Zinnia's third freshening and kidding story

Zinnia went into labor on Tuesday night and kidded Wednesday afternoon; day 149 of her gestation. This kidding was much anticipated by myself, given that she has not been able to kid without assistance yet. I've written about all the uterine toning herbs I've been giving her in hopes that she could do it on her own this time. As much as I wanted to give her a chance to do it herself, I ended up going in once again as her labor seemed to be sporadic and again, not progressing as it should. When I went in I found two front legs upside down, no head. The kids were in the same position as last year with their necks turned back alongside their bodies - which has got to be the most frustrating and problematic kidding position and I just dread it.

As the kid was upside down, the neck was down to the bottom left and I couldn't even reach the head. I was trying to get my hand on the inside of the neck to pull the head around but just couldn't. I ended up panicking a bit and just pulling the kid out with the neck still turned back. It was a buckling and he was very weak. I revived him with cayenne tincture on his gums and chest and lots of rubbing and determination. The second and last kid was in the exact same position as the first and I couldn't get that head turned either. At some point I just don't care if the kids make it or not,  I just want them out and I want the doe to be ok. Although once they are out I wish I'd taken more time to try. I don't know why I haven't invested in a head puller by now, but it is on the list for next year. 

The second kid was a doeling and was in good shape.

 Zinnia and her doeling, Dahlia, still a bit wet but standing.

Both kids, buckling on left.

The buckling was alive but not gaining strength very well. I had to pry his mouth open to squirt milk down his throat. For a while he seemed to be doing better and was starting to suck and nurse with help. I limped him along for two days before bringing him inside to nurse him, but he died on Friday morning. My guess is that something was damaged internally from the rough lengthy kidding. I had given him cayenne tincture several more times and it would give him a kick start but then he'd start to peter out again. So once again, Zinnia has one doeling to care for.

I'm beginning to think I have the worst kidding luck ever; in the past six years I've had three kiddings where the first kid or kids were upside down with their heads back, but then as Zinnia has been the culprit the last two times, I'm beginning to think maybe there is something wrong with her; maybe the shape or size of her uterus makes it prone for kids to be in the wrong position? I don't know. But I do know that I am not breeding this doe again. I want easy kidders. I don't even feel comfortable selling her to anyone. She is a beautiful doe, make lovely babies, she is a good mom and a good producer, but that is all the positive I can say about her.

I'm planning on milking Zinnia for a few months or more. I have Zinnia's doeling Clary, from last year and she is beautiful. Dahlia looks like she is also going to have lovely conformation as well. There is part of me that wants to keep the Rose/Zinnia line in the herd, but I am reluctant to keep kids out of a doe with kidding issues. I'd really hoped that Zinnia would impress me with an easy kidding, but it was not to be. When the kids are in a difficult position like that they cannot come out on their own. I'd like to think that if they were in the correct position she could have done it on her own, but I'm not keeping her around long enough to give her another chance, she just isn't a friendly or sweet enough doe. 

Fortunately my next doe to kid is Xanadu; who has kidded four times and never had any difficulties - with the exception of her first kidding where she had a big buckling head first and it took the vet to get him out as I was inexperienced at goat midwifery. Xanadu is the sweetest most wonderful goat. The entire herd will be browsing in the woods, but Xan will be wherever I am. Over the years Xan has had seven bucklings and two doelings, one was Avalon who is a wonderful goat that I sold recently. I've always wanted Xan to have a doeling that looks like her - she has had three bucklings that have had her coloring. She is due May 19th and is huge already. She has had triplets her last two kiddings. I'm hoping for strong healthy kids and an easy labor.

