Gabbi goes to market

Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats

We sell eggs at one of our local Farmers Markets, this one is every Sunday from 10:00AM-2PM, although we sell out of eggs a lot sooner than 2PM. We took 9 dozen this morning and were sold out by 11:30AM. We took 5-day old Gabbi and wow, did she draw attention. So much that I had to get Mike to run her back home after an hour, I was worried she was getting worn out. Everybody wanted to hold her.


This gal is a vendor stationed next to us and she couldn't believe how wonderful it felt to hold a baby goat.


All ages came along and wanted to hold her. This boys mother is on the phone telling somebody, "he's holding an adorable baby goat."

Back at home, Mike just fed Gabbi her bottle.

We let the kids out to play.

All 6 kids in this photo.

SugarPop with 2 of the young ones, CoCo and TootleLu

I thought SweetPea was doing well until I found a thick, bloody blob drop from her birth canal today, I hope it's still normal childbirth stuff. She had a c-section on Monday May 25 and her stitches come out Thursday.

SugarPop and Cahoot

3 of the Wheaten Marans girls

the Goat Boys

Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats

Cahoot and SugarPop


whoops, Franklin snuck into a photo as usual


SugarPop. I have to get him a collar that fits.


Wish that ugly table wasn't in the photo, we were organizing in the barn, it actually wasn't raining today, all sunshine!
Cahoot and MilkDud

Update on SweetPea and Gabbi - I continue to bottle feed Gabbi, but also put SweetPea on the milking stand, hold her rear legs, Mike entices her with the sweet feed, while Gabbi nurses her. I figure this is good for SweetPea's udder and good nutrition for Gabbi. I can't milk SweetPea's tiny udder to save my life, little-bitty teats. SweetPea seems to be healing just fine, gets her stitches out on Thursday.

bottle feeding & goat kids

After SweetPea's c-section, she seems to be healing just fine. She is still a baby herself and in the photo below, she likes being Aunt SweetPea with the kids. Actually that is her daughter, Gabbi, with her but SweetPea only recognizes her as another kid, I think. Gabbi recognizes her as Mama but SweetPea won't allow her to nurse.


The left-arm bottle-feeding technique worked like a charm on Gabbi. I bought a regular baby bottle, and some whole cows milk, put Gabbi under my left arm, cupped her jaw, put a finger in her mouth, stuck the nipple in her mouth, and she caught on fairly quickly. Now she loves her bottle. Thanks for all the helpful advice.


SweetPea enjoys watching the 6 kids romp around and even gets in on some of the action. She is only 8 months old herself. I'll always feel terrible that she got impregnated so young. The buck covered her but I yanked him off in the same second he got on but apparently that second is all it took. And gosh, I wish these little Nigerian goats wouldn't come into heat so soon and so often but oh well, learned my lesson.


I bottle feed Gabbi and then put her back in the large stall with the 3 Mama's and the other 5 kids and she's content, learning how to play king-of-the-mountain. While I was taking the photo's, the other 2 mama's went out to pick in the pasture.

Gabbi on the left.

SweetPea likes to walk among the kids.

lets the other kids sniff of her

SugarPop

rut-roh, Roberta got caught going into the feed room.
One of our Ameraucana girls.


This is SugarPop. We actually brought him home the morning prior to SweetPea going into labor and had to have a C-section. Poor SugarPop got lost in all the commotion, but he is doing fine. Cahoot got a cold and was rejected by all other goats here. We made another trip to Kids Corral, 1) to get Cahoot some medicine, 2) to get the triplets disbudded, so 3) we brought home a wether that is approx Cahoot's age. SugarPop looks like his Daddy, Luzifer.

Now Cahoot is doing better.

MilkDud enjoys laying on his throne and looking out upon the land.

Yeah, give me the profile.

Update on SweetPea and her baby, Gabbi - after the drugs wore off, SweetPea wouldn't allow Gabbi to nurse her. We have to put SweetPea on the milkstand and hold her legs (I'm sure she is sore from the surgery) to let baby nurse. I have a pritchard nipple, but baby won't take a bottle. Goat people bottle feed kids all the time but I can't get Gabbi to take the bottle, so what is the secret? If we put another doe on the milkstand, she won't nurse from another Mama. Poor Mike runs out to the barn all through the night in the pouring rain (yes, still pouring the rain here) so Gabbi can nurse her Mama, then Mike has to go drive a truck during the day. He lets me sleep so I can get up and go to work. Mike is still getting the remainder of our stuff out of the house because the closing is tomorrow which reminds me, I need to go call the electric company. Oh, and the jury duty was cancelled thank goodness. In a room full of potential jurors, the clerk came in and said all the cases had been settled this week so we were relieved. Yeah.

SweetPea C-section

SweetPea is our 8 month-old Nigerian doe that got pregnant by accident. She is still such a little thing. Mike discovered her this afternoon with her water bag intact then we waited and waited and nothing happened. After talking back and forth to a couple of goat buddies, I called the local emergency animal clinic, and got lucky that the Vet on duty had had some cow and goat experience. So we loaded up SweetPea and took her in.

"are you OK Aunt SweetPea?"


SweetPea in labor


arriving at the Emergency Animal Clinic

Dr. Huggins had Mike and I to assist, I held her rear legs and Mike held head and front legs just in case she moved. SweetPea was sedated fairly well but apparently rumins can't be put all the way under because of the stomach setup.

We were supervised.

This was after the surgery.

Mike helping SweetPea down.

SweetPea had two little doelings inside although the first one didn't survive, it came out barely alive but wasn't strong enough. The second one that Dr. Huggins thought was really compromised, came out very strong.

These two gals and Dr. Huggins saved her life.

It is now 12:15AM, SweetPea is in her stall passed out. Her baby is in the RV with us. We have tried to give her some of SweetPea's milk but she won't take the bottle, just keeps hollering. If she falls asleep it is for only a couple of minutes, then starts hollering again.

We'd pull poor SweetPea to her feet but the baby never would suckle her, kept acting like it was looking for a teat but wouldn't take the teat.

We're so tired we can't see straight but we couldn't leave the baby with SweetPea because it would get cold, SweetPea is not available to nuture her baby right now.

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8:00AM Tuesday - After a loooong night, Mama SweetPea and Baby Gabbi are resting comfortably together. Gabbi is nursing from SweetPea now. Off to the office and then jury duty starts at 1:30PM.