Less ranting, MORE GOATS!

For once, I will treat you all to a blog post that isn't a long screed about something that I have an opinion on or some lame-O rant about this or that which no one probably cares (except me!).

Yesterday my oldest doe, Lucy, kidded with one big, hugemongous (totally a word!), black and white buck. He is so big that she was in labor for 48 hours. She spent Friday night until Sunday afternoon rolling around, digging a nest, stretching her back, and looking generally miserable. I took all of these signs as a fact that she would pop out her babies at the exact moment I decided to go in the house to warm my feet. This prompted me to stand in the barn for almost 48 hours straight. Of course, being the first goat of the year to kid I was extra cautious and totally forgot all of the lessons I learned during last year's kiddings about what a doe looks like when she is actually ready to kid. In my first-kidding-of-the-year enthusiasm, I took every burp, position adjustment, and fart as a sign that kids were coming any minute. I wished I had remembered what Lucy looks like when she is actually pushing kids out because it would have saved my 46 hours of standing in the barn.

Despite my focused attention and unnecessary worry over Lucy's pre-labor rituals, the kidding went very smoothly. Lucy started pushing for real at 12pm and by 12:45pm the biggest kid ever born was out and meeting the world. One look at him and I knew why Lucy had been in pre-labor for two days. I am sure that trying to manipulate that behemoth into the right position and into the birth canal is the reason for all of her rolling around and discomfort leading up to the birth.

Lucy had one buck. I waited for more kids but none came. I am pretty surprised by the singleton birth because Lucy has had 5 sets of twins. She's never had a single. It's not a bad thing, just unusual for the normally prolific Lucy.

"El Grande"

 I am calling the buck "El Grande". I may change his name to "El Burrito" because a) he looks like a small donkey, and b) he is probably going to become the feature meat in some Mexican food soon.

Lucy and her baby

Since "El Grande Burrito" was a single buck, I let Lucy keep him. This totally breaks all the rules because a) Lucy is CAE positive so her kids should be pulled, and b) I am a harsh critic of dam-raised kids due to their potential to be not as friendly as bottle kids. But I threw all my rules out the window this time since this is probably Lucy's last kidding due to being 7 years old and CAE+, and due to me being too tired after being on kid watch for 48 hours to imagine spending the next night getting up every 4 hours to bottle feed one lousy buckling. Lucy is happy to have her kid and the kid is doing very well. One great thing about Lucy's ginormous babies is they hit the ground running and need very, very little assistance with getting going. This baby was up and nursing within 15 minutes of birth. Yay!

There's one more goat left to kid. Daisy is due any time. I hope all goes well for her.