Humble Garden

Her emergency set the whole herd (8 other goats) on edge. We had just given away one of our two bucks (he was too aggressive and an aggressive horned goat is not a fun thing) so the herd dynamics were already in flux.

The does could tell something was up. One in particular, Millet, seem to miss her friend. She was wandering around and seemed to be looking for something.

Well, this wasn’t so much about missing Wheatie but about Millet being in labor. She was separating herself from the herd (labor sign), getting that 1,000 yard stare (labor sign), and looking restless (labor sign).

My oldest daughter came and got me, saying that Millet was showing the bubble (see this sit for details on goat labor) so I flew out to the goat shed to find Millet scratching at the hay, making a nest (labor sign) and a bubble showing (impending delivery sign).

So I ran around the enclosure to get through the two gates and arrived at the shed just in time to kneel by Millet, smear my hands and arms up to my elbows with betadine solution and get towels arranged as the first kid presented.

A little hoof began to show, then the face (with tiny little tongue sticking out) and then the second hoof – perfect presentation. I tugged on the little hooves as Millet contracted and very soon, the first baby was born. I took the baby into my arms and cleared it’s little tiny mouth (with tiny little teeth!) and tapped it’s sides to help clear the lungs.

I scrubbed the baby to dry and then lay her down next to Millet so that Millet could clean her newborn. Soon, I was doing the same for the second one. It took quite a long time for the placentas to pass but they did with little fanfare on Millet’s part.

My oldest daughter named these newborns Calliope and Felicity.

We had another goat who was showing signs but we were not certain. Her name is Amaranth and she is our smallest goat. We figured she only had one baby on board.

After the Wheatie experience, the exhausting experience of wrestling our buck as the vet castrated him and then the kneeling for Millet, my left leg was is paroxysms of pain and cramps for days.

Needless to say, Amaranth was my next challenge. Because of the pain, we moved Amaranth to the basement so that I could tend her in warmth, instead of the mid teens F outside.

We had Ama in the basement with another doe – Rye – to watch them both. Rye was so bothered by Ama that we took Ama back out to the cold shed and I just KNEW that meant she was going to go soon (I think they HATE the basement).

Sure enough in an hour or so, we heard this REALLY loud blood curdling scream that I am sure must have freaked out the neighbors. I run out without a coat to find Ama with a baby already partly out – one leg and a face (and tiny tongue!). The baby was not coming out easily – Ama is such a petite goat.

With her next contraction, I was able to pull the baby into this world. Wow, what a healthy baby! I repeated the post-delivery process and the rest was uneventful.

This baby was named Luna. She is bigger than Millet’s babies because she was a singleton and wow she is furry.

Obviously, the photo gallery you see at the top of this post shows these three goat babies!

There will be more, no doubt, stay tuned!

Today we learned just how bad obstetrical emergencies can be.

In the morning, my oldest daughter came running in from the goat shed saying that Wheatie was giving birth. I ran out ready to assist but could see right away, with my untrained eye, that things were desperately amiss.

It looked like a large amount of tissue had come out (was on its way out) but no kid. We called our goat mentor and she came flying over to see that, indeed, this was not normal. The goat was definitely in pain. That pain must have been immense, I feel the most horrible for that.

We were thinking it could be a missed pregnancy and that this was the placenta. That was the best outcome but very wrong.

The vet finally came and he said he had not ever seen this in a goat, once in a sheep and once in a horse.

GRAPHIC WARNING

Essentially, what happened was that the cervix had separated from the vaginal wall. When the vaginal structure prolapsed, it took the abdominal mesentery with it, releasing the now severed uteri with large kids into the abdominal cavity. This is a fatal condition and I am not sure yet what it might be called.

We knew she was in pain. We also knew there was some possibility that kids may still be alive so the vet gave the goat ketamine, removed the kids and our goat mentor and I proceeded to try to resuscitate them. Its possible that the babies passed away some time before, they were completely unresponsive and essentially gone.

We have lost a precious sweethearted goat that we loved as a dear pet.

Now I have to gird the loins or buck up and try to face the other 6 next deliveries. Am crossing my fingers we don’t ever have to go through this again, ever.

Before the vet left I had him castrate the buck. We will have a large enough herd after this kidding season. We love the buck like a pet too. Since the vet was already here, it was not that expensive (we have already spent A LOT of money on vet bills today)