A Tale of Two Deliveries

Hazel

Seven days after being on "high alert" and watching for signs of labor Hazel's udder finally filled up to the point where I knew babies were coming. I woke and checked her on Friday morning and found her restless and chattering. By around 4 that afternoon Hazel was having very obvious. I started checking her about every half hour and had a baby monitor on in the house. By around 8 that night it was time to put on the extra clothes and head out to observe.

 

When Hazel got to the point where she was lying down I crept up next to her with a towel ready to intercept and dry the new kids. Unfortunately, that part didn't go as planned. Hazel was obviously straining and there was no progress on that "bubble" that had now emerged. I took a closer look at the bubble- no little white hoof tips. .. this observation combined with the lack of progress began to concern me. I decided it was time to see what was up. There were no legs in the birth canal and when I did finally feel a kid, I felt a very big head and no legs. (this is when I had my first panic)

 

I paused and took a few moments to try and visualize what I had just felt and to think about my next move. It was now 8:00PM on a Friday night and realized there would be no vet on call. The large animal vets we do have are at least 45min away and I was not sure how long I had before I lost all the kids.  It was also getting colder. The low that night was supposed to be -3. (groan) 

 

I decided it was time to act- I cleaned my arm up, removed my rings, and decided I needed to find some legs. It turns out that kid had its legs bundled up beneath it and its head was down. I was able to grab a leg, point it in the right direction, and get the head of the kid up so the nose pointed to the "way out". At this point Hazel gave a good push and the leg started to emerge. I was able to grab that leg and get the first kid out. It was very nice black doe. ..but it was not moving. I got her by her back legs and tipped her upside down a few times, cleared her airway, rubbed the side of her chest .. I saw her eye twitch at one point and thought we were out of the woods. .. It was right at this time that Hazel started straining again. I covered up the doe kid with a towel and turned to assist Hazel with a second doe.

 

 This one came out without trouble- aside from being backwards. She was kicking and I turned my attention to her, dried her as best as I could and wrapped her up in a towel. She was placed in my "kid duffel bag". It was about this time I realized that the first doe was lost. By this time Hazel was rather exhausted and I started worrying about her, she was straining again but didn't seem to have much energy. I gave her some warm water and molasses I had brought out in a thermos and let Hazel lick her new doe. (Hazel was tested for CAE as well) This seemed to be the only thing that got mama back in the game.

 

Soon Hazel was back laying down and pushing...again, no progress. This time it was a large kid and all I knew was that it was not positioned right. I found some legs and had to start pulling. I had to pull HARD! The 3rd kid emerged, and I got him on the towel. He was lifeless. I shook him by the legs, cleared the airway, and started rubbing his side. .. there was a bit of a reflex.....repeat. .. there was another gasp.. Finally I placed him on his back to expose his rib cage to me- I gave him a good jab with my thumb right under the diaphragm. GASP!.. The little guy started to wiggle. I dried him off and placed him in the bag with his sister. By now, my hands were numb and Hazels wet hind end was starting to develop ice ...it was time to move the whole circus indoors.

 

The kids went in their bag on the back porch and I had to carry Hazel to the porch. I put Hazel in one of our dog crates- She was soaked. I figured she deserved a warm place to stay overnight and I wanted to keep an eye on her. My attention then moved to the kids. By this time they were COLD. I used a hair dryer to clean them off. By this time the girl was looking for something to eat and I made the decision to let her get colostrum from Hazel. Hazel had tested negative for CAE, Johne's and CL and the family had been removed from the barn and moved to my back porch. I put the doeling with Hazel and focused on the buck.

 

I noticed the buckling was not able to use his front legs. He could shuffle around trying to move himself with his back legs, but the fronts were just not working. I got him to Hazel's udder so he could at least get a shot of colostrum. He was able to nurse but since the kennel was cramped I took him away and placed him back in the duffel bag. I didn't want him to get trampled. The little buck spent the night in the duffel bag next to my fire place. With everything somewhat settled, and it being 2am, I decided I would get some sleep and see if there was any progress with the buck in the morning.  

 

It was a nice surprise when I was awoken at 5am to this little guy in screaming in his duffel bag.

I took a look at him, and he was STANDING! I let him join his sister and mother, and let him get another dose of colostrum.  A few hours later, Hazel was doing well so I moved her back to the barn with the adult goats. It would now be time to bottle feed. I used a milk replacer from Hoegger goat supply and after a few days the kids were pros.

 

 

Phoenix

 

Phoenix went into labor five days later. I made the same preparations and she began active pushing around 4 in the afternoon.  Thankfully, this one went according to plan.

 



 

 

Phoenix gave birth to 2 kids- A buckling and a doeling. This process took about 15min.

 





 

 

These babies were removed right away and joined the other kids. Phoenix had the same testing status as Hazel. I gave her kids her colostrum and they were eventually put on the same milk replacer as Hazels.  

 

 

 

 

 

 



For the next few weeks the goats got used to a schedule and the bottle feeding routine continued. The kiddos went to their new home about a week later. I think my planning went as well as to be expected. If there is one thing I have learned with goats- be flexible. You never know what wrench will be thrown in the plans and you need to learn to adapt accordingly!

 

 I decided that the largest threat for Hazel and Phoenix kids for contracting Johne's was from the environment. Since both moms had current test results I made the decision to allow the babies to have colostrum from mom. I believe the benefits of having healthy kids outweighed the risk. They were started on milk replacer after so they would have a smooth transition when they moved to their new homes.

 

 

 







 

 

Coming soon..

Sunny will be due in a month or two and Maddie will be later in May. I plan to test Maddie and Hoodie closer to Maddie's due date. I hope to bring updates as things progress.