Solstice had her first kid today....

[copperkid3]

I was around the corner of the barn this morning, about 10 minutes before noon, checking on the guinea fowl when

I kept hearing one of the goats hollaring every so often, so I came back and at about the same time as Solstice began

bellowing again, I saw the appearance of a couple of hooves sticking out!  Every so often, she'd give out another cry and

then finally she started walking a few feet and then would lie down for a minute or so.  This series of actions would be repeated

a number of times as she circled the herd who were feeding at the time.  Couldn't have been more than 10-12 minutes tops,

when she started straining a bit more and I even tried to assist her by grabbing hold of the pair of hooves, but wasn't much

help as the gloves slipped on the goo and she walked off anyway.  I was beginning to wonder if she possibly was having a breech birth,

(and beginning to panic as a result), when she gave it another try and the beginning of a snout/nose appeared. 

A couple of more minutes and a lot of pushing without anything to show for it and then it was over in less than 30 seconds~

she gave a big push and out he shot; being unceremoniously dumped on the ground.  The whole thing took less than 15 minutes! 

And I was a nervous wreck the whole time.  Golly, that's got to hurt......I then became concerned with Solstice's next reaction,

as it appeared that now that she'd been relieved of this unwelcome burden, she didn't even look back, but wandered off.

I went over to the little guy, who was sniffling and trying to clear his nostrils of the fluids and decided that something had to be done,

so, having found an old discarded feed sack, I then grabbed both sets of legs and slid him over onto it, then picked him up via the sack

stretcher and placed him near Solstice, who gave him a quick glance and then looked away.  Definitely NOT mother material it seemed,

so she forced my hand and I grabbed her by her two front feet, as she wasn't wearing a collar, and then (for lack of a better descriptive term)

"bum-walked" her into the barn and finally shoved her into the open birthing stall that I'd set up earlier for other pregnant does and their kids. 

I then went back and brought "Junior" into the barn and slid him over the gate and left them together.

I went back a couple hours later and was surprised to find Solstice had climbed up on a bale of straw and was looking down

with great fear & trepidation, at that "thing" that she'd had gotten rid of earlier .....who was now standing and bawling at her

to come on down and feed him.  I really thought that I'd probably have to bottle feed another 'orphan' if I came out again, but

a couple more hours passed and this time, he was in the same position, but a bit more cleaned off and possibly had even managed

to get a bite to eat, as he appeared too robust for a kid 4+ hours after birth.  Solstice on the other hand, was still perched on

top of her straw bale and seemed just as mortified as before.  I then got her a fresh bucket of water in a pail, remounted it

on the nail on the wall and also got out one of the nearly pure alfalfa hay bales (saved for just such events) and gave her

a couple of flakes in a bin basket.  She devoured them with great relish and hopefully, motherhood will come easier with time.

[shellymay]

copperkid3, hope all is well with her today, please keep us posted......

[Deleted]

Yes please update us. Is the baby nursing? Has she accepted it?

[copperkid3]

Apparently so.... as he's still alive today. Had to wake him up, but he got up and on all fours, by himself.

Solstice isn't climbing up on the straw bale anymore to get away from him, but seems a bit indiffernt to his presence.

When he calls out, she still doesn't acknowledge him with a reply or even look at him.... but at least she allows him

to feed himself, although I haven't actually witnessed it happening yet. She does hollar out to the other goats and

resents my keeping her cooped up, but I told her, to enjoy her 'vacation' for a day or so; where else will you get the

best of eats all to yourself? Give the little guy a chance to harden up a bit as well before going back into the cold, cruel world.

