Eight is (more than) Enough

Last night was the beginning of the end….the end of Kidding Season!

Cloud’s due date was supposed to be on Sunday, but yesterday morning I noticed that she had lost her plug and her ligaments were very loose.  Being a first freshener, I wasn’t sure what her particular signs of labor would be, but the other two physical signs were a good indication that she may kid before Sunday.

So I got my butt in gear and finally cleaned out the kidding pen, put in fresh shavings and straw and got everything ready for a pending birth.  Cloud was still walking around pretty much like normal and didn’t seem any different until just before dusk.  Paul, Rhiannon and I were out in the goat pen for a while and Cloud was starting to talk to herself.  I kept an eye on her and didn’t see her arch her back and didn’t notice any contractions, although I did notice her tail was held a little bit higher.  We brought her into the kidding pen and turned on the baby monitor just before we turned in for the night.

Rhiannon and I were sleeping (well, Rhiannon was at least) when I heard a couple of goat-grunts.  Nothing that sounded too bad, so I just kind of stayed in bed and kept my ears tuned to the monitor.  A few minutes later, I heard Cloud grunt again, so figured I should get up, put some old duds on and grab a magazine while I waited out her labor in the barn.  But before I could even wrench Rhiannon from my arm, I heard another grunt, and less than a minute later, another louder goat-grunt.  So I bolt out of bed, throw my barn clothes on, grab the flashlight and trot out to the barn.  When I get there and open the kidding pen door, I saw Cloud laying on the floor and figured she was starting hard labor……..except it was OVER! 

Right next to her was a little brown and white kid, half cleaned off and starting to shake her head!  So I grabbed some clean towels out of the kidding box and finished cleaning the little doeling off.

Cloud stood up after a few minutes and I nudged the doeling towards Cloud’s udder and she almost immediately started nursing. 

This had to be the quickest delivery I’ve ever attended!  And I felt very unneeded!  All I did was tie off the umbilical cord and clean up some of the birthing goo.  I sat in the barn for about an hour waiting for Cloud to pass the afterbirth, but eventually gave up to go back in the house and get some shut-eye.

This morning Cloud and the doeling were doing just fine and I cleaned up the pen, found the placenta, gave her some fresh water, grain and alfalfa pellets.  I usually give the mom and kids a few days alone in the kidding pen, but for some reason Paul thought it was imperative that they all be outside so he opened the door and they both wandered out into the big goat world.  It was a beautiful and warm day so I suppose there was no harm in letting them out.

Krazo Acres 2011 Kidding Season Stats:

Nettie: 3 doelings, Annette: 2 bucklings, Ishtar: 1 doeling & 1 buckling, Cloud: 1 doeling