Meet Patch, And More Goat Lore

We had a very pleasant surprise yesterday! One Stripe had lively, healthy twins. We had a little concern, since according to my records 150 days of her gestation would fall on Tuesday, February 9th. Most goat books I have read indicate that kidding before the 150th day can mean there is a problem, unless the doe has triplets or quadruplets. As I posted before, One Stripe had attained her classic waddle, but remained very healthy and active, to the point of still trying to trot, she was too big to run, in from the pasture when I showed up at the barn.

Friday night when we went up to feed, everything was normal. One Stripe came into the barn and got up on the milk stand to eat. Saturday morning, she came into the barn, put her front feet up on the blocks to get on the milk stand, then just stopped and looked at me. She obviously wanted to eat, but wouldn't attempt to go any further. After a little coaxing, I realized something was up, but I figured she was just getting too heavy, so I put her feed in a bowl on the floor and she ate just fine. But, after I turned her out I realized her walk had changed. She didn't go far before stopping and it appeared that one of the babies had moved back to the point One Stripe almost had to swing her back legs out and around the baby just to take a step. It now took her much longer just to go out to the pasture, with many stops, and she no longer kept up with the herd. I hoped this wasn't an indication of pre-delivery problems.

After watching her for a bit, I radioed Frank to tell him we needed to get the birthing pens set up and ready, that we might be having babies today (Saturday) instead of Tuesday like predicted. So, we got in gear, cleaned out the barn and got everything set up. We put hay in the back of the pens, so the does wouldn't stick their heads through to eat it, washed out the water buckets and checked the tote with the birthing supplies one more time. Then I went out in the pasture to bring in the girls. It took One Stripe about 10 minutes, with many stops, to walk the distance she usually covers in less than a minute. She didn't appear to be sick or stressed accept that she didn't take too many steps before pausing for a break, some longer than others.

When we got to the barn and I opened the gate to her birthing pen, she just walked right in, right at home. This has been her routine for the last six years, so she knows what is going on and is very comfortable there. That is very nice. No stress for her, no having to make her go in, no hollering for the other goats, just peaceful readiness for babies. By the way, the other does that fought tooth and nail against going in and bellowed from the time they were put in, have gone on to other pastures. That is part of the way we maintain a calm, peaceful, easy-to-handle herd. It is part of breeding in the characteristics of what we want in a goat, or cat, or dog, or chicken. We only keep those animals that meet our requirements, and One Stripe is an excellent example of a great goat.

 
Saturday night came and went with no babies, which was good. That would be day number 147 in my books, and just too early. Then came Sunday, day number 148. After her breakfast, I let One Stripe out of the pen for a bit, and pulled up a chair. She didn't go far at all, just across the barn and back. I could tell by how hollow her hips and tailbone were, along with a very small amount of discharge, that this would be the day for babies. But since it was only day number 148, I wondered if she would have triplets. It also occurred to me that if I had caught her breeding activity at the end of her 24 hour standing heat cycle, that my estimation could be about 24 hours off, which would put her at 149 days, but still a day early. The other factor is One Stripe's age. She will be seven in May, which is older for a breeding, producing doe. Most folks would have already sold her off as an older doe. But, for those of you that haven't read about my plans for One Stripe already, she will be staying here all the days of her life. She is one of those special goats that is calm and gentle, a great mom, a good milker, and has stole my heart. I can't claim that with any of the others, but I can with her. So, here she stays, all of her days.

One Stripe was nice enough to have her babies in the middle of the afternoon, on a sunny, 75* February day. It was short sleeve weather with no worries about cold babies, a picture perfect day. We have two friends that are interested in goats and the birthing process that I contacted when I knew for sure we had babies coming. Faith [a pseudonym] arrived in time to see the second baby born. She is hoping to buy Penny after her kids are born and I train her to milk, so she is wanting all the firsthand experiences she can get under her belt before she takes her first goat home. After the kids were born Grace [another pseudonym] and her husband came over to see them. So we ended up with a barn full of talking a laughter. Another plus on this fine February day. Plus, Frank and I got to share some of our experience and knowledge which we always enjoy. One Stripe had no difficulty birthing at all. Just like always. She started 'talking' to her stomach after a while, like she was telling the babies to hurry up and come out. That made me laugh.

