Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Now 6 kids, still waiting for a few more


Yesterday was the most difficult birth that we have yet experienced, and I got to experience most of it all by myself. Lucille gave us one little girl, and I am very surprised (and now much relieved) that she only had one. Lucille is our oldest goat, the black Saanen that we first purchased with 2 white kids (Helen and Jack). Goats can have 2 or 3 kids, especially after their first year, but last year and this she only had one in there. She looked as large or larger than the rest of the mamas, but one day later...I am sure she is done. :)

When I checked on her, she had just a little baby nose sticking out the business end. A little black baby nose with the tongue sticking out. She was struggling to push out the whole kid, but it was not in the right position. They are supposed to come out feet first with the head right after. This one had the feet and legs tucked back under its little body.

The good news is that new little girl and mom survived my help. The not so good news is that I was out there for almost 2 hours pulling on the kid's head as hard as I could until I could finally grab it by the shoulders. Not easy. Not fun for any of us. Calls to 3 different vets for help provided me with the info I needed—large quantity of baby oil! I won't share any more of the gory details with you other than to say I did 2 loads of laundry when all was said and done. And took 2 showers.

Poor Lucille! And poor little girl with the longest neck ever (sorry!!!!). Both are doing very well, as far as I can tell.

In the large pic above, little Roger Ramjet (brown one) brother of Bowie Jr (black one) is still struggling to stay alive. He was born on Friday and is still not feeding from Beatrice. We have had him in the house in our laps a few times, he made a trip to the vet, and he spent last night in the bathtub (much to the delight of Woody and Cyrus!). Even with all of our attempts to revive him, he still just won't turn it around and perk up. But he must have a strong will to live because he is still hanging in there. Say a little prayer for Roger.

The second photo is Rosie with her 2 kids who were born on Sunday. The larger light-colored boy had a little difficulty making his way into the world. Only now in this photo can I see that he is missing the hair on one whole side. Ouch, must have been uncomfortable being stuffed in mom's belly all that time! The second Bowie look-alike is actually a girl! Yay! Much smaller than her brother, but still very cute.

We decided to name only the Bowie look-alikes with David Bowie-related names. The first kid born was Ziggy Stardust. He does not look like his dad, but we couldn't help it, he was the first.

So Rosie's girl and Lucille's girl will probably be Angie, and Jean Jeannie. Still working on a name for light boy. And, if we get another Bowie boy—Major Tom!

Sunday, February 12, 2017

More kids: 4 boys, 1 girl total

Beatrice and Bowie Jr.

Zena and Ziggy Stardust
Twins: Roger Ramjet and Bowie Jr.
Beatrice nosing the David Bowie look alike above. Cutest picture gets first dibs.

Pics to the right are kids in order of appearance. One of the youngest, Zena, gave us Ziggy Stardust on Tuesday. She is an excellent mother, especially considering it is her first time kidding.

Friday morning Beatrice gave us twin boys: Roger Ramjet and Bowie Jr. Roger has been struggling to stay alive. Even a trip to the vet and multiple hours of resting in our laps inside, and resting in the bathtub for even more hours, and we still cannot tell if he will make it or not. But he is trying.

And this afternoon Rosie provided us with another honey-colored boy who is twice the size of his Bowie-colored sister. Not the best at sexing baby goats right after their birth, so I could be wrong, but pretty sure the last one is a little girl. (My God I look old in that picture!)

I will do a better job of posting when things settle down a bit. We still have 4 pregnant goats, and it is snowing something fierce out there, and Cyrus is having a blast barking at all of the deer who show up really well in the snow!

Some day soon we will all settle down.
Bowie Jr. and Ziggy



Rosie with her new boy
Rosie gave us the first girl (I think)

Wednesday, February 8, 2017

One day old

Didn't you know it was Take Your Baby Goat to Work Day?

Brought the little one in to the newspaper office to share the cuteness.

He was loved by all, but I think he likes me the best.

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Let the fun begin!



Not much to say except the wait is over. First kid of 2017! Pretty sure he's a boy.

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Sunny and Sleepy. Still no kids.


Sun today, after days of clouds and snow flurries. These boys (and their mama) are just being lazy today, hanging out in the sun.

We had some visitors from way down South for Mr. David Bowie today. They were here last year on the day we brought him home. He was just a tiny little boy to pick up and cuddle. Now Mr. Bowie is the king of the hill, waiting just like the rest of us for all of his little children to appear.

So much cuteness on the way...but, in the meantime, pictures of lazy boys in the house.