Our 5 year old goat Billy was not doing well, I told my 10 year old son Hudson that we would have to put him down, he was unable to walk because of his disease and he is suffering.
Billy was a very friendly goat, because he had such a hard time walking he would lye down a lot. Hudson would sit on the ground outside for hours with him, rain (underneath the tree fort) or shine.
He had this bond with him, chatting away about things, petting him and just being.
Billy was rescued from people that just did not know how to take care of goats, he was fed a diet of corn only and developed severe arthritis from malnutrition. We got him when he was 2 but he looked 20. We were able to keep him comfortable for a few more years with mass doses of Glucosamine but because of the malnutrition his bones were deteriorating and he completely lost his ability to walk.
Upon Billys death we knew we would need to get a companion for our newly acquired bottle baby Sheep Lyza but with an upcoming annual farm sale it was not a priority.
The farm sale came and went and as we were about to leave a woman came up to me and introduced herself as one of the members of a farm board I chat on. As we were talking she mentioned she had goats, I asked if she had Nubian goats (super friendly, long ears, cute) and she did. So I took my 7 year old to look as Hudson was feeling a bit down. I asked what the cost was and she said we could just have one because he would be a loved pet. Theo picked out the spotted one despite his first choice because Hudson likes spots. I carried our newly acquired boy to the van and away we went home with three very excited smiling children all the way.
When we arrived at home my mother, who with the help of Hudson named the new boy Elliot, was smitten. She had taken on our bottle lamb as a baby of her own and Elliot was to die for cute as well.
Hudson wanted to immediately go out to see how Billy was doing and bring him a marshmallow, his favourite. I insisted on going with him, I know now it was intuition, as he normally goes out on his own. When we reached the barn there was Billy, in his favorite stall, gone.
Hudson was upset, he pet him and said goodbye. We headed toward the house hugging each other to deliver the bad news. And as we arrive who runs up to greet us but Elliot.
It was so sad to loose our Billy, but the new life in Elliot helped to soften that blow and make it easier to understand. The universe works in mysterious and wonderful ways, giving us Elliot on the exact same day our Billy was to leave us was one of those wonderful ways.
We loved you Billy.
Billy with my son eating his marshmallows;)
Givin the love...
