Answers To Your Questions

(Christmas Cocoa checking out the camera)

How many kids do we have now? We had a total of 14 goat babies this year. 3 are already at new homes being spoiled and the bucklings and a couple of doelings will be going to their new home when they are weaned.

Do they get stepped on or mixed up in with the other goats? The mom and her babies are kept by themselves for a few days. The mom goats and their babies are kept in a pen/pasture area by themselves. The other goats are in pens next to them and can see the babies but not get in with them. Each mom knows her own baby if one that isn't hers should try to nurse she just steps aside and nudges the baby away. Sonya's buckling looks almost identical to DiDi's so I sometimes have a hard time telling them apart. The moms can in an instant. All the moms are careful with all the babies. They don't step on them or try to hurt them. All the babies play together and even sleep together in a big pile. Tiny Tina, her mom Baby along with Mandy and Christmas Cocoa are in their own pen since they are so much smaller.

How are the kids doing? They are doing great! They are running, jumping, climbing, chasing each other. All are healthy, happy and spoiled!

Why did you name a chicken Cheese? I had a hen that hatched out a chick and a duckling. She raised the duckling like it was a chick. The duckling and chick thought they were sisters and went everywhere together. They were inseparable. They just seemed so normal together... kinda like cheese and crackers. So I named the duckling Quackers and the chick Cheese. Yeah, I am strange like that. LOL

Do you ever mix up which kid is which? Yes! Its easy to tell Diva's apart. Sunshine and Leo are huge now. Sammi only has 2 now since I sold one of her girls and its easy telling Frosty from Dawn. Sonya's girl Faith looks almost like one of Sammi's Dawn so I have to look close. And Sonya's Marvel looks exactly like DiDi's Salem so I really really have to look close. Bridie's Snowy Grace is easy to recognise as is Christmas Cocoa and Tiny Tina.

Do the moms discipline them? Yes, they actually do. If you remember the photos of Snowy Grace running from her mom. Bridie really did chase her down and nudge her into the stall to lay down. She didn't leave Snowy Grace alone until she was laying down. The moms will speak to the kids in a certain tone if they are doing something the mom doesn't like and the kid will stop and come stand by mom. The moms use their head to nudge the baby if its doing something its not suppose to and the kid will stop. The mom goats teach their kids really well.

Do you have a kid minding center to give the moms a break. With all the moms together in a area they get lots of breaks. All the kids will snuggle together for nap time and the moms will stand around the hay rack eating and talking.

Think that has all the questions answered. If I forgot any just ask me again. You know I am getting old and forgetful!

Goats and Quackers

I was ask to take a picture of Tiny Tina next to one of the other kids. I chose Snowy Grace as she is only a few days older than Tiny Tina. I was ask if 'TT" was as small as a cat. She is about half the size of my cat Whiskers. She is about the size of a cantalope with feet. LOL
I had posted during the summer about Quackers the duck that thought she was a chicken. I am happy to say she finally has decided she is a duck. Her chicken sister Cheese is in with the other chickens now and Quackers is enjoying the duck pen with Sally, Donald and Daffy.

Tiny Tina

I can't name a doeling Tiny Tim so decided to call her Tiny Tina. Have had several ask just how small she is. I took pictures of her next to our flashlight to give you an ideal. Tomorrow I will try to get a picture of her next to one of the baby Nubian's. Tiny Tina and her mom Baby are in the maternity pen by themselves. Tiny Tina is so active! She was running and jumping this morning and she wasn't even 24 hours old. Nubian kids usually sleep alot the first few days. Tiny Tina has been on the go since she was born. She chased a chicken that got in the pen this afternoon. She is such a joy to watch.