A kidding season of lessons and losses

I'm having a rough goat week and kidding season in general. Last week was our Sustainable Agricultural Conference which I attended all three days - and I've been intending on writing about what I learned and was inspired by. Zuri was due to kid on Friday, and all week while sitting in on goat and farming lectures, I was just sure she was in pre/early labor. On Friday night she entered active labor. She was progressing enough at ten p.m. that I dared not go to sleep for a couple hours. However, those first timers take forever! I watched her labor until four a.m. before I woke Dustin up for an extra set of hands. I always have a hard time deciding when to go in. You don't want to go in and risk infection or interrupt the natural process, but you don't want dead kids from waiting too long either. One of my goals for this kidding season was not to go in pre-maturely. In Zinnia's case, she had been having mild contractions sporadically but then her labor had stalled. She was dialated but the kids were pretty far in, so I don't know if she would have kidded on her own or not. In Zuri's case, her labor was long and also intense. She was really pushing for a while, but nothing was hapenning. I went in to my wrist and felt a mouth and tongue, with the hooves under or next to the face. I worked on grabbing both hooves and then hanging on. With her contractions I pulled the legs forward so she was in the correct position. Even then, the kid was big, and a first timer does not have a lot of room back there. It took a lot of work to get the kid out. Yeah, a doeling!


The doeling seemed fine. She was a silvery gray and white, with lots of white on her face. She was standing and nursing in less than an hour. I headed to bed about six a.m. sure that she was off to a good start. D checked on her a few hours later and reported that the doeling wasn't interested in nursing so we figured she was full still, or finding it on her own. At one p.m I headed down to check on her and she was flat on her side, limp and floppy. We brought her up and fed her with a drenching syringe every hour or two over the course of the day. She was the first doeling to spend the night by my bed. The next day she seemed stronger but still weak. We would take her down to see her dam every few hours. Then bring her back up.

Zuri was an overenthusiastic mom. When we first noticed the doeling was week, we wondered if her mother had pawed in an anxious attempt to get her daughter up and moving, and possibly kicked or pawed her own daughter in the head accidentally.Zuri licked her doeling constantly, and kept getting her wet after we'd dried her off. She would lick her so hard from behind that the doeling would topple over and have a hard time uprighting herself.

By Sunday morning she was standing again, finding the teat and nursing on her own. She spent all day Sunday with her dam. Dustin asked me if I was sure I didn't want to bring her in for the night. I was insistent that she was strong enough and that she would be better off if she could nurse throughout the night. I was positive that she would live. We would keep her. She is Zuri's first doeling. Zuri lost her dam, and has no family among the does. So we were overjoyed that she now had a daughter.

This morning I anxiously headed out to check on her. We have the barn divided into four stalls, three are closed off with a dam and kids in each, Zuri and her doeling were in one of these. The other stall is currently housing Xan the next doe to kid, who can come in and out through the goat door. Xan was outside and in her stall was the doeling. The doeling had gotten out through the slat in the sliding pocket gate and was trampled to death. I have a board that I usually wedge between the gate and a hanging waterer to keep determined kids from getting through the slat in the gate. It hadn't even occurred to me to put it back in place. I didn't think the doeling had the strength or incentive to leave her dam and go investigating outside her safety zone. Another lesson learned.

I can't be mad at Xanadu. She is a goat, and her actions were not abnormal for a goat. I can only be mad at myself.  Disappointed with myself for not being more observant and attentive. Full of regrets for not taking proper measures to insure the safety of the new fragile doeling. I nursed a doeling for two full days, put all my determination and will into keeping her alive, and then to have it lost over one small mistake. I'm regretful and very, very sad.

As of today I'm milking Zuri twice a day. She is amazingly sweet for a first time milker. She almost stands in her stall untied while I milk her. Today I got her up on the milk-stand for milking and she stood still the whole time, although she was obviously disconcerted and uncomfortable not being used to the stand or having her teats squeezed. She has always been close to my heart and I look forward to spending more time with her over the coming months.

Our kidding losses this year have given me lots to think about. For one, I'm resolved not to sell our goats to anyone who just wants hardy brush clearers. A goat vet presenting at the pre-conference said that ten percent of goat kiddings are assisted and probably only five percent really need it. I think about my kidding experiences over the last four seasons and how many times I've interceded. Most of my goats would be dead or would not have been born if I had not been there at the right time. I wonder about the dairy goat in general and if has been bred too much for looks and milk production and not hardiness. Or maybe I just have incredibly bad luck. I think about how much blood, sweat, tears, money, effort, labor, thought and research I put into our goats, and to think that I still have this many losses. I don't have the answers.

I promise to write about my recent soap making spree or setting duck eggs next post.