Got 8 kids on the ground now, including Mary, the former house-goat, 9 if you count Masai, the little Nubian buck kid I bought and am bottle raising. The little buck I wrote about last time is doing well, living with his family but getting the grub from us.
Yesterday, a couple of hours before I had to leave for a doctor's appointment, I spotted a doe in trouble. She was at the grain feeder, pigging out with the rest of the does, with a big bubble hanging out of her back end. Now, normally, once the bubble comes, they're not interested in food, so I knew something was wrong. To make a long story short, an hour before I had to leave, I was wrist deep in the old gal, sorting out a tangle of kids. Had one coming normally and another back feet first at the same time. Took me forever to figure out what I was feeling, but finally got them both out. They looked okay so I headed out for the appointment.
Called DH on the way there and asked him to check on the kids. He called back to say one was flat out, still wet and not moving much, but he refused to do anything about it. That is part of his dementia; he will sometimes just simply refuse to do something that is, to me, critical because the part of his brain that processes the sequence of events that will or won't happen if he doesn't do it is failing. So, I called the neighbor and he came over to help Jim. They got the kid dried off and fed him some colostrum in a bottle.
Got home in time to show my yearlings to a lady who'd driven 2 hours to come see them. Good news is, she bought them all! That's 12 goats off my plate. She left a deposit and will be back to get them in a week or two.
In the midst of dealing with her, I checked on the two new kids and found the buck kid still couldn't stand. He needed help to nurse, but was doing okay. His sister, however, was hunched up and cold (did I mention we had a major spring snow storm that morning?) Got her inside for a visit with the hair drier. I tried to tube feed her but she fussed so much I thought I was hurting her. When we took her back out, she nursed immediately, so guess she was just full when we tubed her.
This morning, both are doing okay. Buck boy still can't quite stand, but will nurse well when I tuck him under his mom and he's getting stronger. His back legs are the problem, so he can pull himself around with his front legs and can stand if supported.
Lots more to tell, but this thing is turning into a novel, so I'll stop for now.
