Progress

The alpacas and Merinos were fascinated by the machinery that the fence guys brought into the pasture. Thanksgiving is always looking for a handout and was not shy about approaching these guys. This pasture is half fenced and will be finished tomorrow. I threw the does who lost their kids out into the blue panel area outside to give more room in the pens. They will go in the pasture in the morning.

The kid in yesterday's post did not make it, but I did figure out what was causing my problems. It has gotten cooler and the barn feels wet and damp. Usually the moms clean the kids' nostrils out enough that they would dry out on their own. These babies are raspy, so their lungs are filling up with fluid. I lost 4 this way. Today I managed to catch the little black doe below and another white doe in time. The white doe is huge, so I left her with her mom and she is fine. Flower, the black doe, is going to stay inside and become a bottle baby. She weighs exactly 3 pounds and is half the size of the rest of the babies. She is now out of the box and has found a dark quiet spot.

Her place in the box has been taken by a white buck born late this afternoon. Talk about a casual teenage mom. She had the baby and walked away to eat. I thought he was dead, but he was just too cold. My neighbor, Harry, came over and helped me get the buck to drink off her. We sheared her udder area and I will milk her for a few days. He is obviously going to be a bottle baby also because she has shown no interest in him at all. In fact we had to catch a few goats to figure out who the mother was.

I am just going to add today to the chapter in my book labeled teenage pregnancy and what can go wrong with birthing. I have several pages of anecdotes already!

And, I cannot wait for that pasture to be fenced! The Great Pyrenees opened the barn door this morning by jumping and bringing the handle down. I heard a bark at the bedroom door at 5:15 a.m. and looked out to see Left and Right eating out of Shep and Herd's storage container on the porch. Fortunately I had bought collars for the Pyrenees. Left destroyed Right's collar within minutes on the day that I bought them, but she still had hers on. I got a lead on her and walked behind her patting her rear (which she did not like) and managed to get her back to the barn. Right is a follower, so he was right behind her.

Talk about a strange start to the day. I am so grateful that they did not head to the street - it is way busier than Thornydale and cars are whizzing by at 10-20 miles above the speed limit. I quit walking Shep and Herd up there to pick up the paper because I thought Herd was going to get sucked under a truck the last time I took her.

Hope those of you in Tucson are enjoying the heat. I could use a few of those degrees!