OK...I thought you'll might have fun reading about my sister's emotional roller coaster ride.
I had been posting about it in the farmer/rancher thread...so I will cut and paste them into here
One of my baby sister's goats, Amaretto, just had a rough time. It was the second time for this doe to have triplets, and her fourth birth. So, you would think it would all be fine.....but.....the second one presented incorrectly. It all ended up alright, and it looks like everyone is fine ( and what totally amazes me) no one has any busted or broken anything. Sure am glad for my sister though.....it hits hard if you loose a production animal (like a goat or cow) that you expect to have for maybe 20years. Hard on both the heart and the pocketbook.
By the way, Amaretto had two girls and a boy. My sister says one of the baby girls is super cute, but she will keep both girls and eat the boy when he gets older.
Ack!
My poor sister! Another goat is kidding, and this one isn't going smoothly either. NOTHING has presented, and the goat has been in labor for almost two hours I think.
My sister finally screwed up her courage enough that she cleaned up and then lubed up and reached around inside. However, she can't figure out at all what it is that she is feeling. She isn't even sure what parts are legs.
The vet was on a different house call, just finished up, but has an hour drive to get to her place.
Poor sister.
My poor sister! Se was so stressed the first time she called, I didn't get the entire story. The goat, Pearl, did birth one kid, but then couldn't birth the second. She was in hard labor for almost two hours after the first, without the second presenting anything. The first kid did nurse.
After a third hour, Pearl managed to deliver the second kid on her own, but the second one is dead. The vet is almost there, so I told my sister to go ahead and have the vet check everything out, for infection etc. as this doe is my sister's very best milker. We talked it over, and the vet visit will be much less than the cost of replacing the goat.
The entire ordeal is such an emotional strain for my sister.
I asked her, and this *IS* the first time, in the four years that she has had her milk goats, that she has ever had such problems with the births!
I was trying to help her remember how big the sire was.... But the sire wasn't full grown when my sister borrowed him.
OK..... All over and done
It was good that the vet came.....the second one that was birthed dead wasn't quite right, just a bit deformed...
It turns out that there was a third one, the vet had to get that one out himself. The third one had died awhile back. The vet thought that the third one looked OK, and it was a freak accident in the womb that caused it to die.
He cleaned out Pearl, gave her three shots, and told my sister that Pearl looked well fed and in good health. The vet did not think that it was diet related, or disease, or the sire. He thought it was just "one of those things". Amaretto's problem was just a simple presentation problem, so not related at all to the problem that Pearl just had.
My sister is stressed. This is the first time her goats have had such trouble, and she has one more goat due soon, and this one is a first timer! My sister is thinking that maybe she will call the vet as soon as the goat goes into labor, she feels "gun shy".
It might be worth it. This next one (are they called yearlings?..heifer equivalent) is one of Pearl's kids. Pearl is a wonderful milker, and will milk at high volume for almost two years from one breeding. The sire of this yearling, cant remember her name, was just a whatever milk goat, but at least he was a milk goat. My sister usually gets meat goats as the sire.
The one *HEALTHY* baby from Pearl is a boy, and is looking great.
OK, that's it....just thought you'll would like the story.
By the way, my sister is in Texas, on the old homestead.
LOL, I am always looking for a reason to plant a palm
