On this page, I will list anything that happens on the farm that I consider a welfare concern. My animal welfare standards are very high, so I will likely list many things that would be no cause of concern for others. (Of course, my “very high” standards for slaughter animals are very low in the eyes of an ethical vegetarian/vegan. Again, I encourage using the comments feature to discuss the ethics of raising animals for slaughter.)
- May 20, 2008 — Sheep — Shearing. The shearer’s equipment was not functioning properly and it took a very long time to shear the last three sheep. The sheep were clearly distressed and he knicked one pretty badly on the shoulder.
- May 20, 2008 — Sheep — Hoof Trimming. I trimmed sheep hooves for the first time yesterday and discovered that sheep hooves are naturally pointed, unlike goat hooves, which are flat. I cut one sheep’s hoof pretty badly, although she made no indication whatsoever that she noticed.
- May 20, 2008 — Sheep — Handling. When the shearing and hoof trimming was finished, instead of going up to the house to get my mother to help me move the sheep, I tried to do it myself by setting up a simple hay bale barrier. The sheep went over the barrier instead of through the door. I had to chase them around the barn for a while. They were very stressed.
- May 20, 2008 — Chicks — Water. After shearing, hoof trimming, chasing the sheep, and doing chores, I was apathetically tired. I knew there probably wasn’t enough water in the chicks’ waterers to get them through the night, but I didn’t refill them anyway. They were empty this morning.
- May 23, 2008 — Sheep — Herding. Sheep Mayhem definitely did not make for low-stress handling. The sheep were totally stressed out, panting, wild eyed. All they wanted was for us to leave them alone and let them eat.
- May 26, 2008 — Goats — Electric Fence. Coco the goat was tangled in and shocked by the electric fence for an undetermined, but obviously substantial, period of time. Obviously, this was an extremely stressful, terrifying ordeal for her. In addition to being tangled in the fence, she ended up flipped almost totally on her back with her head facing down hill in a stream, in such a way that she couldn’t right herself, which made it difficult for her to breathe. I debated whether to include this in Welfare Concerns because it was a freak accident, but ultimately, my choice of farming infrastructure directly impacts the welfare of the animals I keep, so I am directly responsible for Coco’s terrifying, painful experience. Had I fenced the farm in woven wire, instead of using electronet, this would not have happened. She is fine today.
- June 6, 2008 — Sheep — Heat. About two weeks ago, the lambs finally destroyed the shade shelter I had in the pasture for them by climbing on top of it. It collapsed under their weight. I have not had time to replace it, which hasn’t been a problem because of the mild weather, until yesterday. The forecast was for high temperatures, but when I went out at lunch, it wasn’t that bad because it was cloudy and the sheep were fine. When I walked out the door at 3pm, however, I was immediately suffocated by a weighty blanket of steaming hot air. It felt like I was in Bangkok. The humidity was very high and the thermometer read just below 90° F. From in front of the computer, I hadn’t even noticed that the sun had come out. I quickly ran out to the sheep pasture, to find the sheep huddled around the water tank, presumably trying to get in the tiny bit of shade its sides cast. They were panting furiously, breathing with open mouths and flared nostrils. My plan is to build a new — hopefully lamb-proof — shelter for them this weekend. However, because I was aware that the heat would arrive before the shelter was built, plan B was to put the horse trailer in the pasture for the sheep to use for shade until the shelter is built, so I ran and hooked the truck up to the trailer as quickly as I could and drove it into the sheep pasture. The sheep came over to it immediately and stood in the shade cast by the side of the trailer. While they were standing there, I put the ramp down so that the sheep can go inside the trailer for shade when the sun is high and opened the windows and the shade-side people door for airflow.
- June 28, 2008 — Pigs — Handling/Loading. I had to trailer one out of seven pigs. In order to do so, I had to get as many pigs onto the trailer as necessary until the one I needed was also on. Then I closed the ramp and wrestled the small ones that I didn’t want out the side door. This was not low-stress, especially since I had to do it twice because the first time around the big pig escaped while I was wrestling with a smaller one.
- August 05, 2008 — Sheep — Electric Fence. When I went down to water and check on the sheep in the morning, I found one of the lambs with its head tangled in the electronet. The night before because it took so long to take care of the tractor, I blew off my evening sheep inspection. The lamb might have only been tangled since dawn, or he might have been tangled all of the previous afternoon, evening, and night, or anywhere in between. Once I freed him, he was fine. I am directly responsible for his being tangled because I put off moving them for one day longer than I should have because the tractor was broken and after lugging the shelter around by hand the other day, I didn’t want to do it by hand again. I should have known better because at lunch I had seen a couple of them looking longingly through the fence at the nice grass on the other side. The grass was greener on the other side of the fence. Sorry sheepy.
