Goat-O-Rama Kids of 2018

[Nanno]

We had some more snow the other day and boy did it get cold this time! The babies love the snow and don't seem to be bothered by the temperature drop. 
"Chase Uncle Finn down the hill--Wheee!!!" 
   

Rambo looks like he belongs on a Christmas card! 
   

Little Coral was sure feisty yesterday! She tried to pick fights with everyone, but most of the goats weren't having it. This little fuzzball showed up pregnant on her blood test, so she's expecting kids in June! 
   

   

The babies have discovered the joys of leaping onto rocks. 
   

I'm not sure what got into TinCup, but she sure looks excited! 
   

And in other news, Tigerlily is definitely starting to show. Look at that belly starting to droop! She's expecting kids around April 10th. 
   

Ladies at the salad bar. 
   

[Nanno]

Blackbird shows up good against the snow! 
   

"Run faster, Skeeter! Get those ears flapping and maybe you can fly!"
   

Little tracks and big tracks. 
   

Mmm... loose minerals. 
   

A brief father and daughter moment before Petunia turned around and whacked him away. I love that my bucks are gentle with babies. Neither of them has tried to do more than sniff curiously at them, but mama is suspicious.  
   

When mama wasn't looking, Blackbird and Skeeter introduced themselves formally to Daisy. You can see the worried look on Daisy's face. She adores baby goats, but Petunia has been protective of these two and has swatted Daisy and Pluto for looking too close. 
   

True love. Mama isn't around and Daisy's in heaven. Look at that tail! 
   

[IdahoNancy]

Great shot of Blackbird against the snow. She is striking.

[DownUnder Gal]

Lovely pics - they look like they are enjoying all that snow. Skeeter is so very like Sputnik from certain angles

[goatzrule]

How cute! Yay for Corral!

[Nanno]

Tigerlily is aborting her pregnancy. I was gone to a horse competition over the weekend and was greeted with the news when I got home last night. She started leaking pink goo sometime yesterday afternoon and was still at it all night. She still hasn't passed the kid(s). I was going to run her to the vet today but the goat vets were both off duty. She seemed fine all day and she never went into labor. I saw her pushing a little this evening and finally about an hour ago she started to grind her teeth. I went in for an exploratory check and she's only dilated to about the size of a quarter. Since she's not contracting she's not dilating. She's just leaking. I was able to feel the kid with the tips of my fingers--a little nose and mouth (I think) at the edge of the birth canal, but there's no way I can bring it out through that tiny hole. I'm going to run her in tomorrow. Hopefully they'll be able to give her something to induce a proper labor. I plan to have the fetus tested for any diseases that might have caused this. I smell no sign of infection and nothing looks abnormal about the discharge. She was due in exactly one month so there's no way the kid(s) would have been viable even if she'd delivered normally.

I've been worried about Tigerlily because she's been so scrappy for the past month. No one has been picking on her, but she's been picking fights with everyone else and deliberately crossing in front of goats higher than her on the pecking order. She wants to rank up but has chosen a bad time to do it. That's my best theory as to why this happened, but I'll have an abortion panel done to rule out anything more sinister. If she weren't a favorite I'd call it quits with her. I'll probably train her to drive this summer and she'll be a packgoat. She's big, strong, athletic, and loves having a job. We may try to breed her one more time next fall. Me and Phil especially are longing to see some Tigerlily babies! We're so discouraged over her losing this pregnancy. How much bad luck does one goat need?

[Saph]

Aah, poor sweet Tigerlily!  Please give her an extra hug (and treats) on my behalf...

[Taffy]

Oh, Nan & Phil.  I'm so sorry to hear about Tigerlily.  Hugs to all of you.  I'll bet she'll enjoy the special attention of driving training and packing.

[Nanno]

Well, I had an interesting time at the vet today. I ran Tigerlily in this afternoon when I didn't find any kid(s) in the pen this morning. We got there and they could feel just past the partially-dilated cervix like I did and there was nothing there. So they looked for the kid on an ultrasound and found nothing. Next we took her into the x-ray room. Tigerlily immediately stepped on the foot pedal and took an x-ray of the empty table. We had a fun time getting her up there and holding her down. Normally I would not have been allowed to stay in the room, but they needed me to hold that scrambling, struggling goat down so I donned a lead vest and hung on tight. They took two x-rays and found nothing. They took two more in a different place and still found nothing. No baby at all! I was more perplexed after the vet visit than I was before. Tigerlily was looking good, bright, alert, and eating hay in the trailer. Nothing seemed wrong with her. There was no afterbirth hanging and not really any more discharge except when someone stuck their fingers into her. So I paid the bill and took her home.

When we got back, Phil and I went hunting for the fetus. She must have had it somewhere because I knew I had felt it in there the night before. It didn't take us long. We discovered it in the doe pen in the place where she'd been nesting the night before. Either I was in a total stupor this morning and didn't notice it (quite possible--I've been a real zombie in the mornings ever since the time change and I still haven't recovered from the crazy horse competition I went to last weekend), or she snuck back into the doe pen after I let everyone out and delivered it before we left for the vet a few hours later. I didn't think to check again after I let her out because she didn't seem to want to hang around in there. Anyway, we found a single small buckling, black with white markings like his dad Lightning. Tigerlily was not interested. She's not mourning like Nubbin did when she lost hers a few years ago. I don't know if she'd cleaned him up of if Daisy-dog did that later after I opened the pen.

The fetus was no good for necropsy after sitting out in the sun all day so we buried it. The vet did not think an abortion screen would be necessary but he wants me to take some precautions anyway since we're not sure of the cause. I'm pretty sure she got whacked and that it's entirely her own fault for picking fights, but I can't be certain of that. So I'm to give Tigerlily a course of antibiotics and keep her separate from my other pregnant does until she's done cleansing. Since she spent the last two days spilling goo all over the doe pen, I switched all the does to the boys' pen and moved the boys up to the doe pen with Tigerlily for now. Once Tigerlily is done cleansing I'm to walk around the pen and spray bleach on the ground to disinfect as well as I can. Kind of a headache and probably not necessary, but I'll do it anyhow just to be cautious. Now hopefully she won't have any other complications like mastitis or anything.

[DownUnder Gal]

Such a shame to lose another kid Nanno. But I am glad Tigerlily isn't mourning like she seemed to be last year. Did the kid look normal to you?