Wehner Homestead Kidding Thread 2018

[Wehner Homestead]

9:40pm update: Nellie also had trips this afternoon - much less eventful. Snowflake’s kid that was struggling has improved. Human kids took 3 hr naps! (I didn’t get one!) They seem to be feeling better. All have allergies/cold with horrible, gagging coughs. Easter dinner went on without DH and I. (We made it to the very end.) My Dad came and got our kids so they could play with all of their cousins. Oh and DH got home at about 4. His brother’s truck and the pig trailer both made it back to town with the modified methods. The human kids love their baby goats and have named them all. I’ve started writing Snowflake’s kidding story and I’ll try to finish it and post pics tomorrow and get Nellie’s done too. I’ll be sleeping like a rock tonight! Thank you all for the prayers and support. It is greatly appreciated!!

 

[Wehner Homestead]

It’s going to take more than one post to bring y’all up to date but I’m trying to get DD2 down for her nap so I’m going to try to get everything on here!

Snowflake’s 2018 Kidding: 4/7/18

Wow! What a night!! Snowflake progressed more awkwardly than I expected and that triggered red flags for me. I kept feeling like I needed to be with her, so I was. I’m sure glad that I didn’t just leave her to manage on her own.

When her water broke at 12:29am, she’d had a bubble out for about 20 min with no sign of feet or a head. DS has stayed up and gone out with us (so he didn’t bother his sisters we took him!) He gave up fighting sleep and the cold and asked to come in. DH brought him in and I stayed with Snowflake. I also started reviewing things on my phone.

Snowflake literally had every positive labor sign but her contractions were never regular and her pushes were infrequent and unproductive. What really got me was that she started fluttering her eyelids with contractions and it almost looked like she was seizing (trembling) but it was an obviously severe pain and nothing like I’d seen in a delivery before.

DS was finally asleep so DH could help me. I entered her and was up to my wrist before I felt anything. I did feel movement though so the kid was still alive. I found what was definitely a trunk but I couldn’t define landmarks easily to figure out if it was a chest, butt, or side. I couldn’t trace to find a neck that led to a head and I could tell I was at one end or the other as my tracing found a set of legs. I tried to identify the tail to verify that I had the rear but couldn’t. I ended up just hooking both of the hocks with my index finger and pulling the kid out in one smooth motion. I frantically cleared his face and started drying him with a towel and put him in Snowflake’s face. She promptly started cleaning me and the white buckling like the awesome mama she is!

DH took over drying him (and got his weight) when Snowflake didn’t get up right away. She did have true contractions and was pushing, at that point. It was like her labor had stalled with the dystocia (very scary!) I was getting ready to go in again when a nose finally appeared. As she pushed, I immediately ripped the sac off and cleaned his face. I was sick when I saw that one was a buckling. His markings were stunning, obviously some shade of buckskin and random white. I didn’t have long to focus as another sac was appearing almost immediately after the second was out.

DH had put the first kid that was mostly dry in the warming barrel. He was very vocal and was trying to get to his mama. DH took the second kid so I could catch the third. The sac started out without evidence of a kid again. Snowflake kept pushing though and didn’t seem to be struggling so I gave her a sec and a rear end appeared! Needless to say, I hooked the closest hock and got that kid out and cleared its face as fast as possible. (She was not having trouble pushing the last kid out but I didn’t want to delay since it was a backwards presentation and the head wasn’t out.)

DH and I worked vigorously to dry the last two while we could tell the placenta was already making its way out. I finally looked and the third kid was a Doeling! I shouted for joy! We had to wait until she was dry to tell what color she is, as she’s very unique and I had to do some research too. She’s red gold with a white poll and minimal white (tail tip and 2 small spots on her right side.)

We got them all dried off and Snowflake had laid back down and started shaking. She hadn’t tried to push her placenta out at all and I needed colostrum for the kids. DH was weighing the third kid so I grabbed my 10ml of Karo syrup out of my kidding kit (nutridrench is preferred but I’d pulled anything that I didn’t want to freeze out and put back in the house. The karo was placed in there for emergency and as something that if it froze, I’d just throw it away.) I had to force Snowflake to start on it but then she greedily slurped it up. She was up like she’d had an energy drink!

I milked some colostrum and gave each of the kids 1-2 ml to get them started. I also changed out the wet bedding. DH started getting the kids to try to nurse. I came to the house to find a coughing human kid that was on the verge of puking. After I got DD1 situated again, I grabbed some of DH’s old socks to make tiny sweaters for our little additions.

When I got back to the barn, the second two kids had nursed. DH kept working with the first while I used the scissors from my kidding kit to cut leg holes and make sure the boys could pee in their sweaters. After everyone had donned their new threads, we gave Snowflake a bit of feed and milked her again to syringe another 2ml into the first kid.

(Somewhere in there DH dipped their navels in iodine too. I also did a quick sweep at some point after the arrival of the third kid to make sure she was done.)