Baby's Baby

When I said we were through with kidding I had actually forgotten Baby was due. I mean I knew she was due but with all the Nubian babies being born I put Baby our dwarf goat out of my mind. Yeah, I'm bad. A couple of days ago I did move her to the maternity pen as I saw she was getting close to kidding. She was in the pen with her mom and sister Christmas Cocoa. While feeding this afternoon I saw her yawning and stretching. She also went inside the maternity house. She never goes inside during the day. After feeding I went and sat with her. Didn't take long to see that she was going to kid. She had a beautiful tiny doeling! Dwarf babies are so tiny and cute but boy do they have energy! They get up and start nursing a lot faster than Nubian kids. Little one doesn't have a name yet but I promise... this is the last kid until May! We are really finished with kidding season till May.... Honest! LOL

Mother

Mildred has a post today showing some of her mother's beautiful collections. I always enjoy the posts she writes about her mom as it brings many memories of my mother to surface. After seeing her mother's quilt I wanted to repost pictures of the quilt mother embroidered I have. She hand embroidered a quilt for each child, grandchild and great grandchild along with quilts for her brothers, sisters, some nieces and nephews. She also made baby quilts for so many friends and family baby showers. She did over 700 quilts! My quilt is of the presidents of the United States. Each square has a hand embroidered head of a president, the year he was born and died. It has what number president he was and even his signature is hand embroidered. Reagan was president when she made the quilt so that is the last president she stitched.
It looks drawn but every detail is hand embroidered. She spent many hours stitching. She had the most beautiful slim hands. I think the stitching kept them young and pretty. She made so many quilts that people would ask her to make special ones for their friends and family. Mother made, butterfly quilts, a quilt with all the states, dolls of all the countries, etc. She never said no. If you could give her pictures to trace from to make her pattern she would stitch it. At her funeral it was only right there be quilts. The last two quilts (one angels and one butterflies) she made were placed by her coffin. She died 4 years ago on January 14th but the memories we each have of mother wraps around and warms us each time we touch or see her quilts. She left a piece of her heart with each of us. Thank you Mildred for your beautiful post and stirring up memories of my own.

Afternoon with the Kids

Christmas Cocoa

I was going in to rake the dwarf pen when "CC" jumped up on her moms back and just stood there. Mandy didn't seem to mind. "CC" is part Nubian so is going to get bigger than her mom soon and I think Mandy will change her mind.

Snowy Grace

Hi everybody. Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. I am feeling lots better. I still have to get a shot in my butt everyday but it only hurts for a minute. Today I followed my mommy around outside. My human mom took off my sweater for a little while. The sun was shining and I got to see the other kids running and playing. My mommy made me go back inside our little house and have lunch. Tomorrow I hope while she talks with the other mommies I can play with the kids. They look like they have lots of fun. I had to put my sweater back on and get ready for bed. Its just not fair everyone gets to stay up and play and I have to sleep! I am not sick anymore. I want to play too! Oh well, there is always tomorrow.

