Kidding Season So far...2016

So, 7 of our 8 girls were pregnant this kidding season.  2 of them we didn't even know where in the family way as they never gained weight, didn't have udder sac changes, didn't exhibit a mucus stream, or any of the other "normal" signs of being pregnant.  19 babies arrived; we lost 5 but have 14 bouncing and crazy little ones right now.

With the arrival of all of the babies, we just doubled the herd and now have to create a larger barn area.   It is interesting at night trying to marry babies to their moms.   In order to save us headache, we color coded the little ones with kids paint.  It is washable and non-toxic.  Of course, it doesn't last very long when you have several days of rain!

Anyway, we had 2 sisters deliver their babies at the same time.  That was extremely stressful as the first baby to arrive was a breech.   That was a new delivery for me as I had yet to experience that. We also had one doe delivery 5 days late.   Another had a very, very difficult delivery and I wanted to touch on her situation as a "lessons learned" for others.

Praline started exhibiting a bloody mucus stream the week of her delivery.  This is never a good sign. Her body was demonstrating that something was wrong.   She delivered 3 babies, the first 2 being stillborn.   Her body was likely trying to abort these; thus the bloody stream.  

During her delivery, which was stressful for all involved, she lost alot of blood and fluids.  She became too weak to stand and take care of her one surviving baby.   We had to do something to save our Queen of the Herd.

Vital things to have on hand during the week of delivery consist of:

Pedialyte
Gatorade
Electrolyte mix
Molasses
Apples
Drench syringes: both empty to push fluid and those that have electrolyte already inside
Goat Drench fluid (smells nasty but works miracles)

With Praline, she was so weak that we drenched her with the Goat Drench every 8 hours.   Every hour, on the hour, we provided oral doses (drenches) of pedialyte.   This was for three days.  

The first day was focused on rehydrating her and helping her feed her little boy.   Day 2 consisted of convincing her to try to drink on her own.  This is where warm, molasses water is important.  Goats love anything sweet and molasses gives that extra boost of sugar for energy and strength.

Goats also love apples.   Because Praline was still too weak to eat on her own, we made her fresh applesauce.   We mixed in some of the Goat Drench in the sauce and provided her applesauce every hour, on the hour, in combo with the pedialyte.  By Day 3, she was able to stand on her own and no longer needed the Goat Drench  (thank goodness because this stuff really stinks!).

Days 4 and 5, she was back to herself and did not need us to intervene.  She started eating hay again and grain.   Smiles were had by all.

Now, all of the babies are outside and starting to nibble on grass, grain, and hay.   Some are also helping themselves to the water in buckets that we hang high enough to keep them from drowning in. The weather hasn't been overly fun for their first few days outside as we have been receiving rain.   They are still happy to be able to jump around and run like crazy little goats!