Chat
05-06-2022, 08:18 AM
On Friday, April 28th we had a highly unusual situation. Isabella, who is Snowball's yearling kid, began showing strong signs of going into labor that morning. Snowball and Isabella have always been inseparable, but lately Isabella was stuck like velcro to her mom. She slept with her body pressed up against Snowball and rested her head on Snowballs flank or shoulder. Most does prefer to be alone when they start labor so we tried to give Isabella a little privacy in her own shed, but she wouldn't have it! She screamed and cried if Snowball wasn't right with her, so we locked them both in a shed together and waited and watched on the Goat-O-Scope. Snowball was very interested in Isabella's condition and kept checking under her tail and nuzzling her teats ("Are you making enough milk, dear?").
Unfortunately, Isabella wouldn't get on with the job and things were starting to drag. Snowball (who didn't look close to kidding when I checked her shortly before) eventually got fed up and began to push. However, it didn't look like she was having normal contractions, which are involuntary. Between the rolling, the sitting, and and the strained, determined pushing, Snowball appeared to be forcing herself into labor! I suppose she thought Isabella was taking too long and needed someone to demonstrate the birthing process?
In any case, Snowball got down to business and things started happening pretty quickly. Hooves appeared, but then all progress ceased. I waited a while, but more pushes yielded no results. I took a shallow feel and there were two hooves and nose right behind where it should be. The hooves were tiny. A baby this size should pop right out. What was holding things up? I gave the hooves a tug but nothing moved. Strange. I reached further in and there was a third hoof! Then suddenly it dawned on me that one of the hooves I'd been pulling on was upside-down! It was a hind foot from another kid! No wonder things weren't moving. At that point I knew I had to intervene. I washed up while Phil got Snowball to her feet and plunked a milk stool under her belly so she couldn't lay down. Further exploration revealed four feet in the birth canal--two belonging to a forward-facing kid and two belonging to a breech kid. I closed my eyes to get a better mental picture of front vs. hind leg conformation so I could translate that to the slimy, kicking things I was feeling in the dark. Hind legs are luckily very easy to distinguish and I knew they were the ones that had to go away, so I found the hind legs first and pushed them back into the uterus one at a time. I had to reach far in to put that second determined hind leg down where it couldn't pop back! Then I had to grope around and re-find one of the front legs that had vanished in the excitement. Once I relocated it we were in business! I pulled the legs toward me just slightly and then reached in to make sure the head was still in place. The last thing we needed was for the head to turn back! I guided baby #1 into the world and she immediately sat up and shook her head. She was tiny and one of the prettiest two-tone chamoisees I've ever seen. She weighed barely six lbs.
I waited a short while to see if Snowball would deliver the second kid on her own, but Snowball was too enamored with her first kid to bother pushing out a second. I was concerned because I knew the second kid was breech, and I didn't know if all my fiddling around might have caused any problems for the kid. What if I'd broken the umbilical cord or wrapped it around a foot? I decided we couldn't wait so I plunged my arm back in and fished those hind legs back out. Snowball didn't push at all. I had to pull that kid out 100% on my own, and it was a big kid! For a minute I thought it was stuck, but then it came sliding out--a huge white and gray doeling. She weighed 8 1/2 lbs. but looked bigger because of her thick, chunky neck and shoulders. Snowball seemed surprised at the newcomer ("Wait, I didn't push this out!"), but she was immediately thrilled nonetheless.
Baby #1
Baby #2
Milk is always tastier on the other side.
"Whew!" Two healthy girls and a cheerful mama! Who could ask for more after a scary ordeal like that? I was ready to pack it in, but Isabella wasn't going to let me have a break. After watching her mom give birth, she decided she was finally ready to give it a try. She started to push... and push... and PUSH! Nothing was happening. Was this going to be a problem birth too? I washed up again and looked for hooves. There they were, but these were HUGE! I reached further in and felt a big nose with a broad forehead jammed tight between the pelvic bones. Isabella is tiny and she had a single huge kid which had gone a week overdue. No wonder she'd taken so long to start labor--she was afraid to push this thing out! The kid was presented correctly, but getting it out was an ordeal. I had to pull hard while mama pushed. For a few minutes I wasn't sure the head could clear, and then we had another problem when the shoulders got stuck. I pulled one leg forward and pushed the other back a little to offset the shoulder blades and then the kid was able to slide out. A big, handsome buck! He weighed almost 10 lbs.
