Cherokee was a Registered Toggenburg that I had bought last fall. She had won several ribbions and was an excellent producer. This spring in March, I noticed that she had her hair fluffed out. There was snow on the ground and I thought that she was just cold. Then a few days later, her milk production dropped drastically. She had a very high fever & when I went to give her penicillian, my very first shot, I found to my dismay, that she was covered in lice. Actually they looked more like fleas, but I have heard that goats can't get fleas. I called all the goat people that I thougth would know something about lice & sprinkled Diatematious Earth on all their bedding, walkways, directly on the goats, and in my milk barn. Then because Cherokee had them so bad, Mom picked up some 'real' flea killer & I then sprinkled that on all the goats. When I though that I was done for a while, I also had to syringe fluids down Cherokee quite often and give her shots and make sure she was warm enough, Grommette's udder was getting full. I am always happy when a goat is ready to give birth, but this time with poisenous flea powder sprinkled everywhere and knowing that Cherokee might die anytime, and Diatematious Earth sprinkled in the Birthing stall, I was overwhelmed. After a quick shower, my spirits revived & I was able to carry on my nursing...

Velvet had her babies two weeks late in January. I read aloud to Kayla while I kept an eye on Velvet. Velvet wasn't very comfortable. She kept walking around in the birthing stall and laying down then standing up again. Whem Mom called us in to eat, I stood up to go, but then decided against eating right then, for Velvet was having a big contraction. Kayla ran inside and let Mom know what was happening. Velvet didn't have any more contractions even though her baby's head had slipped out. Mom came inside the barn then and thought that the baby was sucking in fluids. We had to get the baby out immediatly if it was getting fluids in it's lungs. I slipped my hands inside Velvet. I didn't know what I was feeling. I said a quick prayer and immediatly God let me know what I was feeling. The baby's front legs were alongside it's belly instead of along it's nose like they should be. I brought the legs forward and pulled her out. I named her Hope, because I had hope that I could get her out. We weren't sure if she was okay at first, but she did survive, for which we are very thankful. 1 1/2 later, Mom left, but she was going to be back in 5 minutes. I told her that she may miss it & she did! She had no sooner stepped inside the house, when I called her on the cell phone saying that the baby was coming! She turned around and came right back but it was already born. All this happened in about 2-3 minutes!! I named this one Blessing, because she was a blessing to her mom to be so fast and easily born. About 15 minutes after Blessing was born, Velvet began to push again. There was no progress, so I put on gloves and slipped my hand inside. This time the baby was breach (bottom first)! I gently pulled the legs back and he was born rapidly. This little boy was always tripping on his sisters or stepping on them. I named him Brother, because I was constantly saying "Brother, watch out for your sisters!" "Brother, be nice!" "Brother, be a gentleman, do NOT step on your sisters!" His full name is 'Bothersome Brother', as a joke, because I know that some people think that brothers are a bother, but my brothers are far from being a bother to me!

Every morning, when the kittens got old enough, we would put them out in our hay barn. We kept a board across the door so the kittens couldn't get out, but our older cats could. A couple of times the board would fall down, but we didn't worry much about it because the kittens would stay in the barn. One night, the board had fallen down & when Corbin went out to bring them inside for the night, he could only find four kittens. Truffles was no where in sight! We searched everywhere inside the small barn and outside & had almost given up when Mom saw a white something back behind a board. We thought that it looked like feathers, but pulled it out anyways & it was our kitten. Our dog had given her a bath with his tongue & we thought that she wouldn't make it because of her being wet and cold. Mom warmed some towels in the oven and wrapped her up in them. She gradully warmed up and survived! We found good homes for all of the kittens. Raising kittens is something that I would like to do again if I ever find kittens in need.

Grommettes Birth -

Grommette had a nice easy birth. This time I was there to see it. When I could tell that she was ready to begin pushing, I called Mom out to see the babies be born. Grommette quickly pushed out two girls and a boy. One of the girls was pure black that I named Bitty. The other girl was named Blossom & the boy, Bobby.

Suzie's birth-

Suzie started labor early in the morning & pushed out her girl and boy in early afternoon. She had a great birth.


Spice's birth-


I could tell that Spice was going to have her baby soon. Mom called us in to eat & while I was eating, Spice went into a little ditch & had her two girls. I was watching her out the window, but Spice never did show anything that made me think that she was in labor so I missed it! We named the babies Rosemary & Clover.

Grodivia's birth-

One afternoon, Grodivia's udder was full, so I knew that it would be soon. The next morning, Grodivia would go out into the field for a while then come back into the barn then go back out. I was busy doing schoolwork, but asked Mom if I could go out with her for a couple minutes. Mom said yes. When I got out into the field with her, she turned and headed back towards the barn. I followed her and sat down beside Grodivia. Soon she laid down and began pushing. When the baby bag appeared, I ran into the house and informed Mom. When I got back outside, I found to my surprise, that Grodivia had stopped pushing & was waiting for me. As soon as she saw me, she laid down and finished pushing her boy and girl out. I named the girl Snickers & the boy Hershey.


Winter's birth-


One evening, some friends were over that had goats themselves. They were the ones that got me started in goats. Rachel mentioned to me that Winter's udder was filling with milk. I checked it and indeed it was! The next morning the udder was full, so I called some friends that had let me know that they wanted to see a goat's birth. They came over and a couple hours later, Winter was in labor. It was a start and stop labor, but eventually I saw hoofs and then the baby was born. The next girl was born soon after. We named them Spring and Autumn.



Valentine's birth-



A few days after Winter gave birth, Valentines had her babies. I didn't know when Valentines' due date was, so just kept an eye on her. The morning that she had her twin girls, I checked her udder. It was empty, so I thought that it wouldn't be for a couple more days, but I had a fleeting thought that I would miss the birth. At 2:00 p.m. I went out to check her and Birch who was late by two weeks! There was Valentines' laying near a hay feeder with two girls tucked up next to her.


Birch's birth- that same day while tending to Valentines' babies I had another thought that I was going to miss Birch's birth. I hastily pushed it away. That night Birch's udder was filling, so I set my alarm to go off every 2-3 hours. At 2:00 a.m. Birch had two babies. I got there right after the 2nd was born. I sat down on a box and began petting and drying off one of the babies. Birch lay down and began pushing. I thought that it was just the placenta, but when I looked closer, I saw ears, and eyes and a nose. Another baby!! We named the two girls Hazel and Holly & the boy Hickory.