Goat-O-Rama Kids of 2023

[MellonFriend]

Wow, 35 lbs is big!  Man, a kid with manners.  That would be a new one for me! lol.  It sounds like he's shaping up to be a real wonderful companion. 

[Nanno]

I wish I remembered my camera! I took Pongo out for his first walk by himself around the lake in Colorado City. I fitted him out in a collar and it was his first time on a leash. I must say, he did GREAT! He was fussy in the truck at first so I put the console up so he could sit next to me on the seat. He curled up, laid his head in my lap, and promptly went to sleep. Once we got to the lake he charged ahead of me on the leash, ready to go! Once we got away from the road I let him off the leash and he followed very well. Pongo was eager and curious about most things but it confused him when people would walk by us the other way. He would stop and ba-aa-ah a couple of times as if to say, "Wait there's another herd and it's going the wrong way!" But I'd call to him and he'd quickly come bounding after me. I loved that he was more curious than nervous about things like people and geese. The only thing that really frightened him was cars. I kept him leashed near the road and every time a car drove by Pongo would leap and try to bolt as if it were after him. But if that's all he's scared of his first time out, he'll be a pro in no time! Now I need to go vacuum my truck. Pongo tromped his muddy feet all over the front seat and he's shedding like a maniac!

[MellonFriend]

I wish I remembered my camera! I took Pongo out for his first walk by himself around the lake in Colorado City. I fitted him out in a collar and it was his first time on a leash. I must say, he did GREAT! He was fussy in the truck at first so I put the console up so he could sit next to me on the seat. He curled up, laid his head in my lap, and promptly went to sleep. Once we got to the lake he charged ahead of me on the leash, ready to go! Once we got away from the road I let him off the leash and he followed very well. Pongo was eager and curious about most things but it confused him when people would walk by us the other way. He would stop and ba-aa-ah a couple of times as if to say, "Wait there's another herd and it's going the wrong way!" But I'd call to him and he'd quickly come bounding after me. I loved that he was more curious than nervous about things like people and geese. The only thing that really frightened him was cars. I kept him leashed near the road and every time a car drove by Pongo would leap and try to bolt as if it were after him. But if that's all he's scared of his first time out, he'll be a pro in no time! Now I need to go vacuum my truck. Pongo tromped his muddy feet all over the front seat and he's shedding like a maniac!

That's awesome!

[dragonmaker]

Good boy, Pongo! What a lovely first excursion!

[Nanno]

Saturday was an exciting day! Sapphire kidded one big 10 lb. fella who we named Balto! We had people over for lunch when it happened I didn't remember to bring my camera. I was gone all day at a horse show on Sunday, so my first photos of this guy are from yesterday morning (shame on me!). I took a lot more but as it is now chore time I'll have to post just a couple for now. 

Sweet, proud mama! 
     
   

What a little cutie! He came out a bit bow-legged, but with a dab of selenium and a few days' time he'll straighten right out. He's a powerfully built little fella with a thick neck and broad shoulders.
   

[Tater74]

awesome.

[Nanno]

Ziggy had her kids on Tuesday and it's been a wild ride. She kidded easily with no issues and the kids bounced up and started nursing within a few minutes. We had a 7 lb. doeling and a 9 lb. buckling. All seemed fine on Tuesday afternoon and that night when I in for the late check just before bed, but by yesterday morning the kids weren't doing well. They were both constipated and hadn't passed the meconium. We worked with them and got them both to pass it, but neither one was hungry. The boy was downright lethargic. We treated them for floppy kid even though they seemed a bit young to start such a thing. However, we couldn't think what else was wrong. The boy especially had been drinking a LOT of milk immediately after he was born and I remarked on it at the time and wondered if he might be taking too much. Anyway, we named them Maya and Marmaduke. Maya recovered by this morning and is doing great. Marmaduke, on the other hand, is still not out of the woods. He's had trouble passing anything at all and has had a very distended belly for a long time, but he's still very dehydrated. He's not absorbing or passing the liquid in his gut. He was pretty comatose today and I thought we might lose him, but he rallied this evening after another treatment and he seems to be getting better. Hopefully he doesn't crash again. 

Maya is doing great and I have to post some pictures because look at those EARS! I hope they stay this way! 
   
