Free's kidding journal 2011: Plum's death wish p 42

[glenolam]

Wow free...sorry to hear about the madness! I can't wait to see some cute little kid pics, though!

My electric is off, too. I bought a fancy volt tester since the cheapy ones I was getting lasted about 1 day then they'd fall apart. I put the tester to the charger and I'm only getting about 4000v but I think that's in part due to my "electrical situation"....A real electrician would probably pass out if they came and inspected my set up.

I tested the lines and the top line that runs directly to the charger is barely reading 1000v and the other two lines don't go above 500v. I have no idea where my problem is (well, with the exception of my set up that is). Do you know much about that stuff?

 

[Henrietta23]

Poor baby!! I hope my neighbors would do the same, but I have my doubts about some of them!

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Wow, poor Plum! Glad she's safe.
My mom would call me, but I doubt anyone else would bother to get my girls safe. Not that they'd let anyone get near them, but mom would at least run them home. Thank goodness I'm pretty far from the road.
One would hope that Ginger would continue to not tolerate the nursing
Just popping in!

 

[freemotion]

Hi Noobie! Glad to see you poppin' in, I hope Plum doesn't pop out again!

Speaking of popping, Ginger can barely walk today. Each step is a labor, poor giant gal. She was acting funny this morning when I fed.....she ate a little hay and then kept coming over to me and standing around, not eating or cud-chewing. I filled the water bucket from the hose (dh will be so pleased that he doesn't have to haul water from the house today!) and she tasted it three times and didn't drink. She kept wandering around, slowly, not finding what she was looking for.

She showed lots of enthusiasm, though, when I put her in her stall with some alfalfa pellets and sprouted oats! I've been adding supplements for a few days, a good B complex and a mix of OPC's (super-antioxidants) to give her body a bit of a boost. She loves it. The first day I did this I got a little concerned later when I thought her mouth was bloody....did Mya get her in the face? When I inspected her closely I realized it was the opc's on her lips! Silly me.

I hope her new behavior is a sign of impending labor....her ligaments are still strong, though, and her udder isn't tight yet. She's probably just faking it to get more treats. It's working.

 

[glenolam]

Oh I can't wait for you to have little babies running around!

If Peach is pregnant, too, maybe the idea of nursing her own kids will deter her from tapping back on mamma...

So - what's the actual line up?

I know Ginger's due date is tomorrow
Peach is May
Plum is.....

I need to go reread this from the beginning...

 

[Javamama]

Whoa! Ginger is due tomorrow? Gosh I can't believe it'll be April finally. Good luck Free!

 

[freemotion]

Due dates:

Ginger: April 2

Willow: April 24, but likely not preggers

Mya: May 7 :/ drama queen, likes to try to die during labor

Peach: May 14

Plum: June 19

ALL due on the weekend! How did that happen?

Ginger will be lactating for 6 weeks before Peach delivers, and I'm pulling Ginger's babies, so I really hope Ginger doesn't try to nurse Peach again! I don't have anywhere else to put her, so will have to get creative with fencing some small paddocks. Yikes. I will try making a "bra" for Ginger if I must, so they can all be together during the day. I only have fencing enough for a pen for all the babies, but I hope to sell all the bottle babies while still on the bottle.

 

[glenolam]

What about taping her teats so Peach can't nurse?


Or rather....how in the world would Ginger nurse Peach? I mean, would she run her hoof around Peach's neck in a half-nelson hold and say "TAP THAT OR ELSE?" HAAA HAA HA...ha....hmmmm

 

[freemotion]

Peach was still nursing at 7 months, and she would suck the tape right off the teat...or suck it slightly off and still nurse! I saw her duck her head under Ginger a couple of weeks ago, but Ginger walked away. Ginger doesn't really butt. She walks away or bulldozes. She has never bulldozed her daughter....but her daughter will use her horns on her mom. I love my big galoot! Not the brightest bulb, however.

She wouldn't need a half-Nelson. She'd assume the position, hawk up a huge cud, and Peach would lie on her back to get under her!

 

[freemotion]

Just came in from a late-night barn check. All the top goats were on a tear earlier and had kicked the babies (not babies anymore!! ) out in the cold rain...supposed to switch to snow, which it is trying to do right now....so I decided to divide and conquer. Ginger is starting to make me watchful so I put her in a stall by herself for the night....lots of yelling by Peach, even now. Then I put the two pygmies in another stall, as they are the only two I can put together and trust not to cause bloodshed. They argued and complained and turned that process into quite a rodeo. Hah! I won! HAH!

Mya is not as irritable with only Plum and Peach in with her. They are very low on the herd hierarchy so no challenge to her at all. Not that anyone else is, she is clearly the queen....but she sometimes just needs her space. Not a good thing when the weather is such that someone would suffer if left out in it for too long.

Ginger is looking even wider now than she did earlier today. Something is shifting. I think...maybe...her ligaments are a bit softer. She let me feel for a milk vein (bulging) and she let me touch her udder and she squatted for the first time since starting to make her udder this time. Normally a very good girl, she has not allowed me to touch her underparts for the past month without complaint. I haven't forced the issue, as I want her to be touchy with Peach around, just waiting for her chance to resume nursing, little twit.

So....hmmm.....I wonder if the squat means anything.....I'm going to bed soon so I can be up kinda early to run out and check. I got the extension cord up but haven't put the heat lamp up. I got the milking stand into the garage but the space is not yet cleared and workable. My milking kit is not set up yet. I have to organize and clean all my bottles for bottle feeding kids.

I've been wondering if this big storm was going to bring it on.....I actually hope so. I want babies! I want milk! I want to know what is in that warehouse that is Ginger's belly!