Patch was born first in the classic, front feet, nose, head position. In less than two hours, Patch was trying to jump around, like baby goats do. But then she would fall over, making me laugh. That is when Grace told me that Frank and I have a great life. She is right. It is a great life, and we are very blessed. Patch is a very active, vigorous baby girl, with beautiful dark brown ears, which Frank likes. We may just have to keep her.

Breakfast, yes, we named her brother breakfast because that is what he will be, was born back feet first. When the amniotic sack appeared and stayed unbroken, I thought something looked odd and kept trying to see if the head was following the feet. It didn't take long for him to be born, and my only concern was that final push or two when most of his body was out, but his head was not. I wanted to make sure he was out and able to breathe well. But he came out fine and all was well.

When the kids are born, if I get to be there, I swipe the mucous from their mouths so they can start coughing and breathing well. Depending on the temperature, I may dry them off some with a towel. Since the weather was so nice yesterday, I didn't dry them, but left them to their mother's attention. Another huge benefit of having tame, easy to handle animals is that they don't mind having you in the birthing pen with them when the time comes. We have had does that ran to the back of the pen like cornered animals, or does that tried to ram and run out of the gate when I went in, especially first fresheners. We did not keep them. It makes it much harder to help the kids if they need it or make sure they are nursing. It also makes for wilder kids that are difficult to handle as well.

It wasn't long before both kids were dry and fed. We clipped their umbilical cords and applied a strong 7% iodine to cauterize and sterilize them. While all of this was going on, Faith described markings on the first baby, a girl, and said something like, "That white square looks like a patch. That would make a good name." And it stuck. So, meet Patch.

Upon discovering the second kid was a boy, Frank said to Faith, "His name is Breakfast." We have a running joke that all bucks born here have the name of Breakfast, Lunch or Dinner. Some folks think that's funny and some don't, but all males born here are destined to be meat for our table, unless by chance, someone comes by that needs a new billy goat. But that doesn't happen very often. We had chevron patties for supper last night, but it wasn't Breakfast. It tastes great.

Faith and Patch

I milked out about a quart of colostrum from One Stripe last night. It makes it easier for the babies to nurse, and begins the stimulation for One Stripe to produce more milk. This morning I brought her in on the milk stand to eat. It gives her some movement, lets her eat in a normal location, and makes it much easier for me to milk her, sitting in a chair instead of kneeling in a crowded birthing pen.
 

Copper with her ears out

It was a great day. Easy birth, great weather, good company and beautiful babies. It doesn't always go that way, and since One Stripe aborted last year, she had many prayers for a successful pregnancy this year. Now, to wait a few more days for Copper to kid. Yesterday afternoon as she lay out in the corral, I noticed her ears were out. That is usually a sign of listening, but at this stage, it is also a sign of discomfort. According to my records she will reach 150 days on Wednesday, two days from now. But we watched her closely because we have had does go into labor right after another one gave birth. Something about the sight, sounds and smells of birth can bring on labor in another animal that is close to her due date. For the farmer it can mean turning around to help another goat for a few hours, just when you thought you were finished for the day. We had that happen once about 10:30 at night. Just finishing up and making sure babies and mother were all settled and doing well, only to realize the goat in the next pen was laying down pushing. That was a long night indeed.

One Stripe is doing great this morning.

This morning Copper hasn't shown any signs of birthing. But the day is young, we will see what it brings. Today is forecast to be sunny, 65* and light winds. Another great day to have more baby goats. But then, for me, just about any day is another great day to have baby goats.

Good morning, Breakfast.

Good morning, Patch.

We look forward to having some fresh milk in a few days. We will wait until Friday to start keeping the milk for ourselves. In the meantime, I will be milking One Stripe, and Copper after she kids, twice a day. This milk will go to the chickens, cats and dog. Later on when Cricket, Lady Bug and Penny birth and I am training them to be milkers, we hope to have some pigs that can benefit from some extra milk as well. By then the garden will be half planted and spring will be well on the way. The seasons change, and this time of year brings new life on the homestead and blessings to our lives.

