So here's what has been happening:
October - got back from honeymoon in Kauai (I wish I'd just stayed there) found one of my does, Jill, was looking skinny and stopped producing milk. Started upping her grain ration and treated her for coccidiosis (a parasite they get from grass) since she had diarrhea. After a while she would only stand fluffed up in the corner of the stall and went off her feed. Called the vet out who tube fed her, gave her antibiotics and b-complex injections and gave her a 25% chance of recovery. Knowing what I know now, I would have wormed the goat too. She died a couple weeks later.
November - Bought a new (supposedly pregnant but didn't look like it) doe named Bella. Jill's 4 month old son Prince starts to show the same symptoms as his mom. I call the vet and talk to her and she said it sounds like he has a fatal gut disease. I followed the same regimen as I did his mom but with the addition of a chemical wormer. I thought he was a goner after the wormer. Just looked worse and worse. But a week and a half later, his poop returned to normal and the life returned to him. He is still super small for his age but he is recovering well. Bella seems to be losing weight and has diarrhea too. Treat her for coccidiosis and for tapeworms and give b-complex injections. Give her extra grain and hay daily.
December - Bella still looking skinny but slightly better. Decide to give her a different type of wormer for a different set of worms. She is still looking skinny and definitely anemic because the insides of her eyelids are very pale. Begin giving her an iron supplement as well as probiotics and continue b-complex a couple times a week.
January - Buy a buck to hopefully breed with Bella and Daisy. Watching Bella and Daisy for heat. See no signs but in Bella I see goo on her tail and that's usually a sign of heat, however the new buck is not interested in the slightest so I think I must be mistaken. Not sure what the goo is from though. A week later G and I go out to the barn to give all the goats copper supplements and give Bella an iron injection because the pelleted form is taking too long, although I am starting to see a little bit of improvement in the color inside her eyelids. We walk in the barn and I think I hear babies bleating. I ask G "what was that?" 8 year olds are not as attuned to things so he looked at me like I was crazy. "Did you hear that? Sounds like babies. Is it lambs?" I look in - no lambs. I check the goats. 2 kids!!!! Turns out Bella was pregnant which is why she had the goo. I told P a couple days earlier that I thought she might be a few months pregnant because she was starting to get a little round in the belly and her udder was very slightly developed. Glad that I paid close enough attention to see that something was going on, I just didn't realize what! If I weren't such a blonde, I would have put a reminder on my calendar that based on the date the previous owner told me she was bred, I should watch for kids around Jan 7. But I really really thought she was either not bred or only a few months along and just starting to show. So I send G in the house as fast as he can run to get towels, because it is SNOWING outside and Bella shows no interest in her kids - I try getting her to let them nurse but she kicks them away. One buckling is big and on his feet and ready to go. The other is about half the size and not very vibrant. I wrap one in a towel and hand it to G but it starts hollering and he panics and doesn't want to hold it. So I have him go get sis-in-law and we get the kids into the house and onto a blanket. Bella has no milk so I find some milk replacer from a couple of years ago that will have to do for the time being. We get the big one to take the bottle but the little one is struggling. I am running around like crazy trying to take care of Bella and kids and I haven't had dinner so am about to drop. Instead of eating I run out to the feed store in my goat afterbirth covered pink carhartt jacket and my grimy boots to get powdered colostrum because they need it ASAP. While I was out I got a pizza so we could have something for dinner since I obviously wasn't going to have time to cook. The mother in me wants to take care of everyone else first but sometimes I need to take care of me so I can take care of others. During my absence they got the little one to take some from a bottle and both kids were sleeping. But the smaller one's breathing sounds junky and labored and he's just not energetic. I sit with him on my lap and warm him up. Then I go to Bella and manage to get 12ml of colostrum from her that I fed to the little guy with a syringe. After a couple of hours he started perking up a bit. I finally went to bed at 12:30pm and P took over the 2am feeding and the little one took the bottle. Now the goal is to get Bella to start making milk so we have to put the kids on her every 1-2 hours and let them suck, even if they get nothing. Hopefully they will be so insistent that she finally gives in and accepts them. But at the very least I need MILK because I don't want to be raising kids on formula.
No more does are due to kid until late April and late May. This I am 100% sure of. But I don't know which sheep are pregnant or when they are due so I won't be surprised if I find more surprises in the barn in the coming months. Yes, this is my life.
~T
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