The year that was 2021

A brief recap of the year that was was 2021 with all it’s ups and downs.

Surprise babies:

• On January 11 we discovered a little bundle of cutness in the paddock who we named Rayne.  He is Fiona’s first and and last calf, as she was already pregnant when she came to us.  Rayne is a very beautiful boy, inside and out.  Gentle and shy like his mum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rescues:

• In June a tiny little pig was described as being a “Future Spit Pig”.  This one week old piglet had been rejected by her mum and the person responsible for her really couldn’t be bothered hand raising her so, instead she decided she would advertise her as to be hand-raised for the spit!  This mischievous little bundle, all 1.5kg of her at the time, we named Sweet Pea.  Pea is now just over 6 months old and, after many months of living in the laundry has finally graduated to the goat yard where she has her own bed room but spends her day playing (terrorising) the goats.  She still sleeps with her teddy bear.

 

• In July we received a call from a lady who needed to rehome a goat called Missy.  Missy, although gentle and very affectionate with people was very rough when she played with the lady’s miniature goat herd.  Thankfully she was happy to surrender Missy to us and we went and picked her up.   She is now firmly established in the Cranky goat herd.

 

• Soon after rescuing Missy the same lady contacted us about a beautiful, 9 month old Brahman heifer called Peggy, who she said had a withered back leg and limp.  She was unable to provide her with the veterinary care she required and asked if we would take her and give her a chance.  Peggy came to live with us in August and quickly showed what a beautiful natured, courageous young lady she is.  Please see the surgeries section for more info about what happened to Peggy.

 

• In October we found three tiny ducks living in horrible conditions; cramped with no water in site.  They are now referred to as The Quackers and individually as Frank (after Frank Sinatra’s blue eyes), Guy (who we still believe is a girl) and Storm (who unlike the other two is grey and she is wild like a tempest).  They now have plenty of water and lots of space.

 

 

 

• In October we also took in our first and only rooster, Diego.  Diego had a hard start to life but thanks to the dedication and love of her previous human he pulled through and flourished. Diego was born with a deformity in his legs which mean that when he tried to walk his legs would splay out sideways.  An ingenious invention by his  previous carer and lots of love and attention and now Diego is king of the roost.  He may be little but he sure can crow!

 

• In December we were advertised of a turkey who was being advertised as “Female turkey for eating”.  She was rescued from this fate and surrendered to us.  It quickly became clear she was severely injured.  See the Surgeries section for more info about this brave little lady called Gloria.

 

 

 

 

 

Surgeries:

During 2021 we had two major medical events that required us to push ourselves emotionally and financially.

Peggy:

When we first heard about this little 9 month old Brahman heifer we were told se had broken her leg when she was 6 weeks old and that it had been treated and had healed.  Sometime later, the previous carer said, she had noticed Peggy had started to limp on the other side and her rear right leg had lost all muscle tone.  She said she was unable to provide Peggy with any further veterinary treatment and her only options were to surrender her to us or put her to sleep.

Of course, we decided we would take her and find out exactly what was wrong.

The vet came and suspected a dislocated hip.  There was only one way to be certain so we quickly booked Peggy is for a trip to the University of Queensland Equine Specialist Hospital in Gatton.  This is the only facility in Queensland with a large enough CT scanner to accommodate someone the size of Peggy (around 180kg).  Peggy handled her trip and her scan like a legend.   Two weeks later Peggy was back at the hospital for surgery after it was confirmed her hip was indeed dislocated.

Peggy had what is called a Femoral Head Ostectomy.  This is a common surgery for dogs with hip dysplasia but, until Peggy had not been attempted on a cow.  A few horses had undergone the surgery and had recovered well.  The surgeon was confident it may give Peggy a chance at a pain-free, longer life and so we raised the money and went ahead with the surgery.  $7000 and 4 stressful days later and Peggy was on her way home.

With her placid nature and adorable face she had made friends at the Equine Hospital and had turned just a few horsey people into cow lovers!

Peggy was configned to a small yard for 5 weeks following surgery.  Her surgery site healed extremely fast and you can now not even see a scar.  We were a little concerned after 5 weeks that, although the pain issued seemed to have been solved, Peggy was not putting weight on the affect leg.  Miraculously, just after we contacted a physiotherapist for Peggy we noticed she had started to put weight on her leg and so we gave have a bit more space and encouraged her to use her leg and wow, did she embrace her new found ability to walk.

Peggy can now run and jump and play.  She, unfortunately, we never be able to join the larger Cranky cow herd as they are just too boisterous, however, she talks to them over the fence and has Jack, Hannah and Lopez for company, as well of lots of human cuddles.

We want to thank, wholeheartedly those would donated towards Peggy’s surgery and recovery.  We can honestly say “You saved her life!”.

Gloria:

After we picked Gloria up it was clear she had an injured leg.  Her previous carer said she  wouldn’t take her to the vet as it would cost more than she was worth.  We did not agree!!!

An X-ray revealed Gloria’s left leg was completely broken and that the break had occurred many weeks previous.  Gloria had been left to suffer a broken leg with no treatment at all.  Consequently, her bones had healed side-by-side instead of underneath each other.

A different vets were consulted about options for Gloria and it was decided that she would receive surgery at The Unusual Pet Vets surgery at Buderim.

An hour drive to drop her off and then 24 hours of waiting to hear how she went and then the good news that she had pulled through the surgery.

Gloria stayed at the vets for 2 nights just to make sure she was doing okay and then came home.

Gloria was on three different medications for the first week and we were vigilant in making sure was comfortable and clean in her enclosure.   Gloria is now only on one pain medication and has had one weekly check up.  She had her foot bandage removed after the first week and we are working on daily physio to make sure she places her foot correctly and her tendons are stretched.

Gloria is the most tolerant and patient patient ever and we are quite besotted with her.

She still has at least 6 weeks of recovery left but we will be there to support and care for her ever minute until she is fully recovered.

 

Fundraising Team:

Towards the end of the year we were contacted by a group of people who wanted to volunteer their time to helping us raise funds to care for our current residents, save more lives and, hopefully, get out new animal advocacy outreach program up and running.

We were absolutely thrilled by this and, eagerly accepted.

The Cranky Fundraising Team have some amazing ideas and an enthusiasm to raise funds to help the animals, both ours and those we may be able to help in the future.  We are super excited to have this fabulous team of people on board and we can’t wait to see what 2022 brings.

The Board:

Our Board members grew this year also and we welcome  our new members; Judy Rush, Bailey Hoyland Meaker and Maddison Stevenson.  We are now a board of five like-minded people, who want nothing more than to care for our current residents, save more lives and make a difference to the lives of all animals.

 

Although I could go on and on about every little thing that we achieved and that happened during 2021; our tours, markets, merchandise and the passing of our Mumma, I think I will leave it at that.  Hopefully, you have been following our journey along the way and if, not, hopefully, now you are!