Until next time - Fern

The Goat Stork Flies Again

In 24 days, on February 10th, One Stripe is due to provide us with some new baby goats. Then in 25 days, on February 11th, Copper is scheduled to do the same. If you've been unfortunate enough to have been reading here for very long, you already realize how much I love baby goats and FRESH MILK. We have been long without our own fresh milk and really, really look forward to the day that we no longer need to buy milk from the store.

I have been slowly increasing One Stripe and Copper's feed ration during the last month of gestation when much of the kids' growth occurs. This will be the first time we've had kids since we changed up the feed ration and removed the corn because of GMO. Now the feed contains oats, sweet feed (for the molasses), wheat bran, sunflower seeds and alfalfa pellets. We feed a loose goat mineral ration free choice and try to keep some out all the time, especially while the does are pregnant. They all appear to be healthy and doing very well. Their hips are starting to spread and their udders continue to slowly fill out. I have been watching One Stripe extra close since she aborted a few weeks early last year. Even though she lost her babies then, in the past she has been an excellent, attentive doe with big, strong babies. She was never in ill health, so the vet figured it was for mechanical reasons. She got butted hard in the side by another goat, or ran into something hard enough to cause her to go into labor. This year, so far, so good.

When I bring One Stripe and Copper in to eat on the milk stand, it gives me an opportunity to check them over and see how they are doing. That's why I know their hips are spreading. I also check their udders to make sure there is no hardness or signs of mastitis. Copper has gone through some briars sometime recently, because she has some sore places on her udder. I have a salve I am treating her with to get everything healed up before the kids arrive. At this point in the gestation, I can feel the kids kicking. This always makes me laugh out loud and puts a big smile on my face, even though the dog is the only one to notice.

When the young does are about six weeks to a month from kidding, I will start bringing them in on the milk stand to eat as well. They won't like it for a while, and will dance and complain. But they will get used to it, especially since there is some food there to distract them while I train them to be milkers. I have found this makes the actual milking go much smoother. There is not so many new things all at once. After they give birth they will already know how to get on the milk stand, that there is some food there waiting for them, and that they are safe and will not be hurt. They will still be very nervous first time mothers, but will be performing a normal routine behavior. When I changed to training them to the milk stand before giving birth instead of after, it made it easier for them and me.

Our three young does are now half way through their gestation. They were bred the beginning of November and are due the first week in April. They will all be first fresheners, or what we call first timers, having their first babies this year. All three of them were born here last spring, and are developing very nicely. Our three young does will be 13 months old when they give birth. We'll see how they do.

One Stripe is our old lady goat. She will be seven in May. She is definitely in the waddling stage now. Her udder will be almost twice this big before she gives birth.

Copper is One Stripe's daughter, and this will be her second batch of kids. She was two in December. She has added a new twist to how she gets up on the milk stand. When I milked her last she would just kind of launch herself up from the side of the stand. Well, she still does that, but now she comes in the barn, twirls in a circle, then launches herself on the stand. It's kinda funny, really. She had a little mucous discharge this evening when we were feeding. It's not unusual for does to have some discharge off and on for a few weeks before giving birth. She also didn't finish all of her food tonight. That is not that unusual since the kids are taking up more and more room, but I will keep a close eye on her to make sure she is getting enough to eat.

Penny is Copper's daughter from last spring. She will have the same long body and slender legs her mother has. And she is a beautiful dark red color.

Cricket is filling out nicely. I'm already guessing she will have twins. She has a stockier build than Penny, and I think she will be the biggest young doe we have. We sold her mother Ivory back in the fall.

Lady Bug is Cricket's sister. She is about the same size as Penny, just not as long. For quite a while she was very shy and wouldn't have anything to do with us. Now I can pet her all over. She isn't as friendly as Penny, Copper and One Stripe, but I'm very glad she has tamed down. She is a beautiful fawn color.

I had a goat question today I would like to include here. How many days after birth should you start milking and how do you know when there is no more colostrum in the goats udder?

