April the giraffe and Nickel the goat have more in common than a name that ends in l. They are both still pregnant, and they are both being closely watched. Albeit, April has a few more viewers than Nickel. :) (If you aren't familiar with April the giraffe, she's a pregnant giraffe on live feed that many have been watching for days in anticipation of the birth.) Someone else around here isn't pregnant anymore, though! Llama gave birth to a beautiful doeling on Thursday afternoon. I think we need to upgrade to live feed, though, if we are going to catch these sneaky ladies delivering! I was home all day Thursday, and I checked the 3 still-pregnant gals - Llama, Nickel, & Emma - every few hours. None of them showed any signs of delivery being at hand. No discharge, no nesting, no pawing, no odd behavior. I popped my head in at 5:00pm and found Kitty already born and cleaned off. I was sure Llama had another baby yet to be born, but she sure wasn't acting like it. So, I "bounced" her, which means I stood behind her, wrapped my arms around her abdomen, and pulled up in a gentle, bouncing motion to feel for more kids. I didn't feel anything, but I'm not one for subjective tests. How could I be sure? I just kept watching her. We saw her pass the afterbirth, and she seemed happy and content. So, we had to be, too! We are happy she had a healthy, lovely girl. Here are more pictures of the baby. She's got long ears just like Mama! Her name is Kitty in keeping with our 2017 theme names. Each Mama's babies are going to be related to the theme of their name. Since Llama is named after an animal, Kitty is too. If you missed my comment on my last post, Oakley's babies have been named Pecos Bill & Laura Ingalls. I pulled pretty hard for Abe & Mary, but the boys really wanted Pecos & Laura. I'm planning to name one of Emma's or Nickel's bucklings Abe, though!
Well, I must get this posted before April or Nickel delivers & ruins my introduction!
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Remember I mentioned in my first entry that goats have a thing for snowstorms, low temperatures, & vacations? Well, it took a vacation & low temperatures, but we finally have goat babies in the barn! If you live locally, you know we had bitter cold temperatures over the weekend - in the teens overnight and "real feel" temperatures down to the single digits with the wind. We had a short weekend vacation planned that we didn't want to miss. Looking at the forecast & knowing we were going to be away, we were sure Oakley would kid. So, we asked dear friends & fellow animal lovers if they would goat sit for us. They conveniently put up Oakley & Nickel for the weekend in their heated barn. We sent both of them because we are suspecting Nickel will go early & goats do better with a buddy. He checked Oakley Saturday morning. All was well. He came back at lunchtime and found the two babies! The doeling was still wet, but Oakley was taking great care of them! He thinks she was wet because she was just born. He took fabulous care of them until we picked them up on Sunday and brought them home. They are now settled into our barn and doing well. Here are some photos of the doeling. And here is her brother... (He wasn't posing as nicely for me as she did - so better pictures will come later!) These little ones need some names. Since Oakley's name is "Annie Oakley" we are thinking about naming them after some American heros. Like Harriet & Henry (Harriet Tubman & John Henry) or William & Penny (after William Penn). Give us your ideas in the comments!
Looking at the snowstorm coming this week, perhaps we'll have more goat kids! Goat Kid Preparation Checklist Stack of clean towels for drying off goat kids - check. Blue bulb syringe for suctioning noses - check. Path worn to the barn from checking on my pregnant goats - check. Camera for newborn photos - check. Clean kidding stall with straw, water, & food - check. Propane tanks full to heat our barn - check. Baby goats - ummmmm.......... Does anyone else hear the crickets? The state of things around here can be summed up with a picture of Nickel from today... Oakley is the goat we've been watching closely because we don't know her due date, but since Nickel & Llama both dropped yesterday, now I'm watching them too! When I say dropped, I mean that their kids moved from being carried high in their abdomens to low, which results in a sunken look at the hips. This happens as kidding gets closer and the babies are getting lined up in the birth canal.
Just for your reference as we count down the days, we know Llama is due 3/17/17, and Nickel is due 3/19/17. We didn't witness the deed with Emma, but we suspect it is around 3/21/17. Throughout this pregnancy, Nickel has just been large. She had triplets last year, and I'm fairly confident it is triplets again. Based on her size, I wouldn't even be surprised to see quads, but I do think it is triplets. Her extra largeness compared to the other ladies in the herd is likely due to her "queen goat" status that earns her more grain at the food trough everyday. (For anyone not familiar with goats, they have a self-established pecking order like chickens. Nickel is the long-standing queen of our herd and won't hesitate to push her authority on the other goats - except our buck, Ziggy. She doesn't mess with him.) So, we are keeping a wary eye on the bitter cold temperatures predicted for this weekend. I've gone from wanting Oakley to kid NOW to hoping her babies stay safe & warm inside her until we get through this bitter cold snap. Stay tuned. The babies can't stay in there forever! |
AuthorVanessa from Russell Homestead. Follower of the Lord Jesus, wife of my knight in shining armor, mother of 5 wonderful children, and joint-keeper of the Russell homestead. Thanks for stopping by! Archives
March 2023
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Vanessa Russell
Independent Field Representative ID#20249934. |