dog, he’s family.  He’s your friend and for the kids who grew up with him, it was particularly hard.  But a farm can’t go long without a guardian. 

After some research FDJ decided he wanted to find an Anatolian Shepherd. So the search began and he found a youngish male in Moscow, Idaho. 

A road trip was in order!  The girls accompanied their father all the way to Idaho.  They fell in love with this stray Anatolian who now goes by the name Bey. Bey comes from Beyefendi which means gentleman or sir. 

Bey has a lot to learn about being a livestock guardian as it seems he had been a stray and on his own for quite some time.  But we are hopeful he will learn his role.

For his own good he better.  

 

Keep checking in on Bey to see how he is doing.