Answering Your Questions

After surviving a night temp of 18F the little newborn kid is actually doing very well. She spent the night with her mom Bridie and Bridie made sure her baby stayed next to her and was warm. I went out 3 times during the night and even covered baby with a blanket at one time knowing it wouldn't stay on. I did make sure their stall was draft free, snug and warm. Little one is nursing well, walking around, and acting just like the other kids at Hidden Haven. She is still getting antibiotics each day just to be safe. And little one has a name now. Since it was by the grace of God I found her in time on that snowy morning we decided to name her Snowy Grace. It has been such a busy day here I didn't get a photo of her today but will post one tomorrow to show how well she is doing. As for DiDi's twin boys, one went to a new home today. The other one we named Salem which means at peace. DiDi had a very peaceful labor and delivery this year. One of Sonya's triplets has a new home so she only has 2 now. Its much easier on her to nurse. We named the buckling Marvel and the doeling Faith. With the labor and delivery she had those are perfect names. Someone ask if the goats get mad when I sell their babies. They get upset for a few hours and keep looking for the kid. Sonya makes sure if someone new comes in to look at her kids she is right there so they don't take anymore. DiDi cried for about an hour and then went back to munching hay and is now curled up next to Sonya sleeping. Their kids are close and sleep and play together. Sammi and her triplets are doing well. I will be selling one of her doelings. It will leave her with Frosty and Jan which will make it easier on her to nurse. Diva's twins, Sunshine and Leo are running around playing and even nibbling on hay. And yes, we are through kidding until May unless there is another surprise I don't know about. We try very hard to plan our breeding dates so we know the kidding dates but things happen, goats get out, etc. You just do what you can do. Someone ask about the coffee. Its not given as a shot. I put it in a syringe and give it orally. Make it as warm as you can without getting it too hot for the kid to swallow. Put the syringe in the side of the mouth with the tip on the middle of the tongue. Let a little of the coffee out at a time so they don't choke. This gives them the warmth they need and it also gives them a caffeine boost to their system to jump start it. You can do this with any animal. Just make sure you don't choke them by giving it too fast or too hot. Make it strong and you can even add a little molasses. Now for the question about rumen. The goats stomach has 4 chambers and they are like fermenting vats. You will see goats belch alot.They belch and the food particles come up and they chew what is call cud and swallow it and it goes to the next chamber, then the next, etc. When they aren't burping or passing gas then their rumen isn't working. They get the heat for their body from working their rumen. (chewing their cud). This is dangerous for them if they aren't chewing their cud. They can get chilled, their food isn't digested and just comes out in big clumps of poop. So you need to do something to make them burp and get the rumen working again. Giving them baking soda helps balance the pH in the rumen and keeps the digestive system flowing. By giving them veggie oil or peanut oil (some type of oil with a taste so they know to swallow and not let it go into their lungs) you break the bubbles in their stomach chambers or fermenting vats so they will start burping and passing gas. Also give them some good hay to eat as this will give them much needed fiber. As for knowing when and what to do to help a goat kid. I always try to be with each one when they go into labor. You never know if they will need help or not. Most kids that are lost die at birth because the doe had problems. Either from kid being in wrong position, tangled with other kid inside doe, or lodge and can't pass thru cervix. If your goat is really pushing and no kid or bubble is appearing she is in distress. Glove up, use ob gel to lube the glove and very gently put your hand inside the goat. Make sure the kid is coming feet first. Either front feet and then the head or back feet and then the butt. If the kid is lodge against the cervix, gently push it back and straighten out the feet so it can pass through. If another kid is trying to push its way past the first one, gently push that kid back so first one can come out first. If the kids are tangled together say a prayer, take a deep breath and find one foot and gently trace that foot up to the body it belongs to. Gently find the rest of its legs, etc and untangle it and gently pull as the doe pushes until you have it out. I always clean the mouth, nose and airway of each kid born so it can start breathing right away. I then place in front of the mom so she can clean and bond with it. I will use towels and help clean the kid so mom doesn't use all her energy. I always give the mom warm molasses water and grain after kidding to restore her energy and heat her body has lost during kidding. ALWAYS make sure the newborn kid doesn't get a chill. Even in the summer they can get a chill which is very very hard on them. They may act fine for a day or so then you will find them dead and not know why. Its easy for them to get respiratory infections and very hard for them to fight off. Make sure they are good and dry before you leave them with their mom. Always make sure they have nursed before leaving them with their mom. If its cool or damp put a sweater on the kid to keep it warm. This is a simple way of saving a kid. Make sure if the mom doesn't bite the umbilical cord you cut it down to about an inch and dip it in 7%iodine. This will keep any bacteria from traveling up the cord and will help it dry faster. Goats aren't hard to take care of but do need to be checked on each day. I go out in their pens and just talk to them and see how they are eating, breathing, pooping and peeing. Just by observing you can catch and treat things quickly before they become too serious. For the one that ask if we have anyone helping now the answer is no, not yet. I am doing fairly well by myself. I just am not visiting all your blogs as much as I use to or posting as much as I want. I am enjoying knowing the animals are getting fed and taken care of the way I think is best. And I am really enjoying raking the pens and watching the kids learn how to run and play! I think I have answered all the questions, if not please ask again.

