Archive for the ‘Uniquely Goat’ Category
Two Weeks and Counting
All of the kids are now two weeks old. Whoa.
It’s strange to think back to a time when we had no idea what they’d look like, how many of them were in the girls’ bellies, or even whether they’d make it through the birth OK. What a huge relief that all the births went well. I can’t stress that enough. I was *so* nervous and anxious reading all the horror stories on the Internet.
I hear pregnant women say things like that all the time–how reading information on pregnancy tends to scare you because it’s all the bad stuff that gets written about. Well, goat birth stories definitely did the same for me. Of course it’s nice to be prepared for the possibilities of complications, same as with human births, but still…it can really get your imagination working overtime. I had lots of really scary thoughts about having to deal with a breech birth or worse….
Anyway, can you do me a favor and tell me whether you think they’re growing?
It’s so hard to see the changes when you’re with them every day, but every now and again, you get a good glimpse like in this photo with Nina’s baby hooves up on the gate. Doesn’t she look enormous?!
One of the coolest things in the past two weeks has been seeing the difference in their confidence levels.
They used to stand on my lap with these shaky, wobbly legs. Now they love to use me as a springboard as they jump up and off my lap — sort of like mini-skateboarders with the way they’re starting to kick out their legs off to the side on the jump.
They also rather enjoy just boinging around the pen, off the walls, off whoever might be standing there videoing the whole thing. etc. YouTube wasn’t so kind on the quality of this video, but you can still get the point, I think.
It’s *so* easy to spend hours in there with them.
You Want Fries with that Wattle?
One of the cutest things about our dam Pasqualina, who is already pretty darn cute if you ask me, is the fact that she’s the only one of our goats with a wattle — that dangly flap of skin that sometimes hangs from goats’ necks.
I say “sometimes” because not all goats have them, and the ones that do can have one or two. Pasqualina has just one.
Consensus is that wattles are something leftover from evolution that no longer serve any real purpose, and that kids, no matter the State of the Wattle in their parents, have a 50/50 chance of being born with a wattle or two. I’ve read that some people who show their goats lop off any wattles just after birth because conventional wisdom says that goats without wattles show better.
Whatev. We think wattles are adorable — and so very goaty — so there was actually much glee when we noticed that little Pinta has not one, but two wattles!
By the way, in Italian, the wattle is called an “orecchino,” which means “earring,” so I tend to refer to them as earrings in English too. So much more sophisticated than a wattle!
Pasqualina’s Birth Story & My Mad Goat Midwifery Skillz
From the beginning of this goat pregnancy journey, I’ve told Paolo that Pasqualina would deliver while we were there; even after Margherita and Carmelina did their things all on their own, I assured him: there would be no morning surprise with Pasqualina, who I raised with a bottle and who is much more emotionally attached to us than the others.
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Yesterday morning we saw Pasqualina’s whitish mucus that signals that birth is coming, probably within 24 hours. I had a feeling she was going to go in the afternoon, though, because Pasqualina also started showing some really pronounced signs of labor such as being *much* more vocal throughout the day. Normally she’ll bleat maybe five times a day; yesterday she was *screaming* when we were out of sight and especially when she heard Paolo in the Ape nearby.
By 1 pm, she also had a really noticeable arch in her back, ligament loosening around the tail, a pretty solid udder, and hollowed out sides as the kid dropped into position, so I had a feeling she wasn’t going to wait until the next morning.
I was in the pen with her on and off, and then around 2 pm came home to work for a bit. At 5 pm I was on the phone with my mom and I told her I had to go, because I thought Pasqualina was getting ready. I just felt it.
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I arrived at the pen. Within a half hour, her contractions started. In fact, at 5:10 I filmed a video of the other two kids playing (you’ll see it soon!), and by 6 p.m. we had another one.
Pasqualina started by laying down and getting up a few times (another telltale sign that labor is beginning). At one point she was on the ground, and started kicking and kind of flailing, so I went in the pen and sat in the corner on a stone we have in there for such purposes. She came right over, plopped down next to me, and rested her head on my lap. I pet her for a minute or so, and then a contraction came.
