Kids..!

My calendar today has the word "Bliss," circled on the top. That is because she was bred 5 months ago today, so she would have been due to deliver around this time.  Yesterday she showed definite signs of being in labor. She pawed at the ground, paced, went off by herself. Then around suppertime she flipped a switch and acted perfectly normally.  Livestock can toy with ones emotions like that.

This morning she demanded breakfast, ate every morsel, and then began show labor signs again. We were grooming but kept a sharp eye on her movements. We wondered aloud if Abraham would let us know about kidding as he did last year, when he stood outside which ever window I was closest to and yelled until I came out to see what was going on.

Bliss moved out of our field of view, and a few moments later I finished grooming a little dog and walked him out to his owners car.  As I did, I heard Abraham sing the song of his people. I glanced towards the pasture and saw a kid being born.  The moment I had the dog tucked into his owners car, I hustled out to the pasture. Abraham was calling me with great urgency.

Once there I found a kid on the ground, with both his mama and grandmother actively cleaning him off. Bliss was talking to him with the special, soft, little call that mother goats use with their kids. I helped dry him with a towel, dipped his umbilical cord in iodine, and scooped him up so I could move the happy family to the Goat Cozy, out of the wind.  

Abraham stood close by, watching the activity with great interest.

 



 

 

Bliss and Spirit followed along with the kid and me, and resumed cleaning the little guy once we were in the Cozy. Within moments he stood up and it didn't take much to get him to nurse. Abraham had joined us and he kept a close watch.

After about 30 minutes, Bliss showed signs of more contractions. She laid down, made some sounds that led me to understand that she was decidedly unhappy.  Soon two rather large hooves appeared, then a little nose.  Bliss made louder sounds. Then a very large head popped out. Bliss clambered to her feet and the kid slid out a little more, but then was stuck like a cork in a bottle. I tore the amniotic sac away from his face, and he gasped and sputtered. Then I gently grabbed the hooves and pulled a bit with the next contraction. In a few seconds he slipped out, and was greeted enthusiastically by his mother and grandmother. Meanwhile, his older brother was nursing with vigor.

And just like that FairWind's has two new little souls to embrace. Bliss is a wonderful and attentive mother, and Spirit is being patient and sweet with the kids.

For a little while I sat with the goats on an overturned bucket in the Cozy. It was raining, and the sound on the metal roof was lovely. Inside it was clean and comfortable, with the kids and their mother carrying on a sweet and constant conversation. There was a discernable air of peace and contentment.

Welcome to the world, kids. May your time here be sweet.