My Shocking Surprise

This morning I was so excited to go out and feed. It was snowing and everything was so beautiful and white. I filled the bucket to feed the goats and as I walked in the big pen I almost had a heart attack. I dropped the bucket and ran. There was a small little brown body laying on the frozen ground not moving. I grabbed the kid and shoved it inside my down coat and headed to Sammi's stall. I thought some how one of her kids had gotten out and froze to death during the night. When I opened Sammi's gate she was standing there with all 3 of her girls. So where the he** did this kid come from? It wasn't the right color for one of Diva's and the other kids were in the maternity house near the house. I took the kid out of my coat thinking it was dead to look at it. It was a newborn and it was barely breathing. The only other goat in that pen was Bridie and we thought we had just bred her a month ago. I went and looked in her stall. She was standing there crying and when she saw the kid she started licking and crying more. Yep, Nickel must have gotten Bridie while she was laying down as he is too short to reach her. He is only 11 months old so isn't very tall yet. Anyway, I ran with the kid to the house. I gave her 2 cc's of strong coffee to jump start her system. I got out the trusty hairdryer and started warming her up. I really didn't think she would live. I warmed a blanket and sweater on the stove. Put the sweater on her, wrapped her in the blanket and placed her in front of the woodstove to rest while I finished feeding the animals. I didn't even take time to enjoy the snow while I fed. I rushed and got all the animals fed and came back inside expecting to see a dead baby goat. She was still breathing. I gave her a injection of antibiotics and B12 and rubbed on her some more to warm her up. I gave her some of her moms milk I had gotten while I was out feeding and she drank it. I warmed her blanket again and placed a hot water bottle under her and left her resting in front of the woodstove. About 20 minutes later I hear a little cry and go check. She is trying to stand. I help her up and help hold her up as she is still weak but she stands for a couple minutes trying to nurse my chin. I give her more of her moms milk and warm her blanket again. She rests for just a few minutes and tries to stand again. I end up holding her so she will sleep. After lunch she is walking around and her body temp is normal. I take her out to let her nurse her mom. Bridie was so happy to see her! She cried and licked her over and over. The little one nursed good and then curled up next to her mom. I closed the stall and made sure there were no drafts anywhere and left them. I had plans to go get the kid in a little while but everytime I went Bridie would push her behind her so I couldn't reach her. The little one was walking around, nursing and doing well. I decided to leave her. I will go back out several times during the night and if she is the least bit cold or acting sick I will bring her back in. Right now I think her mom is the best thing for her. Bridie had gotten just a little fat on her but that was normal for when we thought she was due in May. She never showed signs of nearing labor. No discharge. No full udder, no loose ligament, nothing. I feel so bad I didn't check on her when I went out several times last night to check on DiDi and her babies. Diva and Sammi always take such good care of their kids I didn't worry about checking on them and I had no ideal Bridie was anywhere near kidding. What a miracle and a blessing that the little one is alive. There are still chances she might not make it. Newborn kids that get a chill at birth even in the summer time have a very slim chance of making it. They get respiratory problems within a couple of days from the chill and usually die. I am hoping with the getting the antibiotics into her fast enough and warming her inside with the strong coffee she will be okay. Right now you can't tell she was ever near death. She acts just like a normal newborn kid. She survived so far and is a very strong willed little girl. What a wonderful little blessing she has already become. Now I need to get busy and name her, DiDi's twins and Sonya's babies... I am way behind! DiDi's boys with Sonya's little girl and boy. Her other boy was sold yesterday and is doing great in his new home.

DiDi's Babies and Snow!