She shot up and walked around a bit so I took the opportunity to go get my camera from outside the pen. As I unzipped the case and removed it, she wailed in my direction, so I hurried up and assured her I was coming; she wailed again at me as she flopped down next to the rock, head where my lap should be, obviously.
I took my place next to her.
I was stroking her head and neck as she got some more nasty contractions, some for which she threw back her head and just screamed. So scary to see your baby do that! But from reading all the stuff I’ve read, I knew that was normal, so I just took some deep breaths and hoped she’d hurry before my Zen wore off.
At this point, she hadn’t passed her water. Paolo had gone off somewhere before she started doing all this, but was coming right back…I could only hope within the next 15 minutes, because as it turned out, that was all this was going to take.
Paolo’s friend was there, though, and he has some goat-birthing experience, so that was good; he was standing outside the pen as he’s definitely more of a hands-off guy (generally that’s the method here), and in fact, said at one point that it’s best to leave her alone, but I was having none of that. My baby wanted me there with her, and I knew that. No doubt in my mind.
After a particularly loud wail, I went around to the other side of her to see what was happening and there was just a small bit of yellowish white mucus there, much like she had had in the morning. With the next contraction and wail, I saw the beginning of something.
At this point I was expecting the red bubble they talk about, behind which you’ll see the amniotic sac. Well, she was laying on her side (what I’ve found out is the “diving position”), so I wasn’t going to see all that much anyway, but this bubble was definitely not red. It was yellowish brown and it BURST with the next contraction. I was fast enough to get out of the way, thank goodness, because that was pretty nasty.
Aaaaah…she relaxed for a bit. I walked around to her head, petted her some, offered her some water (no thanks), and within a minute or two, she was ready to push. Just as she was giving her first groaning push, Paolo arrived. Phew.
Out came the tip of a foot, hoof down. Looking good so far. Kids should be born with two feet first and the head, so at least I knew the kid was facing the right way as the hoof was toward the ground. Phew again. I took some photos.
After another couple pushes, the next foot peeked out. To be honest, it looked a lot like a nose to me, but what did I know? Upon closer inspection, second foot indeed.
Now we had two feet showing at their tips, so we’re waiting on the head. She gave a couple good pushes, and out came about half of the head. Immediately it was moving around, twitching the nose, etc., amniotic sac already broken, but still gooey all over the face, of course.
Now, let’s be clear here. Although I knew I’d be in the pen for the birth, I was completely convinced that I would just let her do her thing unless she needed me. But as soon as I saw that little head, I reached in and cleaned out the mouth and swiped around the nose a bit to expel some goo.
As I moved around to the front of her and gave her some encouraging words, Pasqualina gave a couple half-hearted pushes. She just looked so tired and the kid barely seemed to move with those pushes. So I decided that with the next contraction, I’d give her a hand, two even. OK, camera down. Time to get to work.
I got behind her, grasped the kid’s legs tightly (what a slippery little sucker!) and waited for the next wave, which came within seconds. I pulled when she gave a good hard push so that the kid was halfway out then, its little face making all kinds of adorable movements as I continued to scoop out the goop. With the next push, we got her all the way out (she was so snuggly warm!) and Pasqualina stretched to lick her immediately. I positioned the kid up a little closer to P’s face, being careful not to damage the umbilical cord, and the bonding began.
From the time she was out, the little thing was flailing around with those spaghetti legs, looking for Mamma’s licks. So aware and lively and already curious! It took a bit for the umbilical cord to snap, but when it did, it did so really well, so this one looks to have the right amount of cord there instead of a long, hanging bit.
Pasqualina’s afterbirth was already coming out behind her, and indeed, she ended up passing the placenta entirely as she walked around within a couple hours (as is normal). She had some fresh blood and goo coming out after the placenta passed, but all that stopped by 11 p.m. when we checked on her for the last time last night; she and her kid were huddled together sleeping. By that time, Pasqualina had already eaten a bit of hay and several lemon tree leaves that she loves so much, freshly picked by Paolo.
