Homestead Update

Well, I know I'm overdue for a post, but I wasn't planning on posting tonight, but I saw your comment Ginger, so this is for you :) 

As those you who are local know, we've had the craziest spring ever - with winter weather and snow up until a couple weeks ago and then we've had seventies and eighties all this past week - just craziness. So, I'm getting the garden in later than ever. I spent all last week hauling wheelbarrows of compost up a soggy muddy driveway and up into the garden. One afternoon I managed to slip in the mud and the wheelbarrow full of compost I was pushing up hill fell back onto me, bruising my arm and neck- badly enough that I had a pretty stiff and swollen neck for a couple days. Then, the following day I was checking on the bees, wearing a tank top and skirt and I got stung by an angry guard bee on my already bruised and swollen neck. Needless to say, I didn't drive any where for a couple days, and I'm now suiting up.

As you can imagine, I've been in much of a panic where the garden is concerned. Thankfully my mother-in-law came up for a few days and has been spending her day with the kids and I've been able to plant from morning till night. As of today I was down to flowers, medicinal herbs and perennial re-arranging. However, we are putting in a new garden this year in the old buck pen that we have been clearing out. Some friends dropped off a tiller tonight and D is going to till about a thirty by thirty patch of ground that has had ducks, chickens, geese and bucks on it for the last five years- so we are talking fertile ground. I was going to put heavy feeders here, but then decided to put my heat lovers in the top garden. I'll be planting brassicas, beets, carrots and potatoes in the new garden.

In Goat news, Xanadu kidded. I don't have the heart to go into the details - but her first kid was upside down with it's neck back and I ended up calling the vet (crying) for the first time since my first kidding season. (Yep - I have the worst kidding luck ever.) We lost the first doeling - two for two this year - I've been feeling pretty down about that. On the upside, the second doeling was in the correct position and is healthy, strong, beautiful and sweet. Giving us two doelings this kidding season.

  Here is Denali

Wild Roots Denali :)

Avery and I planted her garden yesterday. She planted three corn plants, three sunflowers (two of which are red), six snapdragons, three cherry brandy rudbeckia, one cabbage, one broccoli and three strawberries. We have yet to plant some red zinnias, which I started from seed but the aphids got - so now I need to buy some - cause I promised my girl red zinnias.

We currently have fourteen Cornish Cross in the house - and as you might be asking why not fifteeen, as D told the lady at the feed store, "my wife said fifteen was too many." There are also eight Welsummers keeping them company - all of which are ready to head outside. There are twenty some laying chicks in a protected outdoor pen. Daisy and Dilly are in a chicken tractor, but they are fast outgrowing it - so D is making me a special Goose tractor - which I'll share with you when it is finished. So far these are the most personable geese we've had. They follow us all around the property. For a while I was able to crouch down an call them within arm reach, but now they've learned that I'm going to pick them up and put them away - so they've gotten harder to catch.

Happy Greenup! Happy Planting! Happy Summer!

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.

Pregnant Does and Kidding Season

I took these pictures about a month ago and at the time thought the does all looked obviously pregnant, especially from behind and above. The brown doe looked like this last spring at kidding season, but her udder never filled up and she never kidded. She was huge though, just as she is this year, so we won't be certain she is expecting until her udder starts filling. Both the white doe and the black and tan are filling their udders already. The black and tan doe pictured in the last photo is Xoe. She is due any day now. Gestation for goats is 145-155 days. Xoe is on day 146. The last two years she has kidded on day 149, so my guess is that she will kid on Friday. She had two kids her first kidding and three for her second, so I'm guessing three kids again this year.

We have had nothing but trouble with Xoe's kidding, but I can't blame her completely so this is her year to come through for us. We bred her too young in our eagerness for milk. Her front legs started to buckle under the pressure of her pregnancy but I was able to wrap them for support. She was fine after she kidded. Except for the fact that she rejected both of her kids. We had to keep her kids separate from her and hold her so they could nurse. After a couple weeks she finally came around to them. Last spring we were attending Xoe's labor and it didn't seem to be progressing as it should. We finally went in and it was just a mess with all the kids tangled inside. After hours of struggling and pulling and turning we finally pulled the first guy out, then we had to pull the next kid out which was a doeling that never started breathing, and a very weak buckling who died that night. This was our first kidding of the season last year. Needless to say my anticipation dimmed and was replaced with caution and dread. After such a traumatic kidding, Xoe rejected her kids a second time and again we had to hold her for the first several days so her son could nurse.

Xoe is easy to work with and has a great disposition. I would like to keep her in the herd. It was not her fault that her kids were tangled. For both of our sakes I'm hoping for a smooth kidding and a good relationship between dam and kids this year. In the world of dairy goats, it is common place to separate the kids from their dams at birth and raise the kids by bottle with pasteurized milk as a method of preventing the disease CAE. We took great lengths to start our herd with CAE negative goats. For a dam to reject her kids when we are trying so hard to have dam raised kids, is.....ironic. In our experience the does udders fill out completely to the point of a shiny tightness, painful to see. The other sign which I am just starting to get a grasp on is feeling for their ligaments which when they disappear means that kidding is hours away. Xoe's udder is not filled out completely and I can still feel her ligaments, which means I should have a couple days, but I'm still keeping a close eye on her.

I have been debating on whether to pen her up on her own or not. The three pregnant does are on their own. They have been sleeping outside the barn in a covered area near the feeders. I want her to be comfortable and to be able to come and go as she likes. In my experience when a doe is in labor and in obvious pain, the other does want nothing to do with her. However I would worry that if the kids were on the ground the other does then may want to check them out and they aren't gentle with other does kids. We are checking on the does at bed time and again in the morning and throughout the day. We have a security camera set up and wired to our TV so we can keep an eye on them inside. As Xoe gets closer I may put her in a stall, or more likely, I'll just turn on the TV every couple hours.

I try and get the does out for walks a couple times a week. Lately the trails have been treacherous, slippery as can be. I've been hesitant to let three awkwardly pregnant does out on the icy road for fear they'd slip. But I got them out today and as I watched them trudge along I was reminded, that they are goats, sure footed even during their final days of pregnancy.

Rose and Xan, white and brown doe, are due in a couple weeks. We won't know until everyone kids who we'll be keeping, if anyone, and who we will be selling.

As far as advice to anyone entering their first kidding season, I would say BE THERE, no matter what. Our first kidding season we had four does kid, one of those does had her son come head out and get stuck there. We were present we just were not experienced and had trouble getting him out, finally the vet came through and pulled him out. If we hadn't been there Xanadu would have died. Last year Xoe would certainly have died if we hadn't been there. That is two of our four senior does in the space of two years would have died in labor if we hadn't been there to assist. These complications were not caused by feeding practices, but I believe that goat breeders have focused on looks and milk production and not hardy goats that kid easily. I don't know enough about goats in history to know how much better their kidding rates would have been. But I do know that by assisting births and continuing to breed does that consistently have complications in labor, that we continue the cycle. I for one admit that when I purchased my does I was shopping for looks, quality genetics, good looking udders, high milk production, high butterfat levels. It never occurred to me to ask how their dams did in kidding and how often they had complications or needed assistance. It is now my responsibility to be there for my does.