The day before yesterday, Gabby began frantically pawing the ground in her pen (the new goat palace) and bleating loudly. I went out to see her and once I was in the pen, she came up to me and leaned against me while I scratched her ears and rubbed her side. I could tell she was in labor and she just wanted some comfort.
I came back in the house and when The Girl came home from school, we heard Gabby give a particularly loud bleat, we ran out to discover she had delivered an adorable little buck. I had a towel with me, so I wiped off his wee face while his mama cleaned him up.
I had suspected Gabby was carrying twins and as she cleaned up her new kid, I could see I was right, as the movement of the second kid was obvious. After about 15 minutes, she plopped back down and began delivering her second kid. A few pushes and a lovely fawn colored little doe was delivered! I wiped off her face as the wee thing was snorting and struggling to breathe.
Gabby got both her babies cleaned up, and within an hour, both were up and enthusiastically nursing.
I gave mama Gabby some warm water with molasses & salt (livestock Gatorade) mixed in to boost her energy and replace electrolytes.(Recipe: 2 quarts warm water, 1/2 cup molasses and 2 teaspoons salt, mix well)
I posted pictures (post below this one) and then the batteries on my camera died!
The Girl took some video and I am struggling to post that....just having a hard time uploading it to youtube, darnit.
So, video and more pics just as fast as I can get them up.
Babies and mama goat doing well. They have beautiful markings and are frisking around. Mama Gabby looks as pleased as can be with herself.
Baby goats are THE most adorable farm babies (just my opinion)!
Congrats lamb, I'm still waiting for my new arrivals. a few more weeks here!
ReplyDeleteI used to love foaling time. All the worrying and fretting and late night checks on the mares when they were due, and then finally, that magical moment when the foal finally arrived. Lots and lots of work the first few months getting the new baby used to being handled and haltered and teaching them to lead and let you pick up and handle their feet. It sounds like a lot of work (too much work!) if you're not a horse person, but it sure never felt like work to us.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the twins, Lamb. I'm glad they're all three doing well!
Congrats! Glad everyone is doing fine.
ReplyDeleteThe new additions to the family sure are looking good!
ReplyDeleteGlad that Gabby and family are all doing well!