Monday, February 25, 2013

Guns & Roses or Roses & Magazines

Aren't they pretty?...Papa Bear is a man after my heart!  He braved the weather to go out and pick up more cough syrup as we have managed to drink it all in the last few weeks.  I even made some homemade stuff that wasn't working this time.  When he got back home with the cough syrup he also had a dozen roses and 3 more magazines along with a box of hollow points for my 380 Bodyguard.    You may as well hit the gun store if you have to go to the pharmacy huh and then you better get some roses because you spent so much time at the gun store?...just kidding...I was happy with the extra magazines!

It began raining here Friday morning and has only let up briefly a time or two.  According to our rain gauges we are already over 11 inches.  

Most of our property is high and dry but getting here is not.  The private road we are on is 3/4 of a mile from the main road.  By Friday afternoon the water had already started pooling up and running.  

 Here the small creek just below our property is already starting to wash over the road.  Our property begins just at the top of this small hill.

The road has gotten much worse since Friday but we couldn't get out and take pictures today.  Brownie Girl, our last remaining doe to kid this year decided today was the day.  This is one of the does I did not want to breed this time but our Nubian buck busted through the fence and got to her.  Last year she had one big kid and this year was the same.  It is much better if they carry twins or triplets.  The babies are not so big.

After almost an hour of pushing she finally got one hoof and a leg out.  I had to go in and find the other leg.  It was in the right position, they were just so long.  I felt the head, everything was where it was supposed to be, the baby was just big.  At this point there was no need to call the vet.  She would not have made it here through the flood in time.  I took hold of both legs and when she pushed I would pull.  She was screaming at this time and exhausted.  I have never had a doe to just fall with her tongue hanging out but she did.  I thought I was going to lose her and the kid. 

Brownie gave one more feeble push and I was able to get the baby out.






I moved the baby in front of Mama and she got up on her feet and went to work cleaning and getting acquainted.  Animals are amazing aren't they?

Mom and baby are doing fine.  It's another boy......

I am so glad this kidding season is over...Papa Bear and I need a full nights sleep!

18 comments:

  1. Congrats on the magazines, the roses, and the new family member! :-)

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    1. Thanks GD...Those roses sure are brightening up these gloomy days!

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  2. I was wondering if she has freshened! That is a huge kid!!! Glad you were there to assist and encourage. Beautiful boy!

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  3. Mama Bear,

    I'm happy to hear Papa Bear went out in this aweful weather (rain well needed) to get you and the Marine some cough syrup. And being the wonderful man that he is, he bought you some beautiful roses and magazines. He scored points with the roses!!!!

    Congrats on the new baby, now you and Papa Bear can rest and not worry. Have you given the baby a name yet?

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    1. Thanks Sandy...Papa Bear is my and the Marine;s hero and he didn't do too bad getting the flowers and magazines!

      Haven't picked a name yet...I was calling him Sparky yesterday but don't know if that will stick.

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  4. Papa Bear sounds like my husband! He's worse than a 16 yr. old willing to go to the store for anything! Everyday is an ammo hunt LOL!!! Congrats on your new baby boy. Your story scares me to death! I can't wait to get our first goat birth over with, so I will know what to expect. I would hate to lose my girl or her baby. Oh I'm nervous again :/

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    1. don't be scared Kelly..99.9% of the time there will be no problem. I just close my eyes and see what I am feeling in my head. I slowly go up the leg until I get to the shoulder and then feel gently for the head. The most common occurrence will be a leg folded back and that can be easily maneuvered into the correct position. My last doe had hers even with the leg folded back with not much of a problem. This was just one big baby. It is already the size of the ones born a week or two ago. When is your doe due?

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    2. I thought she was due sometime in Febuary, but Febuary is practically over. She has started to make an udder and her teats are getting bigger. I'm hoping in the next couple of weeks, she will kid. I screwed up and left them together too long. I understand now the importance of knowing when the doe was bred! Next year I will have a due date and none of this guessing crap LOL!!!

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    3. And thank you for the encouragement and advise! I needed it! When you have to assist, do you give her antibiotics after? I bought every goat medicine I could think of last week, just in case things go bad.
      Do you let your babies stay with mom? Some people take them instantly and bottle feed them. I would think they would be healthier on mom's milk for awhile, but what do I know. I'm new at all this ☺

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    4. Kelly I use the Pro pen G when I have to go in. I double the dose the first day and then give an injection twice a day at the regular dose for 2 days and then 1 time a day at the regular dose for 2 more days. Here is the dosage I use. Always...always pull back on the syringe once inserted to make sure your are not in the blood stream.

      DOSAGE: 1cc/20lbs goat weight is the average figure to use

      Goat Dosage:
      Kids:1-2ml SC (SQ) for baby goats (8-25lbs), 1 or 2 times daily.
      Adults: 6-10 ml SC (SQ) for adult goats, 2X daily.
      You can double recommend maximum dose on first injection, then divided daily dose and inject every 12 hours for 2-3 days, then 1X daily thereafter.
      It should be administered for 5 days after all symptoms have disappeared.

      My babies stay with their Mom 24/7 for the first two weeks. The babies are eating grain pretty good by this time. I then separate them at night and we begin to share the milk. I milk the Moms in the morning and then turn the babies lose with the Moms so they can have their milk during the day. After 3 months I take the babies totally away and milk twice a day until I let them dry up. I don't taper off, I just stop completely.

      Some people take the babies immediately and bottle feed a formula so there is no chance of CL -Caseous Lymphadenitis in their herd. As I do not have show goats , I do no outside breeding and they are for our own use I am not that concerned about this. If you want a baby that is always in your business, milk Mama and give the milk to the babies in a bottle a time or two. They never forget you were a Mama to them as well!

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    5. Oh my gosh! Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!! I have been sooo confused about the baby staying with the mom and getting CL and I didn't understand why mom's milk would be so bad. I'm printing this so I have it on hand! Thank you again for all this info, it's so helpful ☺ Now I just need my goat to birth her baby LOL!!!!

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  5. I remember as a rookie I had a woman in heavy labor and I was praying for the ambulance to arrive before the kid did. I liken my reaction to that scene from "Gone With The Wind" about not knowing nothing 'bout birthin' no babies!

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    1. so who won?..The ambulance or the kid? Bahahahah
      Mammy was one of my favorite characters in Gone with the Wind!

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  6. I love the way Papa Bear thinks :-)
    Tricia G.

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  7. Wow! See now Senior would have just brought me the magazines! roses are beautiful though... what a sweet man

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    1. Glock Mom...We live so far out in the woods that the florist does not deliver! Every once in awhile Papa Bear will surprise me with flowers when he runs errands. At least when he goes to Sam's they are way cheaper than the florist and he can afford another magazine to go with them!

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