Yesterday, May 29th, was my kids and my first day of summer vacation. They were excited to stay home and play with the four little does that were born two days before. I had put my youngest down for a nap and decided to take one myself, since I hadn't slept well the night before. My son, who is 7, came running into my room to let me know he had checked on the goats and Heidi was having a baby! This was the doe I had been worried about. She is my smallest and she had a very big belly on her. When I got to the barn, I could hear her. I opened the stall door and could see one foot and a nose. I tried to pull the other foot forward and pull the kid, but the forehead was stuck. Each time I pulled, she would cry and look at me with those same brown eyes she did the day I delivered her. She looked at me as to say, " please, mom, help me!" Of course, my husband was at school, as his last day was that day. My mom and dad weren't home either. There was no one to help me, except my son. I pushed the baby back in and asked my son to hold it at its feet until I got back. I ran out of the barn and called my grandpa. He is in his 70s but he had raised cows when my dad was younger so he knew somewhat what to do, but honestly, I just needed someone else to be there with me. I remembered a meme I had posted on facebook. It said something along the lines as, " I don't want to adult today." I didn't! I wanted someone else to take over. After I got ahold of my grandpa I ran back into the barn. I could hear my son soothing the doe. He was telling her it was going to be ok. I told him papaw was on the way. I went in and he had managed to pull the other leg forward. With the repositioning I was able to get the kid out. I braced myself, because I figured the kid was dead. I told my son to go check on his sisters. I didn't want him to deal with this yet after he had been so brave in helping. As soon as I got the kid out, it moved. I ripped off the sack, cleared the mouth and blew in his nose. My grandpa had just gotten there, just moments after I pulled the kid out. My daughter brought me a towel and we dried him off. I trimmed his umbilical cord, dipped his hooves in iodine. She had kidded a single HUGE buck kid, and he was beautiful!
Mom and baby are doing great. I decided, since he was a single and my does were all raised on CAE prevention, that I would allow her to dam raise. She worked hard for that baby!
I am so proud of my son! He usually freaks out in any kind of bad situation, but this time, he kept it together while I fell apart on the inside a bit. I love my goats. They mean the world to me.
