Done for now

Tuffy went ahead and kidded on February 5th.  It's a boy, the last of Ivory Jack's kids.  Another lovely 1/2 LaMancha 1/2 Alpine Saanen buckling... he's a really sweety though.  Maybe he displays less of Ivory Jack's genes than the other boys this spring.

I didn't have breeding dates on Tuffy, so we were keeping pretty close tabs on her.  The day before she kidded, her new little udder filled up with milk, and I guessed we were getting close.  The next sign was the usual clearish stringy mucus down to her hocks, and I brought her right in the cabin.

It didn't take long for things to happen.  She was really animated, obviously pushing (on Ben's legs with her horns).  Two feet popped out, so I did a quick check for the head but it was trapped behind the pelvis.  There was no room to maneuver and I couldn't get a good grip.

Tuffy wasn't happy with my internal exams in her point of pushing, but the state of affairs called for action and I'm glad Ben was there to help hold her from flopping around while I worked on her.  She was yelling and slamming into things and the baby was stuck to the point I thought I would lose them both.

I kept pushing the legs back in while trying to pull her head through and I guess eventually that worked, because the baby came through the bones.  It took heavy steady traction to get him all the way out.  I was surprised he survived.  I thought I would rip his head off.

So that's Tuffy's story.  She abandoned the kid, just like her mother did to her.  But that's okay.  The kid is fine under our care, and she has a nice amount of milk.  All's well that ends well, I suppose.

Obstacle course

Lots of babies now... 8 are in my kitchen at the moment.  Zoey and Licorice both kidded within an hour yesterday afternoon.  They were both on 20 minute checks on day 151... good thing too, because Zoey didn't present with mucus like goats usually do when birth is imminent.  

A bulging birth sac was her only clue to us, to bring her in and catch her babies.  The first one was positioned properly, but the second one had both her legs hooked.  No problem, and both doelings are doing well.  They were just less than 6 pounds each and are nearly identical.  Zoey has a nice amount of milk, a half a gallon a day already as a first time freshener... and she has good mama instinct.

Licorice's birth was different.  She had two very large kids and I assisted with both.  The second one also had a hooked leg.  These kids are close to 9 pounds... one boy and one girl.  It took quite awhile for her to release the placentas, but she is fine now and all is well.

Tuffy will certainly be next, though when she'll go is anyone's guess.  We'll just have to keep a close eye on her and hope we can be here for the birth and that her baby will be safe.

Pleasant is doing great.  Her milk tests clean for antibiotics now.  It's such a relief to have my own test kits so I can reliably know that all the antibiotics are gone from her milk.  In fact, everyone is doing great.  Happy, healthy goats... lots with bellies that are getting bigger by the day.  And lots of milk.  Gotta like that...

Sweetness

Fling gave us a strong and healthy doeling yesterday.  She.is.solid.sweetness.

Wait and watch

That pretty much sums it up... I have 4 does that will likely kid in the next 4 or 5 days.  So everytime I go outside, and a couple of times in the night- I go around lifting tails to see how my girls are progressing.  We had Fling in the cabin with us last night.  She had some mucus but then it stopped, so I put her back outside with her friends this morning.

Pleasant is doing great after losing her kids.  You'd never know that she just gave birth, except that she's giving plenty of milk... milk that was stilling testing positive for antibiotics last time I tested it.  Bummer.  Katie girl gave us a bouncing baby boy a few days after Pleasant kidded... Bacon is big and inquisitive and still inside with us.  Then Farlight delivered triplets- two boys and a girl... all are white with LaMancha ears.  We lost the second boy, but everyone else is doing great.

So now I'm waiting on Fling and Tuffy, Zoey and Licorice.  It turns out that Pinky is bred to kid within the next month, so I'm keeping an eye on her too.  And if the rest of my dates are correct, everyone else should kid in late April and early May.  We're gonna have a ton of babies this year!

And I'm super glad we're having a spell of nice weather for this go around.  That helps keep the stress level down for sure.  I'll keep you posted as we get more kids on the ground.  Cheers!

Unruly nature

Thinking back over the course of this winter has me certain of one thing:  I have very little control how this life unfolds and am basically along for the ride.

Horrendous winds, unseasonable thaws, and deep freezing temperatures... ain't nothing you can do about that.  The weather has been unspeakable, unpredictable and mostly unpleasant.

The wind blew upwards of 90 miles an hour this week- just one of many windstorms we've endured recently.  Then the temperature plummeted to the vicinity of 25 below, though it was only 15 below here on the mountain.  Now it's supposedly going to hit 36 by the weekend.  Craziness.

Sometimes you just have to throw up your hands and accept that it is what it is, and it will be what it will be and quit worrying about it.  Take for instance, the unfolding of Pleasant's twinbirth which took place over the last few days.

The gestation of a goat is 150 days.  Around day 143 I start watching 'em pretty close, though last spring I had one go on day 140.  Pleasant pushed it to day 154 this time.  She was extremely slow to progress... it seemed excruciatingly slow from my viewpoint, but I trust nature and I trust birth and I was willing to let it go as it would.

Her bottom got soft.  A couple days later her tail got loose.  Next, the babies dropped down low.  A few days later her milk came in.  Then mucus started to drip.  The next day she finally dilated and the birth sac began to bulge.  After the leisurely approach to birth, all hell broke loose.

Out came the placenta.  Knowing this was a very bad sign, and that an emergency was suddenly at hand- I opened the box of OB gloves that I had waiting and dove in.  A large perfectly formed doeling was lined up at the entrance, but it was everything I could do to pull her out.

Either Pleasant didn't have enough hormones on board, or the baby was too big, or something.  I don't know what, and will never know.  I got the baby out and tried to revive her to no avail.  As she expelled more birth fluids, I spotted an extra set of hooves.  Detached hooves, unattached to a kid.  Yikes.

So I went back in to see what I could find.  All I found was goo.  Off color goo like old decayed tissue.  It took two days for Pleasant to pass the decomposed twin.  There were no bits bigger than a quarter... a few pieces of skin, hair, bone, and lots of goo.

Meanwhile, I had started nutritional therapy and homeopathic/herbal treatments right away to get her back on track lest I lose the doe as well as the expired kids.  Then I did something unprecedented and put her on a 5 day course of penicillin to avoid the metritis I felt was right around the corner considering the circumstances.

Could any of this been avoided?  Perhaps.  Or maybe not.  But one thing is certain.  I'm not in charge.