   
   

[Charlie Horse]

Holy cow. Another stressful time for you guys. This is one good reason I was never too excited about the whole breeding aspect. I'll just buy the boys once everything is sorted

[Nanno]

Yes, this has been a rough kidding season. Marmaduke crashed again last night and went toxic. After the meconium on Wednesday morning, he never passed much of anything solid for the next two days. A small amount of milk poop came out the first day and after that just liquid. His sister passed a lot of pasty stuff over two days and just got better and better, so I think her brother was struggling with toxic stuff in his gut that just wouldn't move. He went toxic last night after midnight and passed away at 5:00 this morning. He had all the symptoms of enterotoxemia and of course I didn't have C&D antitoxin on hand like I normally do. I had meant to order some with my vaccines back in March but forgot to add it. Shipping is so expensive on those vaccines and it's one of those things I rarely use. Most of the time it eventually expires and I have to toss it, so I decided to wait until I order more vaccines. Still, even if it prevented entero, it might not have saved him in the end. The vet wonders if he had a birth defect where part of his gut lacked motility. Or he might have had a huge undigested cheese log stuck up there somewhere that wasn't letting anything but liquid go past it. Either way, I feel like I did just about everything I could do for him and it wasn't meant to be. Luckily he didn't seem to suffer too much. He started crying when he went toxic because his gut hurt. A dose of activated charcoal and milk of magnesia quieted his gut immediately and he felt better and went to sleep most of the night. He didn't let me sleep much though. He was quiet as long as I rocked him in the reclining chair, but if I fell asleep and stopped rocking he would cry until I started rocking again. I'm glad rocking him made him comfortable. At least that was something I could do that objectively seemed to help even if it wasn't a cure. So much better than poking him with needles to administer fluids, which we had to do several times to keep him hydrated since nothing was absorbing or moving through his gut except watery diarrhea. Poor little buddy.

But Maya is doing grand. She was hopping all over our basement this morning and had a great time playing with Balto while I milked Sapphire. Balto is a little rough, but Maya seemed excited to try to keep up with him and even challenged him to a head-butting contest, which was comical. There's nothing like watching healthy, happy babies play and bounce around to help ease us through the inevitable tragedies. We've had such a long streak of good luck with healthy baby goats and now we've had two losses in one year. Strange how that happens.

Balto and Pongo are doing great. Balto is a big, robust kid with bottomless energy and a pretty big rough-n-tough streak. I'll be interested to see how he treats Maya when I can put her out in the goat pen. We're having some incredibly wet weather right now which means she'll probably have to stay in the house for a few days until things dry out. I don't want her catching pneumonia now that she's over the digestive crisis. Balto loves to come in the house but he's a true wild man. He's also the cleanest baby we've ever had. He's got this lovely, sleek coat that seems to repel dirt, and his mama was so attentive when he was little that he was never messy even as a little tyke. He's quite the dashing fellow and I'm confident he's going to be a star packer. He'll probably be one of those ones that gives his owner heart attacks at his derring-do like Finn does to us. He may also be a bit of a handful and have an attitude at people if he's not properly disciplined. He started head-butting me when he was two weeks old, and he's very assertive about climbing all over me and jumping on me whether he's been invited or not. He seems to be under the impression that he's automatically welcome to do anything he wants because he's adorable and he knows it. Part of his problem might actually be Pongo.

Let me tell you about Pongo. That little guy is something special. I've never seen a baby quite like him. I used to believe that inside every goat is a demon waiting to come out and terrorize anything smaller and weaker than them. Big kids are notorious for bullying and harassing younger kids. Pongo is two months older than Balto so the size difference is incredible. Yet when they play, Pongo does not press his advantage. Balto's mama, Sapphire, is often a bit frantic because Balto sleeps next to Pongo with Snowball and her clan. Snowball hates Sapphire so Sapphire is rarely welcome to join her baby. When the kids play on rocks or tires, Pongo gently spars back and forth with Balto and doesn't knock him off things. I was vaguely aware of this until last night when Phil and I were playing with the two of them on the tires. Balto would claim a tire, but if Pongo wanted on it he would try to get up very carefully so as not to knock Balto down. Pongo is huge so there's not much hope of his sharing a single tire with anyone! A couple of times Pongo was stretched between tires because he wouldn't commit. Jumping all the way up would mean knocking Balto off! It was absolutely adorable. If Molly got up on a tire, though, Pongo would try to knock her down. Molly is big sister and she and Pongo enjoy being rough. It was a bit one-sided for a while, but Pongo is getting bigger by the day and now he's got horns so he's starting to give Molly a run for her money! It will be interesting to see how all these relationships develop over the summer.

[Nanno]

This doghouse has been out of commission ever since a huge windstorm blew it away back in March and separated the top from the plastic bottom. I couldn't make it stay in the pen without the bottom because it had no holes to stake it down with, so I stored it in the hay barn and kind of forgot about it until recently. With extra kids and all this wet weather I figured the girls' pen could use an extra bit of lodging, so yesterday I got the doghouse out,  drilled holes in the bottom lip and staked it down. Pongo was immediately intrigued but the floor was unbedded and muddy so he could only use it for a jumping toy and not a place to lie down. But tonight I added some straw and when I went back out, guess who was in the doghouse! Pongo had made himself comfortable and invited Balto to join him. They looked for all the world like a couple of boys on a campout! The girls are all too big to fit so I need to put a "No Girls Allowed" sign on Pongo's new clubhouse. I have a feeling he and Balto will be spending a lot of time hanging out there. Sapphire didn't look any too pleased that her baby found yet another place to go where she can't join him, but such is life with rebellious youngsters!