New Kids on the Block

Elvis and Priscilla just hours after being born.

Things have been pretty slow here on the Red Clay Farm until yesterday.

I walked outside to go for a run yesterday morning and heard a strange bellowing coming from the back corner of the pasture. I knew exactly what it was the moment I heard it. For weeks we have been waiting for Prissy to kid. We knew it was imminent because she looked like she was about to explode.

As I got to the back of the pasture I saw Prissy standing over two baby goats. One was up and moving around, the other laying down. As I got closer, I saw that the on laying down had its leg caught in the fence. They were mostly dry and clean so they had been around for a couple of hours, but not much more.

I untangled the leg from fence and tried to get the little kid to walk around. He would not use the let at all. Instead, he would drag both rear feet behind him, kind of like that half of a zombie dragging herself across the town square in that show, The Walking Dead. After some quick research on the 'Net, we decided to splint his legs and see if that helped him. It did. A few hours later, he was up and moving around on all fours, looking rather stylish in his purple and white splints!

Elvis and Priscilla are doing well today. They are strong and active! Unless something bad happens, I believe we got them through the rough patch!

This is Elvis trying to get to his momma and
dragging his leg behind him.

Priscilla just after being born. It's amazing how
quick they are to stand up and get going!

Not Out Of The Woods Yet!

I walked out to check on the goats this morning. It was a cool 27 degrees. Everyone appears to have made it through the night but the new guy... Just barely.

I brought him into the house to warm him up. He started shivering as he warmed. Once he got over his shivering, he got a little more active and tried to stand. He was weak and stumbly.

While he was warming I stuck my finger in molasses diluted by warm water and rubbed it in his mouth. I got very little response. We tried the bottle again with no luck. He just wouldn't take it. Several websites suggest sub-cutaneous injections of lactated-ringer's solution and tube feeding. I don't have the experience or supplies for either. I guess I'll have to figure that out and stock some supplies for the future.

So, once he was thoroughly warmed, I took him back to the herd. He started bleating and they all came running. I put him with Junie and he started nursing. Maybe getting him good and warm was the key!

UPDATE: As of last night the little goat was doing well enough to tentatively name. He was moving around and feeding on his own. We named him Petie.

For future reference, I found a link to the supplies every goat rancher needs here and another website that talked about how to manage weak and wimpy kids here. This link about warming a chilled kid was also very helpful

New Goat #4 (I hope)

Junie has always been the problem child. When she was born we only had a few days with her before we had to go on a trip to Kansas. As a result, she is completely wild and scared to death of us. It's almost impossible to catch her unless we sneak up on her while she's eating. Even then, it's tough.

So, wouldn't you know she would give birth on the one of the worst weather nights we've had! Last night it POURED as a frontal system came through. The temps dropped from the 60's down to the low 30's. Rumor is it even snowed a little.

So I came out this morning to find one very cold and wet little buck and one even colder (dead) little buck. I dried the little guy off and put some betadine on his umbilical. Naturally, June was traumatized that I was within 10 feet of her and took off. I decided to back off and try to let nature take it's course.

I learned a lot about goats today. It was touch and go all day long and the new guy seemed very weak. The day finally warmed into the 50's. We set the new baby in the sun where he started warming up. I didn't want to have to bottle feed this baby and I wanted June to accept and take care of it. I was afraid that if I did too much, she would never accept it.

We managed to catch June and calm her down with some feed. I held her while my wife tried to get the kid to nurse. He would start, and then lose interest quickly. We tried this several times with very little success. After some quick research on the Web, I decided that we were going to have to bottle feed the little guy.

I made then run in to TSC to buy the required supplies. Forty-three dollars later, I came home and mixed up some kid milk replacement with colostrum replacement and took it out to the new kid. He would not have it! He was warm enough, I think (Here's where I learned that I need a goat rectal thermometer). He just would not have the bottle. We held June again and tried to get him to nurse with some limited success. June was attentive to the baby so we decided to let her handle it herself.

As of this writing, the goats are bedded down in straw under the shed. It is a cold night and it's supposed to get colder. I have wrestled with the idea of bringing the baby in to keep him warm, but I think I will let June and nature handle it and see what happens.

If the little guy lives, I'll post a picture of him tomorrow.

New Goats 2 & 3

I came out this morning to do a head count and found that Nutter Butter gave birth to twins last night. This is her first set of twins out of five pregnancies!

NB is never too sure about us Red Clay Farmers. If we have food, she will stand by us, but otherwise, she is always out of reach. Her demeanor changes every time she kids and she becomes more friendly. This morning she seemed happy to see me as I visited with her and her babies. She was even happier when I gave her some feed without the rest of the herd swarming her.

 The brown kid is a buckling. The black one is a doe. They each have a distinct personality. The brown one is kind of bold and adventurous. The black one is a little more reserved and timid. I've named them Big Dan and Li'l Ann.

New Goat #1

I knew she was pregnant, but Chrissie surprised me this morning when I walked out to the pasture and found a baby goat by the water tank! That was the good news. The bad news was that the baby's twin sister did not survive and we found her little body a few feet away. It's too bad, too. The one that didn't make it had really unique markings.

Doe and kid appear to be doing well.