Ewe Mama Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 We are in NE Ohio and have had quite a rough go of it this winter, as many areas have. During the night, one of our small sheds collapsed under the weight of snow and ice, killing one of our rams. We are at -9 degrees right now, and are expecting another half foot of snow starting tonight. We are a small hobby farm, no special equipment or machinery, just muscle. I have no idea how to get that poor ram out from under everything and, when I do, how to dispose of his remains. We haven't experienced this with a full-grown animal before, so I am at a loss. All of our previous losses have been of lambs that just didn't make it. The ground is frozen solid. My concerns are that if we can't get him out tonight, he is going to be buried under more snow, followed immediately by a slight rise in temperatures, high enough to thaw things for a day or two, and then another deep freeze. The result would not be...pretty. Any advice? They don't prepare you for situations like this in the dumb city-slicker's guide to country living book that I keep meaning to write. I have got to move back to town. Things like this are sucking the joy right out of me. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 If you can get him out, there should be someone who hauls away dead animals for a fee. We have done that. When the ground is soft enough to dig we bury them with the skidsteer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewe Mama Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 This was our favorite ram. Sheep Daddy actually choked up when I called to tell him about what had happened. I don't know how I feel about having him hauled off like that, although I may just need to put on my big girl pants and get over it in this situation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 This was our favorite ram. Sheep Daddy actually choked up when I called to tell him about what had happened. I don't know how I feel about having him hauled off like that, although I may just need to put on my big girl pants and get over it in this situation. :( I'm so sorry. Would it help to send him along with something the family treasures. A favorite blanket or maybe spend the day making a good-bye card to tuck in with him when he's hauled away -- so he isn't all by himself? As you said, it is not going to be pretty to wait until the ground is soft enough to dig up yourself. (ETA and SQUEE! about another Theodore. My Theodore is age 7) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusyMom5 Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I'm sorry, I was going to suggest the same thing. There are places that will come and get a cow or larger animal. There really isn't anything else you could do- it sounds lke the ground is pretty frozen, do you have anything that would dig a hole? Larger tractor w/ a scoop? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewe Mama Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 I don't even know who to call. What do I even look for in the yellow pages? I tried googling, but all I came up with was a bunch of exterminators. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Do you have a county extension office? They or the local vet for farm animals both probably have the number for the "dead wagon" as they are called here. The other alternative is to call someone with a backhoe. We've done that for horses (allowed by county code). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharpie Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Do you have any dairy farms near you to call for recommendations? I believe they are called "rendering trucks" in our area but I may be wrong. Some farms have have a compost pile for dead animals but I'd assume it's frozen solid this time of year. I'm sorry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 http://extension.osu.edu/locate-an-office Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MFG Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 http://www.211cleveland.org/MatchList.aspx?c;;0;;N;0;0;Municipal%20and%20Community%20Services;Animal/Farm/Gardening%20Services;140;Dead%20Animal%20Pickup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigs Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I'm sorry for your loss. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Sorry about the ram.... that's a tough loss. Call your vet - any vet's office that treats sheep should have some good ideas about how to dispose of remains in winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrookValley. Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I'm sorry. :( I agree with calling your vet. They should have some information for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 ((hugs)) Sorry for your loss. I ditto calling your vet. When my horse died my vet gave me the number (actually HE called them for me!) of a disposal service in our area (The Last Trail Ride). Now I always choke when I see their trailer...because someone is experiencing a loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tammyla Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 :grouphug: Stinking weather! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 :grouphug: We bury ours on our property. A back hoe can get through frozen ground. We don't have one ourselves, but hubby has contacts who do. If this isn't an option for you, some around here do burn bodies or there are rendering trucks as previously mentioned. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Careful about outdoor burning, the legality varies by state. (although a Viking funeral pyre would be a great way to send off a ram). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Careful about outdoor burning, the legality varies by state. (although a Viking funeral pyre would be a great way to send off a ram). As does burying. It is good to know local laws/regs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ewe Mama Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 Thank you all so much for the advice. It is legal for us to burn deceased animals and we have plenty of firewood, so that is probably the way we will do it. I still have to ok it with Sheep Daddy first and we will have to get the poor ram out from under the debris. I spent as long as I could bear it outside, but that windchill is brutal. I think I have cleared a safe path under and around everything, so we should be able to push/pull him out as soon as dh gets home from work. I did place a call to our vet, but the service they use is so backed up dealing with animals closer to them (we live out a ways further from their usual pickup area) that they might not make it out for a few days. I just can't do that to our sweet boy, Algebra. A viking funeral pyre he shall have. Does anyone have any experience with burning deceased animals? Is the smell really bad? I try to keep on good terms with the few people we know nearby and don't want to cause a brouhaha, even though we are ok