Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Since this blog will be mainly about goats, I thought that I should give them their own special post. I received a pygmy doeling (baby girl) for my 7th birthday. While there, we also bought the doeling's mother & a little whether (fixed male). I named mine April, Mom named hers Annie & we named the boy Buckwheat. Buckwheat was a fiesty little thing, he never could hold still, but was always dancing on the end of the leash. When we arrived home, we realized that we didn't have anywhere for them, so we tied some pallets together and put the goats in there. The babies were so little that they slipped right out, so I had to watch them and make sure they didn't get hurt or lost, while dad made a better pen. Later we sold the whether & bought a buck (male goat). The smell from the buck was so bad that Mom didn't go outside very much & we had to keep the windows shut! He did his job though & both Annie and April had one baby each. I remember that day clearly. Annie's udder was so full that I just knew that the day had come!!! The haycutter was over & I was worried that the haycutter's noise would scare Annie. Mom and Grandma said that she would have her babies that day or the next. I pestered them with questions wanting to know exactly how a baby was born. They didn't know very much about it or they didn't want me to know. Anyways, that was the beginning steps of showing me what I wanted to do when I got older -midwifery. Back to the story... the haycutter left & Mom called me in to eat. I was just starting to step inside when I saw Annie having contractions. I knew what those were because I had recently watched a Golden Retreiver give birth. I alerted Mom and Grandma & all of us except for Grandpa, Corbin, and Kayla went out to watch. We are still not sure if we were just too new at births and panicked or if Annie was indeed having trouble. Mom and Dad pulled on the baby's legs when Annie had a contraction, I prayed, and Grandma was right there to help with whatever needed done. Soon the baby was born. A little girl that we named Augustina, because she was born in August. April had her baby the next night. Her baby had one of his front legs back alongside his belly instead of out with the nose like it should have been. We again pulled that one out. He was named Tino. They both grew well & were very healthy. We sold them a year or two later.

1 comment:

Hope said...

Cute story!!! Isn't it so much fun writing??? :)
Love,
Sarah