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Not too long after that, the kid squatted to pee, so I was able to announce, “E’ femminuccia!” It’s a girl, which is great news for us because we really wanted to keep another girl for milk and Pasqualina’s breed is the best of the three for milking purposes.
This morning Pasqualina had a little bleeding and passed some more afterbirth type stuff, which they say is entirely normal. She’s eating and drinking and is a very attentive mom–as are all the girls.
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In all my reading about goat births (and I’ve been doing a lot in the past few months), everything says, your instincts will kick in. You’ll know what to do.
Spot on.
If someone had told me I’d *have* to step in and do what I did, I’m sure I would’ve been nervous and anxious and all the rest. But as soon as I saw her struggle in the slightest, there was no hesitation, no fear, and no being grossed out. It’s hard to put into words how wonderful this experience has been.
What an incredible honor that they’ve let me be a part of this, especially this little darling, who decided to come while we were around. Mwaaaaah!
(And yes, those are “goat berries” on the ground around her.)
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P.S. I do apologize if certain things are too graphic/lengthy for some, but I’m recording as many details as I can remember for future reference; they say does often deliver similarly, so by keeping track of this now, it will be easier to spot any abnormalities in the future. I have lots more to say about Margherita and Carmelina…and of course, about the kids’ names, so thanks for staying with us!
Pasqualina’s Baby Bump: I Felt a Kick!
OK, really it was more like the subtle movement of a head, but I felt it in Pasqualina’s belly! Gaaaaah!
This morning I could see what looked like the shape of a little head bulging out of her right side (for those who don’t know, goats’ rumens (stomachs) are on the left side, so on the right is where you’ll see and feel babies).
Of course I had to take a photo, and the best angle was the one below, in which you can also see she’s starting to swell around her lady parts. Sorry if the imagine is too graphic for goat novices, but check out that baby bump!
It was really so obvious, I thought I must be mistaken until I went in the pen and put my hand lightly over the spot. It shifted underneath my fingers and felt just like the movement of a human baby inside a tummy…so *very* cool and definitely an experience I never imagined having.
Unexpected and amazing! These goats just keep on giving.
Kidding Stalls and Separation Anxiety
In my goat research, I’ve read about the “kidding stall,” a separate area in which a doe is placed just before she delivers. From my informal survey of the people who have goats around here, they don’t seem to go that route in southern Italy, at least when there aren’t too many goats involved.
Indeed, goat things here generally are hands-off compared to the descriptions I’ve seen on United States-based websites, but especially when it comes to kidding during which people seem to just let nature take its course.
But here at Ranch del Fabio, we have separated the girls.
A few weeks ago, Paolo and his friend built an extension on to the goat pen. This was meant to (1) help with cleaning (being able to shift goats to one enclosed area while cleaning another is priceless); (2) allow the girls to spread out; and (3) let us split them up, which we always intended to do because, well, Pasqualina gets picked on.
You may not know it from her sweet eyes, but Carmelina is a big bully. Since the girls aren’t from the same herd and weren’t together from early kid-dom on, there are some rivalries. Things don’t get too heated or anything, but since they’re all in delicate conditions now (and Pasqualina seems to be the furthest along), yesterday we decided it was time that Pasqualina got her own space with Margherita and Carmelina on the other side of the pen.
As you can see, the only thing that separates them is a gate, and they can see each other through it, which we think is important; this way they all know they’re not alone. They do seem a bit confused by the whole thing right now, and they’ve definitely been more vocal in the past day than usual, but we think this is best for Pasqualina in the long run, especially for when it’s time to kid so she can do so in complete peace.
Fellow goat caretakers, do you use kidding stalls or otherwise separate your does from one another?
And also, is there anything we can do to stop the fighting?
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GoatSpotting!
Goats that readers have spotted out and about. Send your photos to michelle(at)goatberries(dot)com!