Everyone seemed pretty content and we were worn out. We decided to try to get a few minutes of sleep then check on them again. Snowflake still hadn’t passed her afterbirth when we left but she’d positioned herself directly in front of the kidding barrel opening and was quietly talking to her kids.

It was after 3 before DD1 was comfortable enough to try to sleep and I was stuck on the loveseat with her. (At some point while I was “sleeping,” I turned the tv on and got kicked in the face while she was trying to get “comfortable” and knew that she kicked me.) I was back out at the barn a few minutes after 7. That made for a very short night!

Snowflake is a FF, kidded on Day 147 with triplets, 2B/1D. Sire is Kyeema Ridge Michael. (His dam is Kyeema Ridge Niamh and his sire is Kyeema Ridge Hollywood and both are on their website. Her udder is awesome this year!)

Birthweights
K4-White buckling-2.4#- Alvin
K5- Buckskin/White buckling-2.4# -Theodore “Theo”
K6-Red gold doeling- 1.9#- “Ariel”

4/8 weights at one day old
Alvin: 2.8
Theo:2.8
Ariel: 2.4

Alvin is the trouble maker that took forever to nurse properly. We didn’t know if he was stunned or just being a boy. I still haven’t visualized him nursing but he was bouncing around with a full belly this morning. I’ll continhe to keep a close eye on him as a precaution.

Alvin and Theo are named after the Chipmunks by DD1. Lol She says Theo is lovable. Alvin will be wethered. I’ve talked to the breeder and she and I both agree that we are going to grow out and use Theo and see how he does. Snowflake’s udder looks really good and his sire’s side is very impressive.

Now for the pics of this group...immediately after birth.
These are Alvin. The first pic is my hand showing how small he is.

DH took a pic of me cleaning Alvin off. (Nala is supervising from the chair that DS was hanging out in while he was waiting on kids.)

Theo is in front of Snowflake. I’m cleaning off Ariel in a towel.

Alvin trying to stand and Theo by Snowflake’s nose.

These pics are after the sweaters. We didn’t get any good pics of Ariel before but didn’t realize that until the next day. This is Ariel. She also has a white tipped tail.

Alvin in his sweater.

All three in the warming barrel when I got to the barn just after 7. They were not quite five hours old. Alvin is standing, Ariel is in the foreground, Theo is in the back.

DD1 with Ariel in her coat! She’s absolutely in love with that goat kid!

We had Snowflake on the milkstand yesterday morning to try another way to get Alvin to nurse. I also wanted to see what the other two did. Theo laid down while I was taking pics. I’m including to show his coloring.

I’m holding Alvin and Ariel while DD1 gets Theo situated back into her coat. Didn’t want them falling on the milkstand while we switched out to see what Ariel would do.

Cont’d on next post!

 

[Wehner Homestead]

Snowflake’s kids cont’d...

DH snapped this pic of all three right after sweaters were on. He had an extra heat lamp on Snowflake while we were out there.

This was another pic from yesterday but from evening when we finally let our youngest two kiddos meet all of the babies. It was too chaotic to take them out while their dad was gone with everything going on. Alvin is very front with Theo beside him and Ariel in the back. I kept teasing the boys about their “preppy” sweaters because the seams were a bit different than the sock I cut for Ariel.

Pics from this morning when I went out and found them in their heating barrel:
Alvin in foreground, Theo standing over him, Ariel lying down.
Ariel

Ariel to far left, Theo pushing her head up, Alvin is the blur.

 

[Sweet horizon Nigerians]

Congrats on the cute kids! What colors did Nellie have?b/d?

 

[Bayleaf Meadows]

How sweet! Love the cute names. I am glad you have healthy goat kids. Now for some healthy human kids, too!

 

[Wehner Homestead]

Kidding Cont’d....

Nellie’s 2018 Kidding Story

I wasn’t in the barn long yesterday morning before chaos hit. I was trying to get Alvin to nurse and noticed that Nellie was stringing discharge. DH came out a bit later with bottles for CeCe and Sparkle and got the call that his brother was broke down and needed picked up, north of Indianapolis. By that time, the rest of the morning chores needed conquered, human kids taken care of, prep for Easter party, etc.

I didn’t stop all day except when I was sitting with Nellie to observe her or working with Alvin and nursing or dealing with DD2 going down for her nap. I made deviled eggs, checked Nellie frequently, worked with the “goofy” kid, managed the human kids, and somehow did the chores AND some dishes and laundry.

Nellie kept stringing different lengths of mucus. Sometimes it was almost clear and other times it was amber. This lasted for what seemed like ALL day.

