# 4 kiddings and then some



## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

My husband and I have raised goats on and off since the 80's. So yes, we are in our 60's. This season due to traveling and family obligations; the bucklings got left with the herd a bit too long. And now we are paying the dues.
We saw StarryNight bred so had a due date for her of Feb 5. She was right on time. (More on her later.)
We took a trip to Seattle and got home 9 days before Starry’s due date. Everyone was fine but Star was all bagged up and Petunia (only 11 months old) was building an udder. I had her due date in May. I actually saw her bred in December! Obviously she was already pregnant.
So, Sunday the 1st everything looked calm in the barnyard and we went for a family picnic with the grandkids. We put the livestock to bed during Superbowl half time. Around 8PM my son came over and told me I might want to look in the barnyard; there was a baby. I went out and there was Star with 3 darlings up and clean. We got her inside and due to the hour I milked her into a bottle and fed the babies and went to bed. In the morning one was empty so I gave him a bottle. The others had full tummies. 
I looked over to see little Petunia, rigid. I thought she was having a seizure or in the throws of tetanus. Then I saw her push. I looked and saw a nose. She is tiny and I could tell she was having a hard time. I could see nose and toes so I just let her be. She cried and pushed and got up and down. Then she wandered into the hay room and delivered a fairly large doeling. She was up and nursing in record time. (She was totally a part of the herd at 3 days.)
Then came Starry. We could tell she should be going but she wasn’t. We would find her just standing alone in a corner of the barnyard. I felt then that something was probably wrong but wanted to give her time.
On her due date my husband got me up at 7:30 because she had a bulging sack. It broke but there was no real sign of labor. She was obviously very uncomfortable and kept pawing and getting up and down. Rod had business to tend to so I let him go and kept an eye on her. When he got home we knew we had to go in. I assumed at least the first baby would be dead.
It was a tremendous struggle with Rod having to take two breaks. I was stanchioning her head. He finally got the head and one leg forward. We knew the baby was still alive when he jerked and said, "It bit me!!!" :shocked:So we tugged and pulled and manipulated. At one point Rod said, "I don’t think Jerry Belanger ever actually did this!!!" His books says, "...Try to sort out the heads and legs and if necessary, rearrange them in the proper presentation position. In most cases it will be a simple matter to "lead" the first one out........" There is even a picture that shows a hand with a baby not much bigger than said hand. The hand is pulling the backward leg forward with two fingers. Rod was buried to his elbows!
Anyway, the poor little thing, now named Twisted Sister, delivered with only one leg forward and the other totally up over her back. She was alive but weak. We had little time so I milked Starry and gave her a bottle right away and set her aside. During all this Starry was not really pushing or even acting like she was in labor. It was like we were doing a vaginal C-section. Second baby was not so terribly twisted but still had to be repositioned. He came out slowly and got the same treatment as #1. We took a bit of a break but Starry was doing nothing and there was more water sac hanging out. While contemplating what to do I said, "Rod, catch that baby." Head and hooves were emerging but Starry still did not seem to be pushing nor even aware of what was going on. Again, baby got a freshly milked bottle so we could tend to Mom. She did not seem to be bleeding excessively which seemed a miracle. I looked on here for a recipe for a uterine flush and did that successfully along with starting a Pen regimen. She also got some choice hay and molasses water which she drank greedily. This whole process had taken several hours.
Turning to the babies we noticed 2+3 were up and active but TS was still lying down and shivering. I got her on a heating pad while we cleaned up. Even after she was warm she could not stand so I made the decision to bring her in. She spent the evening with us on the heating pad. She could not regulate her temp and began shivering if taken off for even a few minutes. By 9:30 I did what I have never done. I put a goat in my bed.
I had to get some sleep and was not giving up on her after all that work. She slept on a puppy pad. Everything was functioning. Good suck reflex, peeing and pooping and crying every two hours for a bottle. By morning she still could not stand and we were talking about putting her down. Everything about her seemed fine except her ability to stand so I put her in a box and took her out to the barn so Mama and siblings would not forget her. We were giving Mama a shot when we looked over and there she was, standing in the box. We got her to nurse with help and left her in the pen with the other two. I was going out every two hours to help her nurse. She seemed to be coming along okay.
I left her for three hours and when I went out Starry was screaming bloody murder. (She is Nubian and very vocal so I am used to that) but when I went in I found little Twisted Sister drowned in the water bucket. I grabbed her and her heart was still beating. She was totally cold and limp. I ran to the house with her and she took a couple of breaths and then stopped. Without a second thought I started mouth to mouth. She started breathing but stopped three times. On the third try she kept breathing and tried to lift her head. After all we had already been through; I just could not let her go. I put my finger in her mouth and her tongue was cold. She had no reflexes. Still, I got her to my bed and cranked up the heating pad. She was breathing shallow and gasping about every 5th breath. She would gag and a few times I got her to throw up some water. Her little tummy was full. If I tried to give her anything by mouth she would gag. She would panic and try to swallow it back. She would stop breathing but a shake would get her going again. I just kept working on her while I tried to get her warm. She started lifting her head and her eyes were bright so I could not quit. With every improvement I would say, "You have come this far, you can’t quit on me now." After a couple of hours I brought her on into the living room and just held her with the heating pad. She went totally limp (shock I suppose) and lay there breathing raggedly. I got some rum and coffee down her. After a couple more hours she woke up and made a few weak noises. When bed time rolled around she was back on my bed. She was warm now and holding her temp.
In the middle of the night I was awakened by her standing on my bed. I took her and warmed a bottle. First I offered her rum and coffee by eye dropper and she actually sucked it down. When I tried the bottle she sucked and took about 2 ounces. I was cautiously happy.
I kept her in the house that day taking her out only for short periods to nurse from Mom. I kept her on my bed again that night as she was breathing raspy. I just wanted to keep an eye on her. In the morning she spiked a fever and we started her on PenG. By the middle of the day she seemed okay (and was getting a little too active for the house) to go out with her family. I kept her in the pen with her siblings while the does were in the pasture. 
It has taken me quite a while to get this posted. We had four sick kids and Dotsie had a 9.8lb doeling. We were also without reliable internet service. So, if you have read this, thanks. Twisted Sister is with the herd and doing great. She is the smallest of the triplets so I still give her two bottles a day. I am afraid she still thinks of me as Mama and follows me bleating her head off whenever I am in the barn. She has earned herself a very special place in our hearts. Starry made a full recovery from her difficult delivery as well.:leap:


