Sunday, January 18, 2015

Welcome Wingnut

3:09 PM
Early this morning, Blaze delivered her kid. I was pretty sure she would deliver some time in the wee hours of the morning. She had showed all the signs of imminent labor, including discharge. So I wasn't surprised when I saw Blaze with her kid at about 3 o'clock in the morning. The doeling was wet and shivering in the cold.

Getting Her Warmed Up

It was around freezing, which isn't that cold around here, but it can be deadly for newborn kid. I had put towels in the barn for the just the purpose of getting a kid dried off in the expectation of Blaze's kidding, but they just weren't enough. So the little doeling got a ride on the ATV to the house. I used up about five towels to get the little shivering thing dry and put a space heater on her for a while so she could warm up.

I was take a risk doing this. There's a chance that the mother will reject the kid after I take the kid away even for short while. But, there's a bigger chance of the kid dying of hypothermia, which kind of trumps everything.

The doeling was so cold that she would barely suck my finger. So, I took her away from mom, while hearing Blaze's protests. When I got the little doeling back to mom, she had a strong sucking response and she was ready to nurse.

Trying to Figure It Out

Newborn kids have the instinctive need to nurse, but they're not particularly equipped with roadmap. As a result, the little doeling was trying to nurse anywhere but the udder. What's more, they don't necessarily want you to show them where it is. So after much struggles, I managed to get her to drink a bit. I then left mom with the kid and went back to the house. By the time I got inside, it was 6 o'clock. I stumbled to bed, knowing at least the doeling was in good hands (hooves?) with her mother.

Her Name

Unlike my other Lamancha crosses, the little doeling has these huge helicopter ears. Her mother, Blaze, is a Boer cross, and has the drop ears of a Boer. Lamancha goats are often called "earless." They actually do have ears, but they're just very tiny. This girl is bucking the trend of my herd as every baby goat this year was born with Lamancha ears.

My husband came in from feeding the critters in the barn and told me that her name is "Wingnut." Her ears are so big that I had a hard time arguing against the name. I'll be taking pictures of little Wingnut and put them on the blog soon. She is, adorable, of course.


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