Assisted Birth

I got a call this morning from a friend that was concerned about her goat.  She went to the barn this morning and found her goat had given birth to one kid.  The mother had the kid all dried off and there was no apparent afterbirth and she didn't appear to be having any further contractions.  My friend was concerned that she still had more kids in there because she still looked very pregnant.  I was headed to work and advised her not to wait more than an hour before she went in to see what was going on.  When I got to work she called me with no changes so I had her bring the goat to my place of work so I could help her.  When she got here I gloved up & went in. I almost couldn't get my hand in all the way and began to get butterflies in my stomach. Finally I was able to get in and I felt a head and two legs.  I pulled the legs but the head was turned back.  I didn't feel any movement from the kid and was concerned that the kid was dead.  I knew it had been at least two hours since labor had begun so I told my friend that I thought the kid was dead and pulled those two legs with all my might.  I was worried that the kid wouldn't come out because her head was turned back. I tried several times to get it turned in the right direction but without a kid puller I was helpless.  A customer & a delivery driver pulled in while I had my hand stuck up this goat's but. What a sight for them, a goat giving birth in the parking lot! I was sick to my stomach and told her I thought I was going cry. I envisioned this goat having a C-section but I wasn't ready to give up yet.  I pulled again and out popped the kid.  She was ALIVE!  Phew. I'm glad she remembered the towels so we had something to put her on.  We were talking and the momma goat was standing up cleaning off her newborn kid when we glanced at her but.  There was another kid's head sticking out.  I quickly pulled it out and we went to work suctioning out it's mouth and nose.  I tried shaking him upside down to drain out the fluid.  We worked on it for a few minutes but I think he was dead long before he was born.  He was a tiny little thing. Another bubble emerged and I popped it.  A few minutes passed and she wasn't having any noticeable contractions so I went in.  I found a but and followed it up a back.  While visualizing what position this kid was in with my hand for my eyes I found two hind legs tucked up under.  I broke the sac & pulled the two legs out bringing the kid out swiftly.  We quickly cleaned out his mouth & nose and he was fine.  I could see that the afterbirth was hanging now & that he was the final kid.  Quads. Two boys two girls, all with blue eyes.   I'm glad she brought her in and didn't wait.  The moral here is to trust your gut.  If something doesn't feel right it probably isn't.

Above is tired momma.  Two sleeping dried off kids to the top right and one just born to the left.

The last kid was pretty good size.  I think they got tangled up in there because one wasn't alive to move things along.

My 2 year old daughter, future goat doctor praising momma goat.

I'm happy that this story had a happy ending.

Soap

Yesterday I taught a soap making class.  Six wonderful women attended and we made two batches of Goat's Milk Soap using milk from my goats. Everyone got to take home 5 bars of soap that I had made previously and a wooden soap mold that my husband made. It holds at least 2 lbs and makes 10 bars of soap.

One the soap molds above shown with 4 bars we made in class.

Soap cutter also made by my husband to cut even bars of soap.

Soap from class cut and ready to be brought upstairs to cure for at least a month.  After it has cured I will package & label it so it will be ready to sell.

Goat Hair Cuts

Every spring all of my goats get hair cuts.  All the little nasties (AKA Lice) that have been hiding out in their winter coats will be shaved away.  No hair.  No lice. A good shave also helps keep them cooler in the summer and helps prevent stray hairs from getting in the milk pail.  Below is Lady Gaga pre trim.

And Lady Gaga post trim.

A completely new do. Doesn't she look nice?

Kids

One of the best parts of raising Nigerian Dwarf goats is watching my kids play with "kids."  This little goat, Eclipse, has been coming to work with us this past week.  Eclispe is one month old and being bottle fed while she recovers from a cold.  She is from a set of quads.  Her mother has enough milk to feed all four but her two bigger siblings pushed her and her sister out because they were half their size. Eclipse & Twilight caught colds last weekend.  Unfortunately, her sister, Twilight, did not recover from her cold and crossed the rainbow bridge.  Eclipse is doing just fine now and should be able to go back in the barn with her friends by the end of this weekend.  I will continue to give her a bottle until she's at least 8 weeks old to ensure she gets fed adequetly.  I told my oldest daughter that Eclipse would be going back in the barn and no longer would be coming to work with us.  She suggested we bring another one in because they are having so much fun playing with her.  Ahh, kids! 

Cryptorchid

So I went to wether an 8 week old buckling this morning and found that he only had one testicle descended. Turns out he is cryptorchid.  He was destined to be wethered as he doesn't fit my standards of being a registered breeding buck.  The vet fee to surgically remove his undecended testicle would cost more than I could ever sell him for. I can't band his single testicle because he would still be receiving all his bucky hormones so he would look like, smell like & act like a buck.  I have read that I could band him and that there is a chance that he would be infertile because his body heat would not be favorable for sperm.  If someone was looking for a good teaser that would be an option. So this leaves me in a pickle.  I have decided to leave him intact and sell him as a pet breeding buck.