I got into some chiggers and for three nights I wasn't able to sleep very well. Each night at 3am I went out and checked on my goats thinking that Cupcake might kid. Well the 4th night I didn't go out. I was exhausted and sat on my couch wishing I could sleep. Oh, how I wish I could redo that night.
Of course that is the night Daisy kids. I wasn't expecting Daisy to kid before Cupcake. The weather was rainy with a very slight chill of about 62 degrees. However, that is all it took to chill newborn goats and take them from the world before I got to meet them.
At 6:30am I went out to feed the goats and saw the mess. Two dead kids, and one really tiny one still struggling. Daisy had dropped them in the only damp part of the goat barn and they didn't have much of a chance in the dampness. I bet she delivered the first right after 3am. If only I had checked on her.
The last surviving kid, named "Honey" was rushed into the house where we tried to warm her up by giving her some warm colostrum and wrapping her in towels heated from the dryer. I then got my hair dryer and kept it blowing close by as we rubbed the birthing goop away. The little kid was only 2 lbs, 1 ounce and felt cold to the touch. However, she didn't die like I thought she would.
It took her 2 days before she could stand up. I took her out to Daisy the morning she was born so Daisy could smell her. I was happy to see Daisy take an immediate interest in her baby and lick her. But Honey could not stand up to nurse and had a very weak suck reflect when I held her up, so I ended up milking Daisy and hand feeding Honey using a syringe. Surprising, this worked and kept her alive until she found her feet. Daisy didn't like this arrangement though and would cry each time I took her baby away. On the second day, Daisy started answering the bleating of Gabby's kids, and would let them nurse. This wasn't too much of a problem I thought since Honey didn't need that much milk, but when I found Daisy completely dry, I started to worry. I also wondered if Honey would be able to be returned to her mom if older kids were in the way.
So I started penning up Daisy away from the other kids. I put cupcake in with her to keep her company but neither of them liked being penned and protested quite loudly the remainder of the day. Being away from kids also restricted Daisy's mothering instinct and she grew less interested in Gabby's kids and her own baby "Honey."
Honey spent most of her first 5 days in our house, sleeping in a laundry basket in my kitchen. The first two days she was under a heat lamp. Every 2-3 hours I would take her out to her mom, and sometimes she would nurse a bit, sometimes not. But by day 6 she was standing on her own and showing some interest in playing.
 |
| Here my daughter is trying to help Honey nurse. Honey is 3 days old and starting to stand clumsily. |
 |
| Comforting Daisy after losing her Triplets. |
 |
| Poppy meeting Honey. |
So I ventured to let her stay with her Mom full time. To my horror though, Daisy didn't like this either and each time Honey would approach her Daisy would butt her down. How my heart sunk thinking of how I might have caused Daisy to reject her baby by keeping her warm and dry in my house for so long. Frustrated, I spent the rest of that day holding Daisy still every 4 hours so Honey could eat. After 2 days of this Daisy finally accepted Honey again and started acting like her mom. Wow, was I ever grateful!
 |
| Visiting hours for Momma and baby. |
Honey is doing so well now. She is over a week old and bounces around like kids should. Daisy answers her calls and I can tell she is eating well too! I milk Daisy each morning and evening so her milk production stays high. She has decided not to let Gabby's kids nurse, but sometimes I see little Poppy "milk stealing" when Honey is eating so I hope that will help her production too.