legally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 If he's frozen in he's not going to degrade right away, and as soon as the ground is thawed enough you can get them out then. When you do, is burning legal in your state? if so I think that would be the cheapest option. And not to be gruesome or anything, but it might be easier to burn if you cut off his his legs and his head. we used to have to do that with the human cadavers that we had in graduate school, when the next of kin wanted them returned as ash because our incinerator just wasn't big enough. so cutting them up sounds gruesome, but it's standard when you've got a rather small incinerator space; things go more efficiently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Well, we have experience with the untimely death of many animals but not so much frozen ground. Is there someone with a backhoe who could remove the shed pieces and then dig a hole while the backhoe is on the property? Is your ice so deep that a backhoe could not get through? Could you wait for the temps to go up slightly (you mentioned something like that was in the forecast), then remove the poor guy and bury him before the next freeze occurs? We have always buried our companions on the property so I have no experience with having them hauled off. Maybe someone else will have better advice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 If he's frozen in he's not going to degrade right away, and as soon as the ground is thawed enough you can get them out then. When you do, is burning legal in your state? if so I think that would be the cheapest option. And not to be gruesome or anything, but it might be easier to burn if you cut off his his legs and his head. we used to have to do that with the human cadavers that we had in graduate school, when the next of kin wanted them returned as ash because our incinerator just wasn't big enough. so cutting them up sounds gruesome, but it's standard when you've got a rather small incinerator space; things go more efficiently. Good Golly. Are you saying when people get cremated, they are first dismembered??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trulycrabby Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 No advice, but I am very sorry you lost your favourite ram. :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nevergiveup Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Back in the day we called the Dead Wagon to collect dead farm animals. No idea who they were..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
applethyme Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katilac Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Good Golly. Are you saying when people get cremated, they are first dismembered??? Not generally. It sounds like she was posting about people who had relatives who donated their bodies to science, and they didn't have an incinerator designed for typical cremations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Not generally. It sounds like she was posting about people who had relatives who donated their bodies to science, and they didn't have an incinerator designed for typical cremations. What a relief...must read more thoroughly next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Back in the day we called the Dead Wagon to collect dead farm animals. No idea who they were..... They are probably the modern day rendering plant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpanik Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 We bury ours on the property, too. We have a wonderful man with a backhoe who comes and is so respectful about moving the horses. We had one put down here on the farm and another one who was put down at the vet clinic, but we had him transferred home. My wonderful husband arranged that one. The sheep we have dug our own and buried. It's really hard . . . a friend of mine told me that if we are going to have livestock we are going to have dead stock. Sad but true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I don't know how cremation is done in commercial crematories, such as funeral parlors. I suspect it's a fairly large crematory and takes a body whole. I only know what we had to do in order to actually fit the body in the small crematory we had. Good Golly. Are you saying when people get cremated, they are first dismembered??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 😄 What a relief...must read more thoroughly next time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livetoread Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 This is going to sound a little nuts, but I had a timely conversation with my Dad last night. We were talking about burial methods and he said he heard that if bodies are wrapped in wool, they burn longer and pretty much everything is consumed. I don't know if there is anything too that, but since Algebra is already wrapped in wool.... I'm sorry for his untimely death. I know nothing about sheep, but I do know my family fell in love with a ram at the county fair a few years ago. He was so sweet and interactive with us; he had way more personality than I would have thought a sheep could have. We all told ourselves he ended up being used for breeding and not in someone's stew after the fair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alessandra Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Your ram was named Algebra? Oh, he sounds adorable. I am so sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephanieZ Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 FWIW, cremation services might be able to dispose of your ram. I believe the cremation service our vet hospital uses can dispose of animals up to 300 lb, and it looks like rams generally weigh just under 300. You'd have to be able to dig him out of the collapsed building (a back hoe or bull dozer or other heavy machinery would make this easier . .. but then you could bury the fellow if you had those tools), but then the cremation service would take him away. Our service will come to wherever the animal is and take the remains away. Cremation can be "private with ashes returned" which is pricey (probably $400-500 for a 300# animal), but then you can bury the ashes on your property when the weather cooperates. Alternatively, "bulk cremation" with no ashes returned is modestly priced, I think maybe 50c/lb or less. Local vet hospitals will all have a cremation service, so call your vet and maybe one or two more to get names/numbers/info. Or, google "pet cremation services Yourtown, Your State", to see if there are any private cremations services that work directly with the public. (Some areas have companies that only deal with vets; others will deal with private people, too.) If you can get someone with a backhoe or even a bobcat, they could surely dig your fellow out of the debris as well as dig a place and bury him. Frozen ground is not cement . . . Large machinery can still dig it. (((hugs))) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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