Sunday was hoof trimming day for our herd, and the fact that Violet let her hooves be trimmed while lying down was a good clue that she was in early labor because she could have cared less what was going on as long as she got a maternity massage at the same time.
Around 3:30pm she produced a bubble and we were expecting kids to follow shortly after but that didn't occur. After waiting a half hour I checked and no kid in the birth canal. Which is very odd. I kept checking every half hour, and still no kid in the birth canal and my checks were not brining on contractions like usual, but she didn't seem to be in distress. Finally about 8am I went in past her cervix - something I have not personally done before, although I have witnessed it. Took me awhile to figure out what I was feeling but I finally got a finger into the tight ball of kid at his hip, and was able to follow that down and untangle his back legs enough to get them into the birth canal and then slowly pull him out with a twist. He arrived upside down and backwards and we fully expected he would be dead, but no, he was very much alive.
His sister arrived without any assistance lined up in the perfect dive position. And since he dam was standing up and busily cleaning off her brother, she was caught on the way down. Both kids were hungry and quickly got the hang of nursing. Both are chocolate buckskins and have their dam's brown eyes. Up until this point, Violet has been my only brown-eyed goat, but I am probably going to retain this daughter. She is quite a little chatter box and speaks up sweetly every time someone enters the room. (Not complaining or demanding just saying "hi") She also comes over and hangs out with me - so much so I wonder if she realizes I helped her escape by removing her brother.
Violet is a very well put together doe with a fantastic pedigree so I will possibly be offering the buckling as a future herd sire. I will know more once he has had a few days to get over his balled up position and stretch out a bit.
Around 3:30pm she produced a bubble and we were expecting kids to follow shortly after but that didn't occur. After waiting a half hour I checked and no kid in the birth canal. Which is very odd. I kept checking every half hour, and still no kid in the birth canal and my checks were not brining on contractions like usual, but she didn't seem to be in distress. Finally about 8am I went in past her cervix - something I have not personally done before, although I have witnessed it. Took me awhile to figure out what I was feeling but I finally got a finger into the tight ball of kid at his hip, and was able to follow that down and untangle his back legs enough to get them into the birth canal and then slowly pull him out with a twist. He arrived upside down and backwards and we fully expected he would be dead, but no, he was very much alive.
His sister arrived without any assistance lined up in the perfect dive position. And since he dam was standing up and busily cleaning off her brother, she was caught on the way down. Both kids were hungry and quickly got the hang of nursing. Both are chocolate buckskins and have their dam's brown eyes. Up until this point, Violet has been my only brown-eyed goat, but I am probably going to retain this daughter. She is quite a little chatter box and speaks up sweetly every time someone enters the room. (Not complaining or demanding just saying "hi") She also comes over and hangs out with me - so much so I wonder if she realizes I helped her escape by removing her brother.
Violet is a very well put together doe with a fantastic pedigree so I will possibly be offering the buckling as a future herd sire. I will know more once he has had a few days to get over his balled up position and stretch out a bit.
Violet's pedigree is the combination of two of the top milking lines from Jobi which is one of the foundation herds of the breed. And Saranghae is the son of the fabulous Castle Rock Sarafina.
This finishes off all of the does bred to Saranghae and our next kiddings won't be until mid April. I am sure we will enjoy the break from sleeping in the kidding room, but we are eagerly looking forward to seeing what Kingfisher is going to produce for us this year. And we will have a couple of first fresheners kidding - Rosie and Moolatte so we get to see some new udders too. Along with them will be Levana the "old lady" of our herd. Depending on how this kidding goes it may be her last as she is getting along in years. Last year she had to be induced after going over, so we are prayinig this year everything goes smoothly and that we get at least one more doe kid out of her.
This finishes off all of the does bred to Saranghae and our next kiddings won't be until mid April. I am sure we will enjoy the break from sleeping in the kidding room, but we are eagerly looking forward to seeing what Kingfisher is going to produce for us this year. And we will have a couple of first fresheners kidding - Rosie and Moolatte so we get to see some new udders too. Along with them will be Levana the "old lady" of our herd. Depending on how this kidding goes it may be her last as she is getting along in years. Last year she had to be induced after going over, so we are prayinig this year everything goes smoothly and that we get at least one more doe kid out of her.
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