I start milking right after the kids are born. I do this for two reasons. One, I want to make sure the wax plug is removed from the end of the teat and the milk is flowing freely, making it easier for the newborns to suck. Two, when the kids are born, many times the doe's udder is engorged with milk making their teats full and tight. Sometimes the kids struggle to get the enlarged teat in their mouth. 
 

Helping a weak quadruplet 2012 kid get their first drink

I also want the does to start producing a lot of milk, enough for the kids and for us. The first time I milk them is in the birthing pen into peanut butter jars. I don't take all of their milk, but I do take a lot of it. It also gives me some colostrum just in case I need it for any reason. The next day I will start bringing the does into the barn to feed and milk them on the milk stand. I keep all of what I call the colostrum milk for five days and feed it to the dog, cats and chickens. They all love it. Five days is considered to be the standard time frame for the colostrum to pass. Then I will start keeping it for us. That means on or about February 15th we will be drinking FRESH MILK! You can't tell I'm excited, right? I hope this answers your question.

Soon!

The miracle of birth and life is always a fascinating thing to watch. I always hope to catch the does in labor so I can watch the whole process. It never gets old. I'll keep you posted.

Until next time - Fern
 

Why Did My Baby Goats Die?

It's always difficult to figure out unexpected events, especially when they deal with living things. Since I have had time to read through my books and do some research on the internet, I only have a few theories about the death of our baby goats. Nothing conclusive or even probable emerged from my reading, just a few possibilities that we can consider and keep in mind for the future. Sometimes it is easier to handle difficult situations if there is a known 'why' to hang the reasoning on, but that 'why' is not always available. Here are the circumstances leading up to One Stripe going into labor.

She began to fill her udder and get quite a bit larger in mid November.
 

November 29, 2013

November 29, 2013

By the beginning of December she was starting to exhibit her characteristic waddle that comes along a few weeks before birth. Her udder was filling nicely and I figured she would have triplets on Sunday, December 15th. Her 150 day average gestation was calculated at Monday, December 16th. But since she has had triplets in the past at 149 days, I based my estimate on that date. She had no problem birthing, nursing and raising her last triplets to weaning age. We have our does raise their kids. We do not bottle feed. One Stripe is a very attentive, productive doe. That is one reason this was such a surprise. If I didn't know her history I would have doubts about her ability to produce and raise kids, especially triplets. But since I have had her for five years with excellent results, I know this is some type of anomaly that has an unknown cause. We did take her age into consideration. She will be six years old in May 2014. This is her fifth set of kids. But after she had her last kid in January 2013, and the rest of the kids were born in March, she was running around up and down dirt piles playing with the kids like she was a yearling. She hasn't shown any signs of slowing down because of her age.

 

Morning of December 9, 2013

On Monday evening, December 9th as we were feeding the animals, I noticed that One Stripes vulva was sharply drawn into her body instead of in it's normal position. I knew that was a sign of impending birth so we prepared her birthing pen. As we were working on it, she lay down and began having strong contractions. I knew it was early according to my calculations and just hoped I had miss counted or missed seeing a breed date back in the summer. That was not the case. Interestingly enough, shortly after we had the pen set up she got up and walked into it with little coaxing. She knows the routine and was ready to be comfortably settled into a birthing pen.
 

Morning of December 9, 2013

Soon after she entered the pen she quickly gave birth to the first kid. My first thought was that it was too small. She generally has good sized, strong healthy kids. But she quickly began to clean it and it started to fuss which was a good sign. Since we weren't expecting kids this soon, our tote with our birthing supplies was at the house. While Frank went to get the tote another kid was born. By that time the first one was laying limply and kind of panting with it's mouth open showing it was having difficulty breathing. It did not have a sucking instinct or the strength to produce one, I'm not sure which. I knew from trying to help it nurse that it was very weak and I did not expect it to live. It died about 10 minutes after birth.

When Frank returned with the tote he noticed that the second kid did not have any hair on it's ears. It was just as small and exhibited the same symptoms as the first kid and also died after about 10 minutes. It took a while longer for the third kid to be born and it was in the same condition. The only difference was it didn't have much hair on it's belly and none on it's ears. One Stripe cleaned them all and even tried to gently paw at them to get them up. She passed her after birth with no problems.

