The Hard Parts of Raising Goats

The day before Thanksgiving started like any other Wednesday. I was home getting things done before the holidays. The boys were with their grandmother and Neal was at work. I got into a rhythm with my writing and was typing away until ten in the morning. I usually try to feed the animals sooner than that, but I was on a roll and didn't want to quit.

Finally, around ten, I went outside to start feeding. As soon as I got closer to the goats I knew that something was wrong. I saw two white spots in the yard and I just knew. Someone had delivered their babies, but it didn't go as planned. I hurried closer. One was dead, a beautiful girl. Looks like she didn't even have a chance. She must have been stillborn. This occasionally happens. The boy wasn't in much better shape. He was cold and just laying there.

I hurried into the house to grab some towels. I also ran an extension cord to get the heat lamp warming up and got to work. I dried him off and did my best to warm him up. It was just going to take some time to see what would happen to him.

I stayed up in the barn and yard for the rest of the afternoon. I was cleaning out the different barns, moving hay around, and other tasks that needed to be done. Meanwhile, I was trying to get him up every few hours to see if he would nurse. He didn't have a suck reflex the entire day.

I was up all night with him, coming out every two to three hours to get him standing and trying to nurse. Finally, in the morning, he started to nurse. He was able to stand a little with assistance. Throughout the next few days, I continued to get him up and try to have him nurse every few hours. However, it was apparent, that he was getting weaker as time went on. Then, he quit nursing anymore. I just knew that everything that I did wasn't going to save this little boy. He died sometime throughout the night.

However, life doesn't stop in the middle of kidding season. Just because you have a sick kid, doesn't mean that the rest aren't going to start. Within days, we had three babies.

It is amazing the difference between healthy kids and ones that aren't going to survive. My whole family went up to check on a doe that was acting strangely on Monday. The kid barely hit the ground and he was up and trying to nurse. His sister was born shortly after and she was up and moving quickly also.

I came home from work on Tuesday to another healthy boy.

Kidding season is officially started at Tucker Acres. We have had five babies from three different moms in just five days!

We have four more pregnant does. One is about ready to pop. We actually thought she would be the next two go, before the other two does. However, we will just keep watching her closely, as well as the others until we are successfully done with our kidding season.

So, as much as I want to mourn the babies (and their poor mother who is lost without them), I have to stand up and take care of all of the other does and babies who need me. Life on the farm doesn't stop due to death. In fact, it may make you work harder so that it doesn't happen again. That being said, these things just happen. You just have to do the best that you can for the animals that you have left!

Since publishing this article (just yesterday), we have lost another baby. This may NOT be my year with my does and kids. I am really feeling terrible about everything that is happening. I almost feel like I could give up completely. Anyone want a few pregnant does?