Free's kidding journal 2011: Plum's death wish p 42

ohiofarmgirl

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*pukes cake and coffee*

um... YAY!!!!! great work Plum!... so is he her Pit? Plucot? i'm trying to think of other plum-related names...

:)
 

glenolam

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Congratulations! Sorry about him being up and nursing - I sure hope the results come in good and clean!

Can't wait for pictures! I know, I know...you're not the best with them but hey, I can dream right? :p
 

Javamama

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so is he her Pit? Plucot? i'm trying to think of other plum-related names...
...and there went my coffee on the keyboard. :gig

Congrats on a successful birth Plum! (and you too Free :))
 

freemotion

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Thanks, ladies, I was starting to wonder if anyone was reading this anymore or if I got too boring in my old age... :p

Peach and Plum both have the nickname Peach Pit and Plum Pit, but since it was Peach Pie and the Tartlets, I think it can be Plum Cobbler and the Prune Muffin.

Poor little guy!

He is in the house, in the little hallway between the kitchen and the door to the garage, behind a puppy gate. I put down towels and old sheets and a cardboard box on its side for him to crawl into, but no, he is sleeping on the only corner of bare linoleum. Sheesh.

He is in because he is not eating well. This morning he'd emptied one side of Plum's udder and I only got about 12 ounces when I milked her.....Oh, yeah, her first time on the stand to be milked and she was an angel! Like she'd been doing it all her life. All those hours of training paid off in a big way. She gave me 24 ounces this evening. And the results came in an hour or so ago....she is 100% CAE negative!!!! :weee

Back to the boy. He had a full tummy when I left for work around 1 PM. I'd taken Plum out around 11:30 and he was asleep. I offered him a few ounces in a bottle around 12:45 and he showed no interest at all, wouldn't even suck on my finger when I tickled his bottom. He did seem to have a full tummy so I decided not to worry about it and left. My dad came at 3 PM to try again and I figured he'd be famished. He wasn't. He wouldn't take a single drop.

When I got home around 6:30 I brought Plum into the stall and helped her stimulate him. He showed no interest in the bottle or the teat. He had almost no suck reflex....he did seem to take a couple of sips from Plum, then wandered away.

She is also not the most attentive mother. She still is not making the mommy noises, never has. She licks him a bit, then shows more interest in the bottle in my hand. She mostly stands there passively, and so does he. So into the house he came.

He got some B vitamins and a half hour for them to work their magic....he took an ounce of Plum's colostrum with much convincing. He then produced HUGE amounts of black first poo....maybe this was the trouble. Then he produces large amounts of mustard-colored nursing baby poo. I tried to get a couple more ounces into him without success. The dogs got a lot of colostrum today.

So he got his first BoSe shot. I was hoping to avoid that since Plum got some a few weeks ago. Silly me.

I got him to take a couple of ounces with less trouble an hour later, after spending some time with a dampened paper towel, cleaning yet more poo off his little tuckus. That really stimulated him and he was trying to nurse on a black barncoat that hangs with the coats in that hallway. I quickly warmed up a small bottle and convinced him to drink it.

Now he is sleeping. I will go give the three older bucklings their bottles and then try again with the little guy, and maybe take him on my lap while we unwind from this very long day in front of "So You Think You Can Dance," about the only uplifting show on tv lately.

Got a few pics, but I'm exhausted, so will try to get them posted tomorrow....probably late afternoon, as I have a few appointments scheduled in the morning then HAVE to finish planting my garden.
 

pinkfox

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congrats on the negative :D

hope the little guy continues to do better
 

abifae

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LOL, I just read more slowly when I'm at work. Congrats :D
 

freemotion

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Whew, the little guy took 6.5 ounces this morning. It was still quite a struggle, with him not wanting the nipple and then only taking a few sips before refusing it again....but he was looking for an udder and doing the head-bump that kids do.

He will go out into the stall in an hour when the sun warms things up a bit more, then likely come back in for the night.

Plum was looking for him this morning, and ran after me and the big bucklings as I ran them to the pasture, calling to them, looking for her kid. It always breaks my heart.

I milked her first, by hand, and she was just amazing again. She didn't have as much milk, but was so easy to milk and so good about it. When she was done eating she got a little concerned to find herself stuck in the stanchion and knelt down, but we worked it out together and she was not traumatized.

I think things will be just fine.
 
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