There were three differences we noticed in One Stripe leading up to this event. The first was a whitish colored discharge that was on the back of her udder, going down the middle from top to bottom a few days before she gave birth. It wasn't mucous or sticky. I noticed it, but didn't think a lot about it. She had be passing the normal bit of mucous every few days for about a week and everything seemed normal. Another difference was that she seemed a little nervous, more so than I remember in past years. I wondered if this was because after four years she turned into the lead goat of the herd. As long as we had one other doe from our original herd that came here with One Stripe, she was more than content to let the other goat be the lead doe. One Stripe had quite an adjustment period when we sold the other older does last spring. The only other thing I noticed was that she was coughing some after she ate. But that didn't concern me because she was getting so big. She had been eating slower because she just didn't have as much room and that is a normal progression for her in past pregnancies.

Pearl, our Pyrenees, as we work with One Stripe; never far from the does

Since giving birth, One Stripe has shown no ill effects to her health at all. We gave her 2cc of LA200 (Oxytetracycline) just as a precaution. Her milk is in and she is producing more everyday. I began milking her the night she gave birth and have milked her twice a day since. We saved all of that milk for the dog, cats and chickens and didn't start keeping milk for ourselves until five days after she gave birth. She is now producing a gallon a day. She is getting around fine, is alert and bright eyed. She has shown no signs of illness at all. The only real side effect she exhibited was her very sad mourning and crying for her babies for about three days. It was quite heart breaking. 

2010

We had one other doe several years ago that had to have assistance with her first kidding. She had twins, both of which were trying to be born at the same time. Once I got them sorted out they were born one right after the other. One was smaller, fully formed, but dead. The other was quite a bit larger, but totally hairless and dead. I always thought if I had pulled them sooner maybe the smaller one would have lived. I don't know why one would look normal and the other be hairless. But after this experience, I doubt the smaller one would have lived. 

2012

My reading did not give me any conclusive information that led me to believe she had any infection or contagious disease. We do have cats that spend time in the barn so I read up on toxoplasmosis, but that didn't fit. There are quite a few illnesses or diseases that can cause miscarriages in goats late in their pregnancies, but none of them fit her symptoms or lack of symptoms. 

In Storey's Guide to Raising Dairy Goats on page 125 it says, "Abortion is more common in late pregnancy. The cause can be mechanical, such as the pregnant doe being butted by another or running into an obstruction such as a manger or narrow doorway, or it can be related to moldy feeds."  

One Stripe had been a little more nervous than usual and I guess she could have run into something, but it is doubtful she was butted by one of the other three does. We haven't seen any signs of that behavior from any of our four does. But there could have been a question about the feed. Some of the last sweet feed that Frank bought was a little moldy. We figured mixed in with the corn and alfalfa it wasn't enough to affect the goats. But now we wonder if it could have been. The hay we have been using is left from last spring and is a little dusty. We started feeding some to the does when the weather started to turn bad. I wanted to make sure One Stripe had plenty of roughage and that it was something she was used to. Normally the goats graze on our standing hay in the pasture and we don't need to supplement with hay. When the icy weather came in and everything had an inch of ice followed by an inch of sleet followed by several inches of snow, I don't think the does did much grazing. We made sure they had plenty of hay. I don't know if this change in roughage made any difference in her pregnancy or not. It's just another possible variable among many.

Here is a list of the website pages I read. They all seemed to agree with my books and I didn't find any additional information that seemed to point to a conclusive answer. But they are good resources, so I wanted to share them.

 Goat Wisdom 

Alabama Cooperative Extension System 

Abortions and causes of death in newborn sheep and goats by Debrah Mohale

Onion Creek Ranch

JustAnswer.com Large Animal Veterinary

Sunday, December 15, 2013

Raising animals is definitely an adventure in learning, caring and lots of hard work. Sometimes it is very rewarding and sometimes it is heart breaking. Either way, it is an undertaking well worth the effort involved. It builds character and instills a deep abiding appreciation for what the Lord has put here for our sustenance and enjoyment. There are always things that happen that cannot be explained or understood. It is part of the mysteries of life, many of which fill us with awe and wonder. May it ever be so.


Until next time - Fern