[copperkid3]

Turned out to be a fairly nice day, although a bit chilly, so I decided to let Solstice and her baby boy out

for some fresh air. As soon as the gate was out of the way, she bolted out the barn door hollaring at the

rest of the gang ~ completely ignoring and abandoning the kid. I scooped him up and brought him out to the

downwind side of the feeder and spent some time with him, before going about the rest of the day doing jobs

that needed doing. Later on, I heard him bleating as the herd headed on down around the pond area - looking

for any fresh grass to nibble. He tried following for about 150 feet or so, but couldn't keep up and lay down

near the base of an oak tree and cried out occasionally. Sent the dog over to check on him a couple times and

he'd jump up, but as soon as the dog left, he'd lie back down. Later, the herd returned to the feeder, so I

decided to call it a day and went over & scooped him up and brought him back to the feeder and spent some bonding

time with him. Solstice couldn't care less ~ never once did she call out or acknowledge his presence. Told him,

that it would be easy to turn him into a 'bottle baby', but I'd rather not try, if I didn't have to. Left him after

a half an hour or so to go inside and a few hours later, when I noticed it getting dusk, went back to put the

birds up and discovered he was no where around!   Searched all of the typical hidey-holes and shelters but nothing.

Frantic now, as the light was getting dimmer, I suddenly came across the body of a new-born kid, but quite stiff;

perhaps a few days old and much more red in color than the tawny and sandy color with a white belt of Solstice's boy.

Suddenly it all made sense, as there's another young yearling doe who about a week ago, began bagging up and just

two days before Soltice gave birth, I noticed some blood around her backside and wondered if she had aborted or there were complications....

Apparently there were, or perhaps like Solstice, she just didn't seem to know what to do about it. I can't believe

that I didn't put 2 & 2 together sooner; or that I didn't see the body before now, but it was on the far side of one

of the shelters and nearly the color of the dried oak leaves....so. Anyway, I still had to find the other little guy

as the light was nearly gone and knowing the situation with Solstice, figured he'd never make it thru the night, if he

and she weren't confined together in the barn. Finally found him about a 100 feet away on the other side of the hill,

bedded down behind an old van seat and grabbed him up and placed him into the pen inside the barn. I then grabbed Solstice

by her front legs and made her "walk" to the pen and pushed her inside and closed her in. She then began screaming to the

others outside about the abysmal living conditions of being forced to live with that "thing"..... Oh well. He on the other

hand, seemed quite glad to see her. Burial detail tomorrow morning; I'll let y'all know the gender of the deceased.

Was so hoping on having another live birth this season, but guess it wasn't meant to be.  There shouldn't be any further surprises....for awhile at least.

[Deleted]

I'm concerned that he's not going to make it without heavy intervention by you. Are you saying that Solstice is not his dam but the other doe is and that's why she won't accept him?
Clearly she's not feeding him when turned out. Poor little guy. I fear you will find him dead in the field one day.

[copperkid3]

No, no, no... the other doe had bagged up about a week BEFORE Solstice had her little guy... and he is hers, as I was there

in person and witnessed that event. I DID NOT see the other doe (who has no name), giving birth and then abandoning her little girl.

There must be something in the water of late that is causing this lack of maternal instinct to suddenly occur?

Normally, I lock up the doe & her new born for a minimum of 3 days to give them a time to bond and keep the little one from getting

trampled by the rest of the herd.  However, the other day was so nice, that I decided to let them out early (besides we now have an

inch and a half of the white stuff back on the ground) and he was just too small & tired to keep up.  They are now both safely inside

and he's doing quite well at feeding himself it seems.  As I put the birds up last night, I looked into the pen and Solstice was lying down

with the little guy curled up between her front legs.....so apparently she's no longer afraid of him!!!


So the grand total this year was 7 kids born ~ with 3 boys and 1 girl surviving and 3 girls dead.  Wish the figures were reversed; actually

wish that they'd all survived.....but sometimes things don't always work out the way we'd like.  Now to find homes for about 7 of them...

or freezer camp.  The land at present, can sustain about 10 to 12 goats for half the year with feeding from hay bales the remainder of winter,

so like to keep that number around a dozen.  And at present, we're at 19....with too many bucks and a number of cull does that should have

gone years ago.