Time to say good bye

As in every profession, being a farmer also has its good and bad days. Alongside wonderful days full of joy, gratitude, and love – when new farm residents see the light of day, the harvest is good, the sun shines, and the farm guests are happy – there are also the rather gloomy days, when you just wish the next day would come quickly!

In the last few weeks, there were such gloomy days, when the heart cries and you just don’t really know how to go on.

Here at Zittrauerhof, you don’t just build interpersonal relationships, but also relationships between humans and animals. If such a relationship is particularly beautiful, it is all the harder when the animal is not doing well. Just like our Lissy, who has grown particularly close to our hearts!

Lissy came to us at the farm two years ago as an enchanting calf. We bought her from our intern at the time, Marianne, who grew up on an excellent breeding farm in Upper Austria.

From the very first moment, Lissy enchanted us all – her cuddly ears, a bit small and thickset, and a good character (as a breeding consultant, one probably describes the animals with other “professional terms,” but not me!). Last year, Lissy’s first calf was born and was an image of its mother from the first glance – just as fuzzy and simply sweet.

But unfortunately, Lissy fell ill shortly after the birth. An ulcer formed on her leg. At first, it looked like our proven home remedies and the help from the vet would help, but after a short healing phase, the foot worsened again. She was doing so poorly that we had to separate her from the other animals so she could get more rest and recover. But this time, no home remedy or vet could help her. We were given the recommendation to put the animal down. But when you look into the round, googly eyes of such a sweet animal, the decision is hard, especially when it has grown so close to your heart. But in our profession, you have to think of the animal and that life for Lissy this way is only a torment.

Every farmer probably has their favorite animal, and even the “tough guys” show a different side of themselves in such a situation.

Lissy has now closed her eyes forever, but her little calf remains as a comfort, which will always remind us of her!