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Wow, quite an experience! Glad everyone is ok.


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## OGYC_Laura (Jan 9, 2014)

Wow!! Thank you for sharing that!!


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## SerenitySquare (Jun 28, 2014)

wow, I read the story and then saw the pictures and had to chuckle you look exhausted and the story tells why


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## groovyoldlady (Jul 21, 2011)

Holy Cow (goat?)! I'm so glad you stuck with her and that everyone is doing OK now. What a crazy story! :-0


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## billiejw89 (May 7, 2014)

You are amazing! Great story!


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## Goat_in_Himmel (Jun 24, 2013)

:shock: :shock: :shock:............................:wahoo: :stars: I wasn't sure how that one was going to end. Good for you for going through all that for her, and that it's all worked out okay (so far), and I hope I never have to go through that!

Also, it's plain that everyone needs a lap-goat.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Wow, what a busy ordeal. 


Love the pics.


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## luvmyherd (Apr 9, 2011)

>>>you look exhausted and the story tells why<<<
I almost did not post that pic cuz I looked so terrible. Yes, I was exhausted!

Thank you all for reading my long story. Every thing happened so fast I did not have a chance for waiting threads. Now, all we have left is Angel who looks like she is going to make it to her due date of March 10. This year everyone gets castrated or moved in with the buck by 3 months!


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## rebelINny (Feb 7, 2014)

Wow what a ride! Glad everyone is ok


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## Tapestry (Feb 5, 2015)

What an ordeal. I'm glad you were able to make it through to the happy ending.


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