Foodie

We've had quite a few kids here in the past six years, but this little guy is the most oral kid since day one. He is from a fine line of food dominant goats, but he really is into eating already.

The video is from day two, and already he is putting everything in his mouth.

He's just trying to eat everything, standing or in a bowl.

He's put on a bit of weight and if he keeps it up, he'll really fill in that wide chest of his.

Meanwhile, Adeline doesn't look like she kidded in the past week, but for her udder. Some gals have all the luck getting their girlish figures back. She's in great shape.

Looks like she will be in good shape for the fair at this pace.

Busy With Babies and Bottles

Its been in the mid 70's for three days and the lawns and fields are greening up fast. The wild grandiflora roses are budding and the goats are snacking.  Onion grass is doing nothing for the goats' breath but they are loving it as it is growing fast.

I think if it doesn't snow or freeze soon, we will be mowing our lawn next week.

Zola and I have been butting heads - so to speak. 

She has not been willingly nursing both of her boys. At first we figured she was sore and tired from kidding twenty pounds of goat. Its been three days and my patience is wearing thin. The kids are running to me already as they know when I show up, somehow, they get fed.

This little guy will nurse on a syringe and a Pritchards teat, but hasn't figured out Mom yet. I have been milking Zola and now bottling it, but he is not getting enough. She is not what one would call cooperative. I have begun to add a little of the milk replacer that the orphans have been using.

Son Number Two has figured out the source of the milk, but it takes myself, or neighbor Allison, holding Zola's leg to prevent her kicking, for a successful feeding. Once on, he gets a good amount and he is thriving and bouncing around.

I am seriously thinking about seeing if there is someone out there who wants to bottle feed one of these boys if we don't get on the correct system very soon. I'm giving it another day or two though.

Is It The Water? - Two More Bucklings!

 Zola added to the nursery Wednesday morning with two big boys, 91/2 and 101/2 pounds. The count is now 9 bucklings, 3 does.  Its up to Saba to give us a couple girls.

Now she is being uncooperative and not nursing them.

This is the older brother who has much to say - and loudly - about his mother's witholding of milk.

With assistance from neighbors Allison, Julia, Claire and Karen, we have wrestled Zola to get her milked and get the boys fed.  They have gotten quite a bit and are creating all sorts of bodily functions, so they will be okay overnight.

I just hope this milking doesn't last too long. She has lots of milk, but her udder is so large and I think she is just sore and tired. Give her another 24 hours and I think they will be on their own.

Meanwhile, still complaining!

More Boys!

This was Trinity this morning, four days late, but with a full udder. I spied on her all day, sure that she would go, but all for naught.

This is her mother Layla, who if you remember, went to SCS Farm to be bred to Remington. I didn't have a due date for her, but it sure looks like she's been ready for a while.

So who had two more boys today?

 Here's Trinity at about 8:30PM cleaning her first buckling.

 Here he is two hours later and a bit fluffed up.

 And his younger brother by about fifteen minutes.

Here is the VIDEO of the second buckling being born.
WARNING! Its a bit bloody if that gets to you.

Initially, Trinity was very worried about every noise the boys made, and seemed too nervous to nurse, so I milked a syringe full off and got her to relax.  I gave the milk to the little guys and that was it.  They wanted more of that good stuff!

After getting both to nurse and letting me do a little clean up of the placenta, Trinity just dropped on her knees to rest.

She almost squashed one of the little guys, but he was able to get himself out of the way, and I assisted too.

Lots of fresh bedding and its time for bed.

Sleep tight!

Udder Check

Its that time.

No - not dinner time.

Time to check the calendar and udders for pending kidding dates.

Looks like we have a couple of starts. Why are you looking at that end when you could be looking at my face? Or my smile?
Perverts!

Kids On Board

The barn cats are warming up the warming barrel in this nasty, cold weather. Mia will have to give up her barn bed soon though, as it appears we have kids in our future. If the weather stays anything like this, the warming barrel will be in constant use. Perhaps Snickers can snuggle with some new kids this winter
The news from the barn by my goat gynecologist was, "I think Twee is getting an udder!"

By Golly! She is!

Twee was the only female not bred last November, and she was smaller and not quite a year old, so we were okay with that. She matured and grew beautifully this year, and I think will be bringing us our first kids of 2010.

Twee will be kidding for the first time, so she was flat as can be before. Obviously she is not anymore. This could put her at 15 weeks or better. Gestation is 5 months or 150 days. All but one of the goats kidded at 150 days exactly this spring. Speckles was four days late. So the dates I have marked on my kidding calendar for Twee, based on seeing her with the buck, are January 15 (I think too soon), and February 5 (The pool is started. Lets take bets!).

I went onto a couple sites to gather more information, and will try and check for kids using the following information.
What to expect during your goats pregnancy and Onset of Labor
http://www.7mfarm.com/goat-health2.html

In my searches, I found another site talking about mastitis and a "treatment" that seems to make a lot of sense.
"If you treat the udder at this early stage, in most cases it will be normal again by the next milking. The treatment I have found most effective is to drench the goat with some of her own fresh milk – 20 mls will do – as soon as I detect an abnormality in the udder. This challenges the goat to produce antibodies against whatever caused the mastitis and is very effective. It is cheap, with no withdrawal period unlike drugs."

I'll have to run this one by the vet for an opinion. See what you think.
Natural Ways of Treating Mastitis by Irene Ramsay

But the other good news is that I think Twee's mother, Vinegar, is also starting to "show". Her udder looks like it is starting to round out again. I have a date of February 24 on my calendar for her. She has given us two sets of twins, and is a great mom, so I hope for more of the same from her.
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Oh! Its still snowing.
Just look at the past week's snow pictures to know what its like outside. Cold and white - and I admit - pretty!