I enjoy most aspects of being a farmer but there are always some chores that no one looks forward to.
We had a 4 month old calf that was doing poorly and looking thin for a few days so we turned her out to pasture. She was doing better the next day but then she suddenly came down with bloat. It could have been from overeating feed or perhaps she ate some poison plant, but she was in a bad way when we found her in the morning.
The vet changed his cell number so I had to make a trip to town and leave a message for him. When I got back, I worked on her for two hours giving her oil through a stomach tube and doing what I could for her but she didnt make it and stopped breathing right about noon.
I wasnt too pleased about loosing such a nice calf and especially to such a treatable problem. I am pretty sure a vet would have been able to save her but I just dont have the hands on experience in such things.
In any case I wasnt going to just bury all that fine meat from a perfectly good animal, so I sent Felix down to get some rope, string, a machette, a bucket of water, and a good knife. Neither of us had ever butchered an animal before but I read a good book on it once. I will leave the details out for all you squimish nonfarming wusses who think meat grows on styrofoam under plastic wrap. Two hours later we had a fine looking carcass hanging in a tree ready to be cut up.
I have to say it was some of the finest veal I have ever had. Honestly I would have rathered to learn to butcher on something smaller than a 150 pound calf, like maybe a goat or a rabbit, but life doesnt always do things that way. I really hope I dont have to butcher any more female calfs in the near future but I have a tasty looking male whose days are numbered.
My earlier chore seemed pleasant compared to what I had to do next. I had gone to bed early as usual and was woken up by my wife at 9:30. One of our neighbors lost a month old baby and needed a coffin for the child that night.
The custom in this country (as most tropical countries) is to have the body buried the next day. The mourning period lasts for nine days with a final get together on the ninth day. I suppose it is a nice enough way to do it, but it is a bit rough on wood workers who have to build a box in a real hurry.
I will be honest and say I was not happy about dragging myself out of bed, getting dressed, going up to the field and working but there was no way I could say no. I sent Felicita out for a 2 Liter of coke which I gulped down half of and off we went to the farm. Felix who sleeps in the shop at night was a bit surprised to see us but didnt seem to mind too much. I was lucky enough to have two wide boards glued up from another project so I was able to make a very nice coffin for the poor child in about 2 hours. I suppose I could have made something easier but by the time I got to the shop, I was more thinking about what a horrible thing for this family and how terrible it would be to put a doll sized body in a rough hewn pine box.
About midnight we finished up and went back to town to deliver it to the family. As we arrived the family asked what we owed them. I am not a particularly generous person, but honestly, what price can you put on a 24 inch coffin? We told them it was a gift and went in to pay our respects.
The poor child was really tiny and it was very hard to see such a tiny child lie so still. The child was placed in her new little cradle and brought to the living room for the viewing as is the custom here. It was a very very sad sight but I am glad I was able to give the little thing something honorable to rest in.