It’s a Boy…..and a Girl

Welcome to the first kids born at Salt Creek Acres.

I guess we should back up about 38 hours and tell you how we arrived at this scene.

Thursday, April 2, I was out at the barn at a little before 7:00 a.m. I checked Brown Sugar’s tail ligaments and had a difficult time finding them, but eventually I felt a slight sign of them. They were definitely less apparent. A sign that labor is getting close.

We did our school that morning and then in the afternoon I went grocery shopping. When I returned home at about 3:30 p.m. Michael asked me to feel for her tail ligaments. I couldn’t find them. They were “gone” (completely soft) which confirmed what Michael was thinking. When the tail ligaments go completely soft they are within 12 to 24 hours of giving birth. Somewhere between 7:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. this had happened.

I put all the groceries away and then started getting the last minute kidding supplies out to the barn. Then it was wait time. I sat in a lawn chair outside of the barn playing “Free Cell” on my iPad listening for any increase in noise from Brown Sugar. Michael was in the shop, not too far away. She was definitely more vocal than normal.

About 5:00 p.m. I decided that I better make some dinner for all of us. It didn’t seem like it was progressing too quickly so I felt comfortable going into the house. Michael was still in the shop and he would keep an eye on her. Since she is a first time freshener we wanted to keep and eye on her.

After dinner we moved the waiting room to inside the barn. The boys had agreed to sleep in the barn that night (if need be) and call us on the walkie talkie when it sounded like she was getting close. The boys had a fun time setting up their cots and sleeping bags. They even brought out some of Friday’s school to do so they had less to do the next day.

Here is Brown Sugar patiently waiting.

It was quite difficult for her to get into a lying position. She would stay like this only a couple minutes before struggling to her feet again to walk around. Hard time getting comfortable.

Side note: Some people have cameras set up in their kidding stalls that connect with a computer in their house so they can look, from the comfort of their home, and know when the goat is kidding. Others set up a baby monitor so they can hear if the goat is in labor. We didn’t do any of that. We wanted to do it the good old fashioned way for our first time.

At 11:30 p.m. I announced that I was going to bed and to call me when it began. Nicholas decided that he wanted to sleep in his bed and so Michael agreed he would stay in the barn with Joshua.

At 1:30 a.m. I got the call. Not bothering to take time to respond I slipped my pants back on and headed out. By the time I got there both babies were on the ground. Michael said Brown Sugar never made a sound (a baby monitor wouldn’t have helped us) and both babies came out within seconds of each other.

We needed to get them cleaned off and dried as soon as possible. I don’t know the exact temperature but it felt like it was in the 30’s. Michael was already taking the sac off the first kid. When the babies come quickly (not uncommon with Nigerian Dwarf goats) the mom doesn’t have time to clean the sack away. This is how babies die if humans are not there to assist. We got to work on the cleaning and drying process.

The first kid born was a boy and weighed 3.5 lbs. (top kid in the picture) and the second was a girl weighing 3.0 lbs.

The girl was in good shape. We cleaned and dried her and she was stable on her feet.

We tried to let Brown Sugar do as much as she could only helping where we were needed. She is doing a good job of cleaning her babies.

The girl started nursing quickly. A good sign.

The boy seemed weaker and cold. He was shivering. We continued to dry him with towels and I quickly made him a coat.

I knit this while I was waiting in the barn.

Ha Ha Ha. If you know me you know that I don’t knit 🙂 This is an arm of a fleece sweatshirt. I found some sweatshirts at Goodwill a few weeks before hand and bought them for this purpose.

He stood up but quickly fell over.

Michael suggested to dry him with a hair dryer. Joshua ran and got it for us then back to the house to go to bed.

To us, the more serious problem was his inability to suck. When a baby goat gets too cold one of the first things to go is their suck reflex. He had no idea what to do. I finally got my pinkie in his mouth and it was cold (sign that his body temp is cold) so Michael ran to the canning room and put some hot water in the cooler. I put the boy in the very warm water and kept his head above water. Michael ran to the house to get some frozen colostrum that Bryn had given us and the bottle we had prepped.

I called my friend Jo at MisFit Farms (it’s about 2:00 a.m.) There was no answer. She called back while the little guy was in the warm water. She said that was a good thing to do and to keep her posted.

I got him out and dried him off. Jo called back and reminded me to take his temperature. It was at 102 degrees which is good.He was no longer shivering. Michael showed up with the bottle. We couldn’t get him to suck. He wouldn’t even open his mouth. Back on the phone to Jo. “Wag his tail” she said. “What???” Apparently, when the mom is cleaning the kid she cleans the bottom and this stimulates their digestive system. I did that. Nothing. He still wouldn’t take the colostrum.

Back to Jo. She said that I needed to milk some colostrum from Brown Sugar (skip the previously frozen stuff) and then put a few drops in his mouth. I ran to the house and got a dropper and a little medicine cup for the colostrum. She said that, while dripping milk into his mouth, I needed to rub my finger down his throat (simulating swallowing) while Michael is wagging his tail.

I got a dropper in his mouth and dripped a few drops in. Nothing. It just dribbled out the side of his mouth. The second time we did this he began to suck on the dropper. It worked. High fives between Michael and I. We put him next to Brown Sugar, showed him where the teet was and waited.

He was born at 1:30 a.m and it is now 4:00 a.m. It took some time and effort (and persistence) but he is nursing on his own. Woohoo!

We cleaned up what needed to be taken care of right away and were in bed by 5:00 a.m.

We learned a few things. We now know that there are some additional things we need to have in the kidding kit and we know that our plans to have a sink with a little water heater in the barn will make kiding easier. Most valuable is that we have some new information and experience that will help in the future.

In a month, when Halle is due, hopefully all will go smoothly. It would be nice if  she gives birth at 1:30 p.m.

I hope you are enjoying our adventure as much as we are.
Karen