Yesterday afternoon I was walking out to feed while talking to William on the phone. DiDi came up to the fence and cried. When I walked over she turned her butt toward me and I saw 2 little feet. I told William I had to go, hung up the phone and ran to the pen. DiDi wouldn't go in the building so I held the two feet and she just walked forward and out popped a buckling. I took it in the maternity building and started cleaning it up. DiDi came in and helped. A couple minutes later she turned her butt to me and there were 2 more little feet. I held the feet DiDi walked forward and out popped another buckling! They have her red color but white front legs and white waist. They were up walking within minutes and nursing. They are bigger than Sonya's triplets. Speaking of Sonya's babies. I sold one of the bucklings yesterday. She doesn't have enough milk for 3 and a lady that purchased one last year to bottle feed wanted another one this year. Sonya is mad at me and looking for her other baby but she now has enough milk for the 2 she has. DiDi got mad at me this morning as I accidently put the baby of Sonya's that looks like DiDi's on DiDi to nurse. DiDi corrected me quickly and all babies nursed the right mom. Had about 3 inches of snow while I did morning chores but by the time I got everything done we had 6 inches and its still snowing! I love it!!! The reason it took me extra long to do morning chores is a shocker I will post about later today. Belive me it almost made me have a heart attack this morning but ended up being a wonderful surprise. I promise to answer everyone's questions about rumen and birthing questions later also. Until then here are the pictures of DiDi's babies. They are the two in front. Sonya's are the two in the back. Like DiDi and Sonya the kids like staying together.

I will take better ones later when things have slowed down a bit. And here are some photos of our snow. I just love snow!! And its still snowing.

Monday at Hidden Haven

Been a busy weekend. William made it home. His mom spent the weekend with us and his cousin, his wife, daughter and son in law visited Sunday afternoon. Everyone loved seeing the baby goats. Sonya is doing great. Her babies had a little congestion but after I put them on antibiotics they are doing lots better. Sammi had a day where her rumen wasn't working but after a couple doses of baking soda and water chased by a fourth cup of veggie oil she is back to normal. DiDi is looking like she will kid tonight or tomorrow. Over all things are busy but fun at Hidden Haven. A homestead friend of ours is writing articles on homesteading. She ask us to complete a survey then she wrote a really nice article about Hidden Haven. I told her she did so well I wanted to visit my own place! Here is the link if you would like to read it. Also have some pictures I snapped while raking the pens this morning.

Sonya's Unforgettable Night

I went out at 10pm to check everyone before laying down and found Sonya in labor. I went ahead and checked on everyone else to make sure they were warm and okay. Grabbed the birthing kit, diaper bag, a heavier coat, a blanket and headed back to the maternity house. I wrapped up in the blanket and just sat back in the corner. Contractions weren't that close so I waited. I had to laugh as I watched DiDi and Sonya. They are like sisters and have to stay together no matter what. When I would check Sonya to see how things were going DiDi would stick her head around to watch. She would then look at me as if she was waiting for me to tell her how things were moving along. I just sat and took pictures of DiDi being Sonya's Lamaze coach. DiDi did get kinda tired a couple times and snoozed a little. When Sonya got into the heavy labor and nothing was happening I gloved up and checked. I knew then we were in big trouble. But God was watching over us and she and the babies are doing well. I didn't take any photos during that terrifying delivery and only a few afterwards. Will take more later today.The kids are still very tired from the delivery. The boys only stand up for a few seconds then fall down. The girl will stand for a while and walk a little. Each time they nurse you can see them getting stronger. I have 2 heat lights out there and they are in their sweaters. They also have a blanket with a hot water bottle keeping them warm. I put my hair dryer on low and warmed them up after they nursed. They snuggled down and went right to sleep. I will take better photos once they rest up. I did take the sweater off the second buckling so you could see him better. The picture still didn't show his beautiful markings very well. I will get a better one once his legs are stronger. Now I have a few things to do then I am taking a nap. I hope DiDi will wait a day or two so it will warm up and I can get the birthing kit restocked.