We Aren't Kidding Ewe...

Hello everyone.  It is feeling like spring, finally, but, when comes spring, comes kidding, lambing, and calving season.  This past weekend was very busy and interesting.  Where do I start? Well, Friday evening, my mom went out to the barn for the annual every hour on the hour barn check.  To our surprise, Rosalind, Tyler's cow, was in labor!  In the amount of time that it took for my mom to run to the house, call me down, and run back to the barn, Rosalind had already delivered a beautiful, happy, healthy bull calf. The really good news is Rosalind is a wonderful mother and protects her little guy all of the time.  

Now, when Saturday rolled around, one of my friends, Abby, was here and she was excited to hear that there may be some kids in the barn later that day!  We checked on Peek-A-Boo and she wasn't getting up.  You know something isn't good when the hair on the back of your neck stands and a shiver runs down your spine.  My first thoughts were, is she okay? Is she in labor? Will she be able to stand soon? Is she going to eat her grain? What should I do? Right away, I let my mom know and she contacted the vet.  I did feed Peek and she ate all of her grain as if nothing was wrong.  During all of this, the animals still needed to be fed, so Abby, Tyler, Ashley, and I had to continue what we were doing and feed the rest of the animals.  Around lunch time, we checked on the animals again.  Peek still wasn't standing, but she was looking a little bit better.  We made sure that she drank some water and we even gave her some CMPK drench, a calcium supplement, and Nutra-Drench to give her some energy.  She did try to get up, but instead just rolled on to her other side.  We then checked on Cocoa, I didn't expect to see much, and she was laying enjoying herself.  After that, I came in the house and we all had lunch.  

My other friend, Maddy, was on her way to come and visit for a while too.  So, after lunch, Maddy arrived and we checked on everyone once more.  We peeked on Cocoa and she looked fine from what I thought, but within fifteen minutes, my mom called us back out to the barn!  I could hear the excitement in her voice.  I knew that one of the goats was in labor!  We all thought that the attention was on Peek until we saw Cocoa pushing!  I couldn't believe my eyes when I finally saw what looked like the hooves of a baby goat, but, it wasn't the hooves.  I felt that hit to the stomach when you know the kid isn't positioned correctly and you have little time to save it and its mother.  My mom and I rushed in and were scared to see a ear and the side of a jaw.  This wasn't going to be easy!  My mom looked a little pressured when I saw that she had a crowd around her.  Abby, Maddy, Maddy's mom and dad, Bri and Olivia (Maddy's sisters), and my dad.  My mom tried and tried to find the hooves when, finally, she found them!  Cocoa pushed and my mom pulled.  The worry on everybody's faces when my mom said, "I can't do it! I can't find the nose"  Right away, I tried to find the nose.  My mom took a deep breath and tried again and finally was able to pull out an adorable buck kid! All I heard was a big sigh from everyone as a cry came from the newborn kid.  

Today during feeding, I saw the kid, named Bubba, hopping all around the stall!  I am so glad that Cocoa is a wonderful mom to this kid and thank you for reading this blog.

Bubba!

He looks like he is smiling!

Coco and Bubba!

He has his little sweater!