The pigs were eating the siding on the laundry room so they had to be moved. We created a temporary home for them with the cows. At first Thelma did not like it much and chased poor Wilbur and Charlotte all over the corral, but they get along great now.
The chickens went from not laying to laying two dozen eggs a day.
The first of the fruit trees are in bloom and I am anticipating a good harvest this year. Last year was very poor, partly due to record cold temperatures last February. We lost a large part of the orchard, but I have decided that is OK because now I can decide how I want to use the land and there was really too many trees for me to manage.
Mike and I are enjoying our animals and will be putting in more pens, some for pigs for our son and some more for the goats. We would like to build another barn down the road when we can afford it.
I still struggle with my health. The headaches are better with the medicine I am on but the dizziness is still a major challenge.
On Monday, Feb 20th, I got to the goats at about 8:30 in the morning and I was feeding the first pen when I heard a new baby cry. I ran over to the third pen and Sadey had two kids laying on the ground. They were still wet so they had not been born very long. I dried them off and got them both to nurse a little. Sadey did not want to hold still. Two little does that have since been named Ellie and Talia.
As I finished my rounds I could see that Merribell was in labor and at 10 o'clock she started pushing. (The Internet says that the kids will be born within one hour after the pushing starts, and so far that has been my experience.)
Back to Sadey, she did not want to let her babies nurse and they were trying so hard to get to her to nurse so I got her some grain to distract her and held her still while she ate. That was all those does needed, they both got on right away and nursed.
I was back and forth between pens, watching and waiting with Merribell and watching and helping Sadey and her two kids. At noon Merribell got really serious and was pushing every two to five minutes, but still no babies.
Sadey had decided she did not want her kids nursing and I tried and tried to get her to hold still and she just would not do it. I went to the house and got a bottle and tried to bottle feed the hungry babies but they did not want the bottle, they wanted their mom. I left that pen and went back to Merribell who was trying so hard to deliver her kids. I was getting worried now because it was 1 o'clock and still no babies.
At about 1:25 I saw the bubble and then a hoof, a single hoof. Not good. I felt inside to find the other hoof, but I could not find it. I felt the face and with the next push the face was out and the baby was gasping to breath so I clean off the face and tried again to find the other hoof to no avail. He was really stuck. I called my daughter and she told me to try to ease out the shoulder. I pulled down gently on that one hoof with the next push and the baby was born. Thank goodness! That was scary!
He was a big buckling, mostly all legs. His name is Elvis. I helped Merribell dry him off and he nursed right away. Merribell knew exactly what to do, no problems there. Sadey, on the other hand, is laying 6 feet away from her does and moves away from them when they come up to her. It's been 10 to 15 minutes since Elvis was born and there is no more babies.
I start to think Merribell may have just one big buckling and she is doing so good with him, she could feed the poor little does of Sadey's who were hungry and wanting their mom. It's now or never I said to myself. I got the does and brought them over to Merribell. I smeared them with her birth goo and put them in front of Merribell, who immediately licked them clean and nursed them both. From that time on they were Merribells kids.
Now another bubble popped but no baby followed so I just keep waiting and watching as Merribell cares for her three kids. 35 minutes after Elvis was born Merribell gave birth to a tiny, all legs, doe. She is black and covered with white spots and I named her Fawn. That was an emotional day. I am thankful that everything turned out OK.
I did my afternoon rounds and got to the house at 5 pm and I was exhausted. I was also watching Lacey who was just about to give birth and I figured she would deliver the next day, which she did, early in the morning. Lacey had two bucklings mostly white, one has a stripe down his back and we named him Indy (my grandson said it was a racing stripe). The other one is tanish and my son named him Coconut.
Since the post about Honey and Lilly we have named the kids, Honey's twin does are Sweet Pea and Butter Cup and Lilly's Buckling is Romeo and the doe is Juliet. I think that makes ten!
