Life - Birth - DeathAlison delivered three kids just before noon on April 2. We took a quick look and continued up to have lunch.
After lunch we moved her and her kids under the covered area and brought her fresh hay and water. The little ones had their umbilical cords tied off and we made sure they each got a drink.
Allison kidded two boys and one girl.
Alison's little girl is black with a white heart shaped saddle on her back. Her first name is Mariposa ‒ butterfly. You'll have to ask Lindsay for Mari's full name. Just two days later Becca delivered four little girls. Becca delivered between 7 PM and 10 PM on April 4. She kidded in the goat shed and we decided to clear her teets and let her take care of the little ones.
The next morning, they got the same postpartum care as Alison's kids except one moved in with Nicole for some intensive care. The weak little girl did not make it through her second day, and her sisters as well as her mom were struggling.
Becca was given antibiotics and calcium to help her recover from kidding and now she is doing well. She currently has tender teets and prefers to be hand milked.
Early on, Alison decided that Mariposa would not nurse and we decided to bottle feed Mari from the milk we would collect from Alison and Becca. More recently Alison took a turn for the worse and died during the early morning of April 23. Alison's little boys have been eating hay and creep feed and so far are doing well. Mari and her brothers are three weeks old now, old enough that their horns are starting to grow in.
Mari's brothers have been named Corner, because he likes to hang out in corners, and Badger.
Aria was born last spring and is the daughter of Alison and Leo. She is 3/4 Nubian and 1/4 Boer.
Earlier today, Lindsay, Sarah, Nicole, and I returned from the forest where we laid Alison to rest. We decided to do a necropsy to take a closer look at her internal organs, and while she was generally in good health her uterus was not healthy. |
