06 June 2008

I Smell Like a Goat

Queen Anne's Lace The Goat kidded tonight --- our final delivery of the year. Homeschooled Farm Girl (HFG) came in with the big news, right around dinner time. We went out to get them situated in the kidding pen; they were filthy, having been born in a part of the regular goat pen that was fairly dirty. The kids were so young, the couldn't even stand up yet. Mrs Yeoman Farmer and I carried the kids, and HFG made sure Queen Anne's Lace followed us. We got fresh straw spread around, and made sure they were comfortable.

After dinner, we came out to check on them. The kids (both males) had gotten up and were staggering around, which was good. But they were having a tough time figuring out how to nurse --- and QAL was extremely engorged. I got down on my hands and knees under her, trying to get one kid on each teet. One figured it out a lot quicker than the other, but I still ended up under there for quite awhile, holding their heads steady and the teats in their mouths.

Meanwhile, I feel grubby with milk and goat afterbirth. And goat kid spit. But the kids did get a good first meal, and hopefully that'll give them the energy they need to have a good first night.

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