Sunday, February 8, 2009

A couple bucks


Here are the two latest additions to the herd. There were three, one didn't survive. It was also a buck. It didn't go perfectly smoothly for Sissy, but we have learned, and she is doing well. The black one weighed 7#, and the brown one 6#.


Friday, February 6, 2009

Kidding

I don't know why I ever assume that I have these creatures figured out. Look at the word 'capricious.' It means unpredictable and flighty, in a somewhat adorable way, or something like that. The root is from Latin (or Greek) capra, which is goat - caprine, capricious, Capricorn . . . all have to do with goats.

These goats we have are pretty awesome, for the most part. They have each their own personality. We raise them by hand to be friendly to humans. But when that goat decides she won't do something, you may as well give up and try to figure out a way to bribe her. They aren't small goats, these Nubians - our wether stands almost shoulder high to me, with the older does only a little shorter. So when they dig in, they will not be moved.

Sissy was due on Monday. Yesterday, she started her labor - dripping goo, laying down and getting back up repeatedly . . . I really thought yesterday would be the day. This morning, still no kids. So then there is all the anxiety of, am I doing the right thing for her, should I have the vet come in . . . ? Am I going to have to reach in there and straighten or pull something out? (Which scares me to pieces, by the way) But no, she is still her vigorous, snarky self, so we just watch and wait.

Erika is due Saturday. She has been fighting ketosis. It makes her weak and shaky, and she didn't really want to eat. We know we can bribe her with raisins, so that helped a little. We've been treating her with proplyene glycol, which sounds nasty, but that's what you do for ketosis. Yesterday when I walked up to the barn to check on Sissy, I saw that the goats had found a feed sack to tear up. Right in the middle of the torn up pile was Erika, looking prouder and happier than she has in a week. I'll give her a feed sack to tear up every day if that's what it takes for her.

So I start this day not knowing at all what to expect. I just have to remember to trust God for the outcome, even if its not comfortable. I have to put all this anxiety aside and trust the goats to know what to do. And hopefully, sometime in the next day or two I will be able to show off some of those adorable baby goats. Nothing that is going to happen today is surprising to God, so I have to do my best for Him and trust the rest will fall into place.