Kids. Kids. Kids.... and broken fences....

I'm sitting here trying to remember some details.. Last December 2020 we started to kid.  Dec. 25th to be more exact... Then in January 2021 we had a few more.  I have to check my notes because the difficulty to remember is huge right now. I hope it comes back. 

Giving birth is usually such a whirlwind of excitement around here. Getting the stalls ready. Cleaning them. Bedding them. Getting the molasses and the towels put in place. Making sure i have all the things needed in case of a problem... This year not so much. I'm tired. Sick. In pain alot. Still dealing with symptoms of Covid and it's long haul status. Luckily, 2 does kidded out easily. I walked outside and voila babies on the ground. And so thankful for it.  Had zero strength and constantly dizzy... 

Fern started to give birth and all that changed. It was about an hour of me trying to untangle kids. Adrenaline rushing i realized later I was going to be down for days afterwards... Nothing I was doing was working. I needed brute force at this point. to save Fern. I knew the kids were likely dead already.  Luck would have it a friend was coming over. I got her involved in pulling out what we knew were already deceased kids. When kids are alive they do help in the process of birthing. Their heads don't waggle all over the place. You can put your finger in their mouths and feel the tongue move. You can re-arrange them still inside and their heads won't wobble back. Or their feet won't disappear again... But with this birth they were tangled, and likely dead a day or two. It was very upsetting Fern is 10 years old this year. I wanted this to be her last kidding. And based on the difficulty it will be. It was in my opinion one of my more terrible births. I am convinced the kids were dead prior to her first push. But still doesn't take that sting away. I think she might have been head butted by one of the others a few days before. 

This picture popped up on my memories in FB. 11 years ago.
My friend Liz is holding Fern as a baby. 

All in all a somewhat uneventful birthing. 3 goats. 6 doelings (2 that died). 1 buckling.  I weaned them uneventfully. One died from unknown reasons. One sold. 3 of them are still here. Today, they are hitting 7 months old. Healthy and doing well. 

This would normally be the end of the 'birthing season post' ... ha.... in typical farming fashion...  the unexpected happened... and yes, being ill is a part of it.. Charles my buck decided he was going to break thru a few fences back in February. While i tried to contain. And fix. I was no match for him this year.  Especially back then... The fencing is far too old and he is far too big and... 

Part two of birthing commences...  Carolina gave birth to again 2 healthy doelings. And Wild Child gave birth as well, to 2 doelings.  Both of them gave birth easily and without any help from me. These 4 babies are still in the house. Video below. I have to say how much I love birthing season. But twice in one year is just too much. On me. On the goats. On their udders that were slowly drying them off early. I love their wide eyed looks. Antics. Cries. Even the parrots get involved and start calling for the little ones.

What am I going to do with Charles. And the fencing. Right now I have him stuck in the back. For how long till he breaks thru that fencing ... Time will tell. It's now become urgent I do something drastic to keep him away from the girls. 

If this year wasn't such a blurred mess with me getting sick -it would have been stellar. 8 doelings. 1 buck. out of 5 birthing. I would call that the goat trifecta. Bucks are so difficult to sell. Does aren't. 

They really are the cutest with the elf ears.  Charles is a purebred Nubian. 

Both Dams are 50/50 Lamancha/Nubians. This makes the babies ears a tad longer. And if you see I have one with beautiful Nubian ears - and to standard - below the nose.