After pulling a 24-hour shift and having a couple hours of sleep, I am hoping that my cup of coffee is going to do miracles for me today: I was on milking duties in the morning and evening, and I was on night patrol too. When we made the schedule last week, I thought it was a great idea to have a couple days of morning and night shift on the same days, as usually, night is pretty mellow….well, until last night that is! One of the goat has been on the watch list for a few days but it was pretty sure she was going to have it yesterday. When i went to check at 2 a.m. I noticed she was having contractions so I assumed that it shouldn’t be too long; i should have remembered what assuming does! Over an hour and a half, later, the kid finaly came out on its own (i was afraid that i would have to help, because usually it does not take that long for the goat to push the baby out). What a relief. By that time, I was very cold, my fingers were numb and I sat waiting with the goat, in the pen, under the heat lamp, for what seems like an eternity. It took a while to hook the kid up to the mom but i keep remimding myself that boys are slower than girls, that’s how it goes…I knew one kid was still inside so i was hoping to get it over with quickly. Finally, an hour later, at 4:30 am, I see two back legs (this is not the way it is supposed) so I gear up and try to go inside the goat to see what’s happening. Now, the goat does not like that and she keeps moving around, which makes it very difficult to do anything, so I finally attached her because I did not want to go get someone just to hold the goat still. The breech position (back legs and butt first) is not great but it usually comes out okay as long as both legs are out at the same time. All i had to do was to pull on the legs and here it went! This little guy pushed my buttons though, and it probably was because i was exhausted by that time but he would not eat: he would not drink from the bottle, or from the teat (he would not swallow anything!). My first reaction was just to let go and be as stuborn as he was ( you will eat when you’re hungry type of reaction!) but it is very important that the kids get the colostrum asap so i spend quiet some time trying to get him to eat a tiny bit. Stuborn goat! Let me tell you that goats are teaching me patience, everyday, but they also make me laugh everyday so i guess it is a good balance!
Maria, who is a great mom, gave birth to a girl that was very week yesterday, especially her head and neck. The kid could not stand up or even lift her head up. It was heart breaking because you could tell that she wanted to try so bad. I think she has selenium deficiency, which makes the muscles very weak, and you can prevent this problem by making sure you give adequate selenium to your goats. We’ve had lots of cases with selenium defficiency this year. I hope this little gal is goinbg to make it; she is such a fighter that she deserves to make it in this world. It is sad to see her just laying there and not being able to do anything. I will make a special prayer for her. Derek was around for the delivery so he’s been taking extra care of her. He’s such a good hearted man, coaching her, spending lots of time massaging her neck, doing “physical therapy” and trying to have her stand up and lift her head up. I think he takes it very personaly so I hope she is going to make it. I am finding out that my husband is patient (with the goats that is!) and is such a wonderful, caring man. He would be a great coach or teacher. I think he’s a natural.
Updates: I just went to check on Miss Lela at 2 p.m., who we thought, still had a baby inside. She started labor before 2 a.m. and was done birthing at 3 p.m., what an experience! Anyhow, i went inside her and felt that the baby’s head was backward and that the shoulders were first (not good!). I spend quiet some time trying to pull the head forward and trying to find a leg to bring forward as well. I was successful pulling the baby out but it came out dead and the eyeballs were missing. Who knows how long it’s been dead. We started cleaning up when after few minutes she started pushing again: 2 back legs first…and a little girl came out. We had to swing her around a bit to help her breath but she seems okay and she has a voice, let me tell you. Pretty amazing that she stayed alive after all this time. 3 out of 4, not bad. It is pretty rare to have four babies and all of them alive. The mom seems to be going well, as well as you can expect for being in labor for so long. Hopefully, that’s it for Lela : )
The little gal with the weak neck and front legs is also doing better. She can stand on her own but still has some trouble keeping her head up for a long time. I do see some progress, which is great.