And we have BABIES!

Yesterday Chocolate Chaud sort of picked at her breakfast when normally she is a chow hound and she was standing around looking "dumpy" vs. trotting around all full of herself so I was pretty sure she was going to pop yesterday.

Last night we got home and she was still standing around looking uncomfortable but no imminent signs of kidding. She didn't eat dinner at feeding time either. I started to worry about ketosis - a problem where the doe stops eating and can die but Chocolate's feed hadn't changed and she has remained a good body weight.

I was pretty suprised she hadn't shown signs of kidding yet. At 8:30, just as I was getting a good buzz on nice wine I thought - hmmm, I'd better go check Chocolate. Good thing I did cuz there was a long, clear, string of mucous hanging from her vulva indicating that kidding is well under way.

Was trying for a shot of the mucous string (we call it the shoestring) but it's not so visible.

Furry Husband and I started getting things ready. Iodine for navel dipping - check. Thermos filled with hot water so when we put the heat treated colostrum in and have to hold it at temp for an hour, it won't drop temp - check. Birthing kit complete with towels to dry off kids, shoulder length gloves and KY jelly if it comes to that, newspaper to wrap the placenta in - check. Teat dip made up for Chocolate after she is milked for the first time - check.

We went outside to wait. Dave called some people we know were interested to let them know babies were coming. I told him he should call our friend, Ms. K. "Ms. K? Hurry up or you'll miss the birthin' " and without batting an eye she replied, "I'll be right there!" click. 10 minutes later she was at our house and ready to help! We LOVE Ms. K!

Chocolate was taking her time and I was starting to worry that there was one HUGE kid in her and she was going to have trouble. Around 9:30pm she really started pushing and 2 tiny hooves showed up.

I don't know how much experience any of you have witnessing or helping with birthing animals. I've seen dogs and cats have litters and have watched horses on video/t.v. - all of them are pretty stoic and except for a some groans and soft grunts, they don't make much noise.

Goats are different.

Goats will SCREAM bloody murder at the top of their little goat lungs - I'm talking SCREAMS.

About the time the hooves showed up, Chocolate began screaming. I forgot how loud they can be, and inside the quonset hut - well talk about your acoustic chamber. I was beginning to worry something was wrong (I am a chronic worrier) but at this point there is no backing down.

Look closely at this pix - Chocolate is screaming to the left of Furry Husband and to the right of him, you can see the kid coming. In hindsight, one should not wear fleece pants - straw sticks EVERYWHERE.

That baby has to come! I grabbed the kids legs and would pull each time Chocolate would push... I knew once she got the head and shoulders out, the rest would be easy. The kid's nose arrived so I knew everything was going along normally so far. A few more blood curdling screams, some more pushing with me pulling and voila! An all black 8lb buck kid.

I thought he might be the only one but Chocolate began pushing again. Furry Husband took the new kid over to our nursery to be weighed, have his navel dipped in iodine and to finish towelling him off. I stayed with Mom for the second kid. The second one was much smaller and easier with a much quieter delivery - no screaming. A 6lb doe kid - she is so dainty and pretty!
I handed her to Furry Husband and Ms. K to take to the nursery and gave Chocolate a bucket full of warm molasses water. She gratefully drank it all down. Then I picked up the towels, shook them out, brought the birthing kit out of the pen, went inside to get the milk bucket and teat dip for Chocolate's first milking. She stood really well and gave us 3.5 lbs of colostrum. What a good Mom!

We heat treat the colostrum to 135 degrees in a water bath on the stove top, empty our thermos of hot water and put the colostrum in, wrap the thermos in a towel, put it in a cloth cooler and place it in a warm oven to hold the temperature for an hour. This kills any CAE virus that might be lurking in the milk.

CAE is harmless to humans. However, it is a crippling disease for goats that primarily affects their joints. They can carry the disease and not show signs of it and there is no cure or vaccine for CAE. We test our herd each spring for CAE, and to make sure that nothing is ever transmitted to the babies through the milk, we heat treat the colostrum, pasteurize all the milk and bottle feed the babies. Not only does this prevent CAE transmission, the babies LOVE humans and they are much easier to work with and handle throughout their lives.
Once the hour is up, we put the colostrum in bottles and head out to the nursery. The kids' nursery is in an out building that we use for storage. It has electricity, heat and is completely sealed from the weather. The kids hang in a stock tank with straw for the first week or two.

The colostrum is filled with the doe's antibodies giving the kids all her immunity until their immune systems begin to work on their own. The first bottle feedings are always really messy, the colostrum is very sticky and thick and gets everywhere. I think it's sort of like getting melted, french vanilla ice cream all over you.
Chocolate is fine - but dang her teats are SMALL! Look at your pinkie finger - that is what I'm milking with my big man hands. I hope they get bigger - at least the milk flows freely from them. The babies are strong and healthy. It was a great first kidding!