After getting taunted by 50+ degree weather toward the end of last week, winter came howling back in yesterday with a vengance. We got several inches of snow dumped on us, and I spent a good chunk of this morning shoveling out the driveway yet again. Now the winds are picking up, and I've decided I'm officially Sick of February.
Then, when I went to the barn to take care of evening chores, I heard an instantly-recognizable high pitched cry coming from the goat area. I looked, and discovered that Hollyhock had given birth to a beautiful (if sort of dirty) little female kid.
Homeschooled Farm Girl and I moved Holyhock and the kid to the kidding pen, ensured they had fresh water and plenty of hay, and some fresh straw. We also made sure the teats were clear, and that the kid got latched on. After losing a kid last year because the mother goat's teats were clogged (and we didn't discover it until the kid was too weak to be saved), this is something we're definitely checking now after every kidding and lambing.
I also gave mother and kid injections of
Bovi Sera, which will help boost their immunity and help recover more quickly from the birth. Especially given the nasty weather that is forcing its way through every crack in the drafty old barn's walls, we want to make sure the two of them get every advantage possible.
Here's looking forward to a healthy kid, and lots of goat milk soon! We've sure missed it.
2 comments:
What's Bova Sera? I sometimes give injections of a B-vitamin complex. Congrats on the birth.
Sometimes when you have nothing else to do (hehe) would you mind doing a post on children's farm chores? I'd love some experienced wisdom on how to introduce kids to various tasks and what approximate age is appropriate. Also, at what age/development do you allow their chores to merely be fun, doing it as they want, when they want (with an adult overseeing and completing) and when is it a job they get out and do every day, by themselves, rain or shine? I appreciate your insight. Thanks a bunch!
Would be happy to put up a "chores" post. MYF may have some thoughts about that as well.
In the meantime, I'm correcting the post --- it's actually "Bovi" not "Bova" Sera. The online version of the catalog we ordered from had it spelled incorrectly. Anyway, here's the catalog description:
"For use as an aid in the prevention and treatment of conditions such as pneumonia and enterotoxemia, passive immune failure in newborns and shipping fever complex in adults. Bovi Sera acts much the same as Goat Serum although goats are not listed on the label."
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