(Lee-sul) We are devastated to announce the death of our precious Liesl:
As some of you know, in March we rescued four little goats whom we quickly fell in love with and adore! To our surprise, last Wednesday in the late evening, Liesl – one of our three girls – gave birth to two gorgeous babies, Curt Richard and Marta Anya. We were quite surprised and glad we were there to assist with her birth. She was immediately attentive and loving toward them. It was so moving, all of us were in tears.
Mama and babies moved into the main farmhouse for the night and all was well. Liesl mothered her babies with fierce love and tenderness!
The next day, Thursday, Mama Liesl and babies moved into the top pasture alone to meet their human team and enjoy the sunshine and the wind and some caring from us and guests!
Late in the afternoon, Mama Liesl was acting tired, something everyone thought was normal given her new motherhood role and the duties of keeping an eye on two busy babies. However, within a few hours, she then seemed to be breathing in an usual pattern, and we rushed her to our vet for urgent care.
Our vet did an ultrasound to ensure everything looked okay inside. After a long examination late that night, he gave her antibiotics and vitamins.
We are utterly devastated to say that Liesl did not make it to morning. She died during sleep that night.
There has been much mourning here, oddly juxtaposed with the unbridled joy of welcoming two new lives.
The babies are now being bottle fed every two hours and receiving more love than we can describe. But we know that our love is no match for their mother who will be missed deeply. Our sole focus now is to grieve for her and to raise her babies with love, just as she would have.
For a far-too-brief and magical day, in the sunshine amongst the white and pink clover, Liesl got to be with her babies.
She got to be a mother. No more painful separation is there than a mama from her babies.
Too many of us understand this and feel compassion. For now, we mourn and feel the joy of Liesl’s legacy in her children.
We will be sharing the babies’ lives soon as they grow so fast. The expense and care of the babies is costly. If you’d like to make a donation to help our animals in Liesl’s honor, please help by sponsoring one of her babies, Curt Richard or Marta Anya
Meanwhile, we recognize that no mama should be separated from her precious babies. Thus, we experience concomitant mourning and joy here at Selah Carefarm. They can, indeed, coexist.
These are photos of Liesl on the only day she had on earth to be their mother. We love and miss her.