Silkie, one of our dairy goats, had her kids on Friday. We decided to let her feed her own babies for a month, since we have two freezers full of mik. Saves us a lot of time, since there is so much else going on now.
This mom is now looking like triplets. Any day now...
We now have a playroom into which we are throwing the moms and kids so they can get used to each other and to be sure that they can recognize each other in a crowd. we let them out yesterday and today. The moms ran out. The kids took a little more coaxing. It was fun to watch them run and play. One of the white kid does is obviulsy going to be a ring leader.
As I have been shearing, I have been putting the most recently sheared into the pen with the heater. Today, I finally moved the colored goats into one pen and left the white ones in the other. Amazing how much animosity there was in that pen. The walls were shaking!
This is Holler with her mom being very protective. They sharing a pen with two other does and their kids. The mom is afraid that they will try to steal her baby.
These two does were posing beautifully for me today. They were the last two that I sheared today. All of the goats have now been shorn, so I will keep an eye on the sheep and start shearing them next. I won't tell you how many goats there were, but it was a lot.
Life is not always fun on the farm. This afternoon, the above ewe gave birth to a lamb with no jaw. I suspect that it might be the result of worming medication or something that she ate out in the new pasture. Her second lamb is a perfectly healthy little ewe. They are both in a stall bonding.
This ewe was doing a walk about yesterday - in other words, she busted through a gate. This morning she had twins. One did not make it and her insides came out with it. I thank my friend Greta for her advice on fixing it. We managed to get everything back inside her and cleaned off while my sewing skills came in handy. Her stitches are holding and she is chewing her cud with her baby by her side. Good thing that I no longer hesitate to take action.
I always debate about sharing some of the horror stories that happen when you own animals. There are always people who criticise and see the animals as pets and not as livestock. You can't keep all of the animals and you should not breed, if you are not willing to do what has to be done. I can tell you that Marc and I were seeing this ewe as a goner when we saw her uterus laying by her side. You can't wait for a vet to show and most do not want to deal with livestock - horses, cats and dogs are much more lucrative. I am fortunate to have a network of breeders who are willing to help out - even long distance. I have pulled babies and treated all sorts of things. today was probably the worst that I have ever dealt with. I won't know whether what we did will have worked for a week, but I feel like she will be fine, since she is eating and caring for her lamb.
Every morning brings new surprises. Just pray that all of them tomorrow are happy!
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