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

[glenolam]

So your little pygmys are the head of the operation, huh? Poor Opi's at the bottom of the totum pole and was soaked yesterday as you said Ginger and Peach were.

Nilly, my yearling, is also building an udder and getting bigger by the day. I'm giving her about 4 weeks.

 

[freemotion]

Yes, Willow's nickname, The Tank, really fits her. And Te'a has been growling and bonking (she really has to rear up HIGH!) to establish herself...she is not at the bottom anymore. And she is in heat today. We had to help the buck 6 times so far to get his head unstuck from the cattle panel fence we installed last week. Six times in the past two days....five of those today! I have two goat panels and will be switching them out, at least the one that is in the problem spot. The goat panels are currently making up the round pen in front of the pig house. We weren't sure how big/small the pigs would be last year so we erred on the side of caution. I think cattle panels will do. Still can't get hog panels locally.

I don't have much to report but I am restless about Ginger. In a few hours her official due date will be one week away. I made up two gallons of a bleach solution in a watering can and soaked the kidding stall down a couple of days ago, as the musty smell was still rather overpowering. It is fine now, and the lower walls and floor are thoroughly disinfected as a result. Tonight I bedded the stall with a bag of shavings, added some of the best alfalfa hay and a water bucket and put Ginger in it from 8-10 PM with her own pan of alfalfa pellets and a handful of oats, and some free-choice loose minerals. She needs to get used to isolation until she kids so I can lock her up if I am worried about her status and need to leave, or just want to put her up overnight.

Peach screamed and screamed and was quite relieved when I let her mommy out. Remember, Peach is rather pregnant herself, due in May. They stood together with full body contact and got warmed up. It is winter again tonight, in the teens and with a chill wind.

They still sleep together every night. I'm a bit worried that Ginger will start to nurse Peach again once I take her new babies away. Hopefully, hormones will take over. I'm pulling the new babies because Ginger just would not wean Peach, even after an extended separation. Ginger may be my "main squeeze" one day if she can put it in the bucket....we will see!

I got the other stall stripped, too, seven very fully loaded large wheelbarrows full of hay and poop! I used more of the bleach solution on that stall and re-bedded it with all the wasted hay from under the outdoor hay racks that I've used all week. That door is open all night to give the six more room so that no one has to sleep in a draft. Once there are more kids to deal with, if they are not sold quickly, I will need to close that stall, but the weather should.....SHOULD!.....be better by then. Hopefully!

 

[savingdogs]

Your "Main squeeze".....too cute!

 

[I'm A Gardener :)]

Hey freemotion!It's dreaming of goats from BYH!!! I'll be following this thread!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Henrietta23]

Hey freemotion!It's dreaming of goats from BYH!!! I'll be following this thread!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[savingdogs]

Heh Dreaming of Goats, nice to see you over here.

 

[freemotion]

I dream of goats a lot, too...... Sometimes, nightmares!

 

[freemotion]

Had to lock up Te'a and Willow in the spare kidding stall tonight. The buck got his head caught in the new fence several times, and today we were gone (work) all afternoon and into the evening and the usual people weren't available to run over and check on things. Of course he was stuck when we got home. And again a few minutes after freeing him. And again when I went out to put Ginger in a stall for a couple hours. And again when I went to let her out.

So Te'a is incarcerated for the night (with her buddy) because she is in heat and waving that tail tantalizingly in the poor boy's face. We will re-do the fence to make it safer ASAP but that will be Monday. Out of town all day tomorrow. I will put the buck in the stall before we leave so he will be safe. Willow also had a strange bloody pair of scuffs on her head where her horns would be if she had them (naturally polled) and I suspect she got her head caught and the buck smashed her a few times before she escaped.

Meanwhile, Ginger's ligaments are still strong and Plummy is getting a little tummy! Maybe!

 

[abifae]

Determined little fellow, isn't he? LOL!

 

[freemotion]

The buck is back in his pen. Still can't fix the fence since the ground is still frozen, but.....

A neighbor just knocked at my door and said he went to turn off his outside light and one of my goats was at his door! It was poor little Plummy, she was freezing and desperate to get in somewhere safe! He put her in my fenced yard and came to the front door to tell me. Thank goodness for good neighbors who get the animal safe FIRST. We live on a very busy road and there is a lot of coyote activity, they come right up to the houses!

I ran outside and sure enough, Plum was at the barn gate and she yelled when she saw me and ran right to me. She was a little hoarse....she must've been yelling for a while, but with the stove and the fan and the tv and the dishwasher, I never heard her. She was so thirsty when I put her in! She drank and drank, then ran into the barn and hid herself behind the door. Poor, poor Plummy!

I have no idea how she got out and now I won't sleep a wink. She does go out into the pasture by herself (but with the chickens) but I still don't know how she got out. The only thing I could think of that I could deal with in the dark is the compost pile. I've been adding winter stall bedding and it is getting quite high. Maybe she climbed up there and hopped over the fence. The electric is off, the fencing is getting re-done and the wire is partially taken down. I closed the new gate I made to the compost pile for the night, so if that is where she got out, she can't get in there tonight.

Sheesh. Pass the tequila, OFG!