She finally started legitimately started pushing and laid down sometime after 5. The first kid, Ella, came out only head first. Nellie didn’t have an issue pushing her out but I intervene quickly to clear her face. I about jumped up and down when I realized it was a doe. (If you recall, Nellie is our very sweet girl that has awesome milk stand manners and could probably hold an extended lactation but she is the only doe that I kept from that farm and Caramel picks on her. I REALLY wanted a doe from Nellie to keep to be her buddy and to see how King improved Nell’s udder would be just a plus.) DD1 had already said that she wanted to name Nellie’s doeling, Cinderella, so DH (who fell in love with her at first site) and I decided we’d call her Ella. We got her dried and weighed and sprayed her umbilicus with iodine and eventually had to block her in the heating barrel (with DH’s arm) because Nellie couldn’t leave her alone long enough to push again.

Nellie finally started pushing again and the next two kids came in quick succession (this happened in both deliveries!) The second kid came out correctly and I could see the white on the poll as I busted the sac. I got the face cleared and was wiping the rest off to take her to Nell when the next kid was already started out. I noted that the second was a doe and handed her off to DH so I could deal with the third kid. We only expected twins and DH was laughing saying that she was going to give me triplet does!

The third kid came out properly presented also. I once again saw a white poll as I broke the sac! Imagine our surprise when we realized how roaned up those last two were! We were being careful with which was which as we hadn’t found a way to tell them apart yet.

Ella was ready to nurse so DH gave the second kid back to me and I worked on drying both and sprayed their umbilical areas with iodine. Ella latched and ate then DH helped me weigh the two roan girls. I also discovered that one had a black tail and one had a white tail. Aha! A way to tell them apart!!

The two roan doelings nursed their first time with only a little guidance. Nellie’s afterbirth was partially out at that point so DH and I showered and went to my parents to see family that had come in for the holiday.

The human kids met all SIX kids after the party (DD1 had met the first three that morning.) The excitement was contagious as they bounced from kidding pen to kidding pen and back again. They also named Nellie’s two roan does. All of the goat kids seemed to have full bellies and another attempt was made to make sure Alvin had a chance to nurse.

We found Nellie’s girls with full bellies this morning.

Nellie kidded 2/7/18 as a 2F (FF was a single buckling) on Day 144. Sire is our buck, King. We’ve opted to retain all three doelings for the time being and each will be paired with a different buck for breeding.

Birthweights
K7- Black doeling- 2.4# - Cinderella “Ella”
K8- Roan Doeling, Black tail - 2.8#- Black Beauty “Beauty”
K9- Roan Doeling, White tail- 2.2#- Perdita ”Perdy”

4/8 weights at just over 12 hrs old
Ella: 2.6
Beauty: 3.0
Perdy: 2.4

Now for the pics of this trio of doelings that was completely unexpected but we are very thankful for!

Ella being cleaned by me and Nellie.

DH trying to keep Ella in the hearing barrel so that Nellie could labor again.

The two roan doelings side-by-side getting dried. (Perdy is toward to top of the pic and Beauty is toward the bottom of the pic.)

DD2 meeting the baby girls last night. Nellie is hers.

Heating barrel pics from when I went out to do Lamancha bottles last night. Ella is the only one I know for sure in these! Lol

Nellie when Ella came out to get a snack last night.

Cont’d with more pics! Lol

 

[Wehner Homestead]

Nellie’s kidding cont’d...

DD2 and DS in with Nellie and her girls this morning.

Nellie, the milk bar. Ella-L, Perdy-middle, and Beauty-R, under Nellie.

Trying to get a good pic of all three girls...Ella under Nell’s nose, Perdy with the white tail, and Beauty closest to the barrel.

Perdy (she’s named after the mother dog on 101 Dalmatians)

Heating barrel pics from this afternoon:
I know that this is Ella and Beauty because Perdy was out with Nellie and I got the above pic of her.

Snowflake’s triplets all curled up! Theo is facing the camera, Alvin’s head is directly behind Theo’s, and Ariel is right behind Alvin.

Jasmine was feeling left out and has been very curious...

Tried to get a pic of Diamond’s bucklings but it’s hard to do in the all boy pen! Knight is in the lower left corner, Jackson is standing on the ground, and Jericho is standing on the gate.

I hope y’all enjoyed ALL of these pics. Lol I’ll try to keep them coming. We are done kidding until fall when we plan to have Caramel kid.

Btw I slept well last night and through my 7:30 alarm this morning! lol

 

[Wehner Homestead]

Oh and I forgot to mention that when I was freezing outside with Snowflake, DH brought me a huge cup of decaf to warm me up!!!! Love that guy!!

 

[horseymama2]

Wow! Back to back triplets!! They are all so cute!! Congratulaitons!

 

[Devonviolet]

I don't have much time to get online, lately. But, I'll so glad I was able to find the time to read through your kidding thread.

WOW! You really went through the ringer with your precious goats! What a trial with those breech trips. But, good on you! You did a great job helping them get out safely!

And I love the sweaters you made from your DH's socks! ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!!! Those wouldn't have come even close to fitting our 8 & 9 pound twins!

LOVE all the photos. Your new darlings are absolutely precious!