Panzy was in early labor on March 9th when I went out to do morning chores. She was "talking" to her unborn babies, and looking at her belly. I kept a close eye on her all day, and around 4:00 is seemed like she should be getting down to business, but she wasn't really pushing at all. I decided I'd better try to see what was going on, as things just didn't seem "normal" (whatever that is). At first I didn't feel anything at all, so I waited another 15 minutes, got on the phone with a breeder friend to discuss it, and then tried again. By that time, there were parts presenting, but either not the same baby, or baby was sideways and presenting a front and back leg. Not sure which. I didn't know what to do, so I called my local vet, who is strictly a dog and cat gal. Fortunately, she did a stint with cows and hogs as a young vet, so she's had a bit of experience. She agreed to try to help Panzy. By now, the first bag had broken but no baby was following. We put Panzy in a sled to get her to the van, and loaded her on a tarp with straw on it in the back. Drove 20+ miles to the vet in a snow storm.
The sweetest part of this is that my daughter had met a gal, Alisa, who wants to learn about goats as part of her goal to have a goat farm one day. She came to see her first goat birth just when we were going to the van, so she jumped in and went to the vet with us. It was great having company, and an extra helper with us. My Hattie girl came too.
We got Panzy out of the van and she walked into the vet's office. The first baby, little K** in honor of the vet, was born breech with help within minutes. Things were looking up! Unfortunately, that was the end of the good news for a while. The big hold up and tangle in the womb was caused by a large dead doeling. That kid would NOT come out. It took about an hour and a half to get it out, and then in pieces. One front leg had to be removed at the shoulder to get it to fit. There were actually lots of loud cheers when the kid finally came out, even though she was dead. It was a rough, rough kidding for poor Panzy, but the whole time she just wanted her baby, called to her, licked her and tried to get her to nurse. So sweet!
After we had everything all cleaned up, and loaded Panzy and new doeling back into the van, I got it stuck on the road. Right in the middle of the road, not the ditch! Couldn't go forward, backward, or anything! Thankfully, a nice guy with a plow on his truck came by pretty quickly and helped us out. :) We got home around 9:30.
Panzy is still somewhat recovering from her ordeal. She went through three courses of different antibiotics to fight the uterine and possibly urinary tract infection she got as a result of her ordeal. There have been some scary moments since then, but I think she's getting better now. Her doeling is growing fast, and I LOVE her! I decided to keep her because I'm still nervous about Panzy's condition, and a bit concerned about breeding her in the fall.
Starlight kidded the next evening quite easily. She had a breech tail first that needed a bit of help, then a full breech, and last a normal nose and toes. I was never so happy to see the successful kidding and the end of a kidding season! The best part was that Alisa had just come to get her car, and managed to be there for Starlight's whole labor and delivery, and helped a lot! It was great that it worked out so nicely for her. :)
Please see my North Forest Farm Nigerians blog to be introduced to the newest members of our farm, who aren't Nigerian Dwarves! I am really very excited though a little nervous about how everyone will get along. Praying for peace and safety among all the critters here on the farm. :)
 |
| I couldn't resist a sneak peek at what will be joining us here on the farm! There's a clue as to the breed if you look closely! :) You can see more on my latest blog post at North Forest Farm. |
No comments:
Post a Comment