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SPRING / SUMMER 2001 NEWSLETTER
Winter
hit early in 2000 and it was a rough one. Rich had to drag 300 feet
of hosing out the basement every morning and out to the barn, hook up
the water and make sure all the water was full for the animals. Then
when he was done, he had to drain the hoses and bring them back into
the basement so they wouldn't freeze overnight. As it was, the water
pump on the 4 acres next door froze and broke so Rich had to drag the
hosing next door as well. Twice daily he had to break up the ice in
the water so the animals had drinking water.
Cleaning was almost impossible as soon as the manure hit the ground
it was frozen. Rich broke several forks trying to clean. When the spring
that hit, and the rains came. All was mud and muck.
We also had a few heartbreaks. We lost Big Red our nice old rooster,
Satin the rabbit, the one with the sore hocks, Jake the turkey and Belle
the lead deer who had become so friendly towards the end, that we think
she was saying goodbye to us. The only good point to this is that they
all died of old age and not due to illness, starvation or slaughter.
They are sorely missed though.
Last fall we were on Fox 5's Good Day New York with Ernabel DeMilla,
and that brought us a wonderful family from Amityville, with 4 children
who come almost every weekend to help feed and clean up after the animals.
They provided us with used fencing so we could separate the male and
female goats and sheep to prevent any breeding.
This is Casey. A goat found running around in Queens. She is absolutely
terrified and was so skinny, every bone stuck out in her poor body.
This picture was taken about 1 ½ weeks after we got her so she
has already put on some weight. It is going to take a lot of love and
care to bring Casey out of her terrified state. Every time you go near
her, she just runs and hides in the corner of her house.
Norman and Pearl are now 2 years old and weigh about 1,250 lbs each.
They are well.
Norman at 4 weeks - Norman & Pearl now
Ellie May had a kid April 2, 2001. He was named Dave Price, the weather
goat, by Ernabel De Milla. We noticed that he was walking around with
his head cocked to one side so we took him to the vet. We thought he
might have ear mites or an inner ear infection. After examination it
was determined that Dave was blind. He was born with detached retinas.
Surgery is out of the question since he could not survive the amount
of time needed for the surgery under anesthesia. Goats stress easily.
We have built an extra pen for the two of them and it is wonderful watching
how Ellie May acts as a seeing eye dog for him. We will have him neutered
shortly.
Last July Porky the pig, was at a petting zoo nursery in Nassau County,
he was getting too big and was going to be sent to market. Some lady
fell in love with him, acquired him and then sent her boyfriend on a
quest to find Porky a home. Well Porky found his way here to us. He
then weighed about 25 lbs and marched in the opening day Parade at the
Hampton Classics. Porky now weighs about 350 lbs and still growing.
In January, a man came to us and asked if we could keep his 10 animals
(3 rabbits, 6 goats and a female Yorkshire Pig) for about 2 weeks. He
had to get them out of where they were. In 2 weeks his friend would
have his barn finished and he would take them back. He offerred to pay
us rent for the 2 weeks but when Rich found out he was unemployed, instead
requested his help on weekends rather than pay rent. The man agreed.
He worked Saturday and Sunday. Sunday evening they went to pick up his
animals, he stated he wanted to stop in the office and talk to the people
there and would follow us back to our place to help unload the animals.
That was the last we ever saw of him. We still have the animals. Porky
now has a companion, Pinky the pig.
Last August we had approximately 650
animals. We placed about 225 from the
spring of 2000 till now. Even though we
have placed this large amount of animals,
our count is up to about 775 animals now.
They just keeep coming from both rescue agencies and individuals who
can no longer
keep their animals. Feed bills keep rising.
We are again asking for your help for the
animals. Please donate to help them.
On
December 18, 2000 a female goat owned by a family gave birth to 3 kids.
The mother didn't have enough milk to feed all 3 so the family asked
us if we would take this little white goat and bottle feed her to see
if we could save her. Annie started her life in the shower stall in
our front bathroom and as she grew, graduated to our bathtub in the
back bathroom. It took along time to try to get her weaned, she loved
her bottles.
On February 8, 2001 Lizzie and Edna, 2 little lambs were born and within
24 hours their mother rejected them. Well guess what, they came into
the house, took over the front bathroom, ate the wallpaper off the wall
and totally wrecked the front bathroom. They are big friendly and growing
quickly.
On February 20, 2001 a family from Long Island purchased a goat from
auction in New Jersey to keep it from going to slaughter. They were
told the goat (Alex) was 4 weeks old and weaned, in reality he was about
4 days old and not weaned. They went to a feed place who sold him puppy
formula and was then referred to us since Alex had mites. We treated
him for the mites, sent them to another feed place where they could
buy kid formula rather than puppy formula and sent him home with the
family. The following week on February 26th, the family called and asked
us if we could take Alex since they could not keep him. Alex spent the
winter in our den in a large dog cage.
On March 20, 2001, a little lamb (Ned) was born on the property and
got knocked down and stepped on by a couple of larger sheep. He had
a spinal injury. We took him over to the house and he spent the winter
along side Alex in another large dog cage. We nursed him back to health
and he is doing just fine now. As a matter of fact, he will march in
the opening day parage at the Hampton Classics this year dressed as
a fireman, along with Annie dressed as a ballerina and Alex in bowtie
and top hat.
This past year we have worked with the SAVES organization in trapping,
spaying and neutering feral cats that we feed at the property. We have
taken in numerous animals from the SPCA and CACC. We have worked with
the Red Cross, Long Island Youth Guidance, Jr. & Sr. High school
volunteers, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and church groups with a community
service program
Blind Dave
Price & Ellie May Say Hello!
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