Isabella was exhausted and a little confused. She wasn't sure what to do at first. And here we were with two mamas and three kids in one shed. How to keep them apart? We didn't want any mamas trying to adopt someone else's babies, or anyone's kids getting confused about who was their mama. Luckily Snowball was already starting to act a bit standoffish and protective of her own. Isabella just seemed confused by the entire ordeal. We decided it was a good time to separate them. But for a few minutes it was fun to have everyone in one shed together. And it meant less cleaning for me since I only had to pitch out one shed!
Skeeter was totally uninterested in the day's drama. "I need some 'Me Time'!"
Unfortunately, Isabella wouldn't get on with the job and things were starting to drag. Snowball (who didn't look close to kidding when I checked her shortly before) eventually got fed up and began to push. However, it didn't look like she was having normal contractions, which are involuntary. Between the rolling, the sitting, and and the strained, determined pushing, Snowball appeared to be forcing herself into labor! I suppose she thought Isabella was taking too long and needed someone to demonstrate the birthing process?
In any case, Snowball got down to business and things started happening pretty quickly. Hooves appeared, but then all progress ceased. I waited a while, but more pushes yielded no results. I took a shallow feel and there were two hooves and nose right behind where it should be. The hooves were tiny. A baby this size should pop right out. What was holding things up? I gave the hooves a tug but nothing moved. Strange. I reached further in and there was a third hoof! Then suddenly it dawned on me that one of the hooves I'd been pulling on was upside-down! It was a hind foot from another kid! No wonder things weren't moving. At that point I knew I had to intervene. I washed up while Phil got Snowball to her feet and plunked a milk stool under her belly so she couldn't lay down. Further exploration revealed four feet in the birth canal--two belonging to a forward-facing kid and two belonging to a breech kid. I closed my eyes to get a better mental picture of front vs. hind leg conformation so I could translate that to the slimy, kicking things I was feeling in the dark. Hind legs are luckily very easy to distinguish and I knew they were the ones that had to go away, so I found the hind legs first and pushed them back into the uterus one at a time. I had to reach far in to put that second determined hind leg down where it couldn't pop back! Then I had to grope around and re-find one of the front legs that had vanished in the excitement. Once I relocated it we were in business! I pulled the legs toward me just slightly and then reached in to make sure the head was still in place. The last thing we needed was for the head to turn back! I guided baby #1 into the world and she immediately sat up and shook her head. She was tiny and one of the prettiest two-tone chamoisees I've ever seen. She weighed barely six lbs.
I waited a short while to see if Snowball would deliver the second kid on her own, but Snowball was too enamored with her first kid to bother pushing out a second. I was concerned because I knew the second kid was breech, and I didn't know if all my fiddling around might have caused any problems for the kid. What if I'd broken the umbilical cord or wrapped it around a foot? I decided we couldn't wait so I plunged my arm back in and fished those hind legs back out. Snowball didn't push at all. I had to pull that kid out 100% on my own, and it was a big kid! For a minute I thought it was stuck, but then it came sliding out--a huge white and gray doeling. She weighed 8 1/2 lbs. but looked bigger because of her thick, chunky neck and shoulders. Snowball seemed surprised at the newcomer ("Wait, I didn't push this out!"), but she was immediately thrilled nonetheless.
Baby #1
Baby #2
Milk is always tastier on the other side.
"Whew!" Two healthy girls and a cheerful mama! Who could ask for more after a scary ordeal like that? I was ready to pack it in, but Isabella wasn't going to let me have a break. After watching her mom give birth, she decided she was finally ready to give it a try. She started to push... and push... and PUSH! Nothing was happening. Was this going to be a problem birth too? I washed up again and looked for hooves. There they were, but these were HUGE! I reached further in and felt a big nose with a broad forehead jammed tight between the pelvic bones. Isabella is tiny and she had a single huge kid which had gone a week overdue. No wonder she'd taken so long to start labor--she was afraid to push this thing out! The kid was presented correctly, but getting it out was an ordeal. I had to pull hard while mama pushed. For a few minutes I wasn't sure the head could clear, and then we had another problem when the shoulders got stuck. I pulled one leg forward and pushed the other back a little to offset the shoulder blades and then the kid was able to slide out. A big, handsome buck! He weighed almost 10 lbs.
Isabella was exhausted and a little confused. She wasn't sure what to do at first. And here we were with two mamas and three kids in one shed. How to keep them apart? We didn't want any mamas trying to adopt someone else's babies, or anyone's kids getting confused about who was their mama. Luckily Snowball was already starting to act a bit standoffish and protective of her own. Isabella just seemed confused by the entire ordeal. We decided it was a good time to separate them. But for a few minutes it was fun to have everyone in one shed together. And it meant less cleaning for me since I only had to pitch out one shed!
Skeeter was totally uninterested in the day's drama. "I need some 'Me Time'!"