A long overdue post

Yes, I know that I haven't posted in a long time. And yes, I know that you have been waiting. I have been very busy… But I’m back and writing another post, so let’s get to the point!

First, I have several updates:

1.  I sold Aphrodite. Hay prices were up and we had 8 goats on the farm (this includes Carina’s goats) – it was time to downsize a bit. She found a very good home and will be a pet for the rest of her days… Happy Aphrodite.
2.  Roxy had her babies! Good news: on June 1^st, she delivered all girls! Nice Rah…  Bad news: one of the three doelings was a stillborn, approximately 2 weeks dead. This made the birth complicated and a former goat-leader from my 4-H group had to come over and help her out. More good news: Roxy made it out alive and recovered quickly!
3. Carina moved! Her family and their goats moved to a nice property with a big barn. We miss them but are happy for their good luck in buying such an awesome place!
4. I’m breeding Roxy again, this time to a Nigerian Dwarf buck. LaMancha ones are scarce when you don’t want to drive over an hour, and I think that the tiny babies that she’ll have with the Nigerian will be easier for her to deliver… I don’t want to risk losing her again.
5. And last, and probably least, I have changed the look of my blog. Take a look around! Tell me how you like it.

I hope that I can make several posts during this last month of the year and that they will somehow make up for the lack of posts in the last six months. So long... for now!

Roxy's Delivery - Part One

I admit it, a little fuller is an understatement

On Saturday June 1st, at 8:15 am, I was feeding the goats. I was, at the moment, feeding Roxy and she had just finished her grain. I was reaching for her collar to take her out of the milking stall, and thinking to myself about Roxy and what was going on inside of her.

Roxy was due June 4, but lots of goats had been kidding 4-7 days late this year - for some unknown reason. On the other hand, LaManchas are known for often kidding 3 days early. Taking those two facts into account, Roxy would probably kid on her due date. I'd already emailed Brittney (last year's 4-H goat leader) and asked if, in case of a difficult delivery, she could come over and "go into" Roxy and help out a bit. She'd said sure. My kidding kit was in the milking stall already - just in case she had the kids before the 4th, but so far she was showing none of the kidding signs. Or was she? Hadn't her udder looked a little fuller this morning? Hadn't her ligaments felt just a little softer? I bent down to check her udder.

Look at that giant belly!

Suddenly, she stopped pulling toward the grain bins, away from my grasp. She paused her breathing and gasped a little. Then she started going for the bins again. My heart jumped. Had that been contraction? I pulled her out of the stall and bent down to check her udder again. Definitely beginning to fill up.

After feeding the goats their hay, I walked back to the house to get a proper breakfast for myself, and I thought about everything. I do a lot of thinking. When Carina's dad came to milk Dicey and feed her babies, I thought, I would coolly tell him what I suspected. We'd then move Dicey's babies out of the kidding/baby pen, where they had been moved to from Carina's house a week ago, and put Roxy in. Then I would come back to the house and text Brittney, the 4-H  goat leader, Cassie, the owner of the buck Rah that Roxy was bred to, and call Carina, who was out of state visiting relatives and wouldn't be back until late Sunday night. Then I'd check on Roxy every hour or so and try to find more signs.

I finished my eggs and wondered about Roxy's babies. How many would she have? I thought three, as her belly was 17 inches wide, but she might have only two. Was today the day, really? Would the kids be boys or girls? Rah had sired mostly girls and, though I wanted girls, I didn't want to make the boys (if there were any) feel unwanted. Yes, even boys would be nice. Would the babies be white like their dad or be mostly black like Roxy? How about the ears? Would they be big or tiny like Roxy's?

Then I thought about You, reader. By the time you read the post I would write, those babies would be out and running around...

To be continued!