Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Field Surgery!

During our recent "barn raising", we had a really amazing thing happen.  I sent Elijah out to feed the goats while we were working.  I noticed that one of them didn't appear when the feed hit the trough.  That is never a good sign.  Our girls ALWAYS come for food.  I sent Elijah out to look for Mocha.  Mocha is the daughter of our doe that recently died.

Elijah came running back into the barn to tell me that she was laying down in a field and wouldn't get up.....also not a good sign.  I went looking for her and found her in labor....a bit early I thought.  The boys reminded me that she had managed to sneak out of the doe's field to visit the buck a few weeks before we actually put them together.  When I checked my calendar (always make a note of those things), I found she was right on time.  But, did she have to do this in the middle of our barn project?  On a very cold, overcast day?

She, of course, had shown none of the usual signs of a doe about to deliver.  There are things to look for....lack of appetite, pawing the floor and moving hay around to make a "nest", the udder bagging up....evidently none of our goats read these wonderful books that are published for farmers.  I can't think of a single doe that has followed the "rules".

She progressed VERY quickly to the screaming pushing stage.

Pushing!

This being Mocha's first birth, we knew we would be looking at one baby.  Twins are normal after that.  Mocha was not exceptionally large so we expected a fairly normal sized baby and were praying for a girl.

However, things went crazy very quickly.  It was evident that Mocha was pushing really hard but making little progress.  I was thinking it was a breech birth (also not unusual the first time).  Mocha was stretching her neck out and screaming as she pushed.  It was evident that she was completely freaked out by what was happening.  I yelled for help, asked the boys to bring the medical box and tore my coat off to try to help her.

Sorry, at this point I wasn't thinking about taking pictures.  The boys and John came running from the milking parlor.  By this time we were able to see the tip of a hoof but no nose.  Usually you will see two little feet quickly followed by a nose.  The baby was a bit bigger than we expected and Mocha appeared to be a bit smaller than normal or perhaps things were progressing so quickly that she wasn't dilating as quickly as she was progressing.  Josh was able to help the tip of the nose emerge so we could begin suctioning...it was filled with fluids and the baby's tongue was a dark purple color - both bad signs.

Josh began to gently pull during the contractions....very gently.  You have to be very careful with this....if you don't know what you are doing you can damage both mother and baby.  She still wasn't making any progress and I was afraid we would loose them both.  She didn't appear to want to stand but I though gravity might help her.  John and the boys lifted her to her feet but that didn't seem to help.  Mocah was screaming so loudly that I thought the whole valley would show up.  The other does and even the guard dogs were getting upset!

I decided we needed to do an episiotomy.  I say that like I knew what I was doing.  Let me just confess right now that I didn't have a clue how to give a doe an episiotomy!  I just knew that the opening wasn't big enough for this baby to pass through.  I sent Elijah running for the alcohol and I grabbed for the medical box. I knew I had a scalpel in there somewhere.  John and the boys laid Mocha back down.  I couldn't figure out how to get the blade onto the handle and I handed it off to John....I knew he would be able to figure it out and he did.  I informed Joshua that he would be doing this.  He looked at me like I had lost my mind! And he informed me that he had NO CLUE how to do this.  I just told him to make a very slight incision to release the pressue....very slight!

We poured alcohol over her and the scalpel and Josh made the cut.  He did it perfectly!!!  The baby slid right out, and Mocha immediately quit screaming....I could relate!  We applied pressure to the wound to stop the bleeding.  Although the cut was very small, there was a lot of blood.  As soon as she could, Mocha jumped up and ran to the other end of the field.  It was obvious that she had no clue what had just happened.  Josh continued to suction the baby which by now had started to shiver a lot.  I grabbed some clean rag towels and began to briskly rub the baby dry.  We decided to get mama and baby into the barn where it would be warmer.  Josiah and Jeremy ran on to prepare a "nursery pen" with clean hay and some warm molasses water for the mama.  John helped us get everything to the barn and then he went back to work.

We discovered she was a girl and named her Joby Dix (Joby after John and Dix after her grandmother).  We made Mocha stand still long enough for us to help this baby nurse. It is really important that they get the colostrum as soon as possible after being born.  We also dipped her umbilical cord in betadine to prevent infection.

Normally, the mama doe will clean the baby off and in so doing nibble off the umbilical cord.  The licking stimulates the baby to eat, to pass a stool, to breathe...essentially to do everything it needs to be healthy and survive.  Mocha wanted no part of any of this. We mimicked this by rubbing her briskly with a clean towel.

Her name is Joby Dix!

Mocha was not kicking at the baby but she certainly didn't want anything to do with her.  I was hoping that with a few hours of rest she would be more inclined to be a mama to this little girl.  I was thrilled that she looked just like her grandma!

Beautiful!

And I just love the Alpine ears!

Adorable!

John and the boys finished up in the barn for the day while I kept an eye on mama and baby.  Mama wasn't being mean but it was obvious that she didn't know what that little thing was or why it was there.  So...there was no other option.  We milked mama out and took Joby into the house with us.  The plan was to take her out to nurse every few hours during the day but from midnight to   6 a.m. we would feed her from a bottle at the house.  Mocha's milk had not come in...her udder was still small and her teats are tiny...making milking difficult.

A goat in the house!

Yes, that is a goat in my house.  It isn't the first time and I'm sure it won't be the last time.  I don't like bottle feeding animals.  It takes a lot of time and effort and the results are never as good as if the mama does her job.  But, at times like these, there is no other choice.  I think I have had every farm animal in my house except for a cow and a horse.  Let's pray it doesn't come to those!

Goat babies are so much fun!  The are the softest animal I've ever felt.  Silky soft.  You can't help but snuggle them, pet them and that leads to spoiling them!  But, it is so hard to resist!

Soft as silk!

We kept this routine up for a couple of days.  The boys took turns at night getting up to bottle feed Joby.  During the day we would put her with her mama long enough to nurse and then take her back to the house where it was warm.  Then it happened!

Three days after Joby was born, Jeremy went to the barn to feed animals.  Mocha was frantically calling and looking for her baby!  I think she was so traumatized from the birth that it took that long for her to realize she had a baby!  Jeremy ran back to the house and brought Joby out.  Mocha immediately began acting like a doe who had just given birth.  Nuzzling the baby, cleaning the baby, "cooing" to the baby.  Joby was thrilled and began nursing on her own, Mocha allowed it without us holding her still and they bonded!

I have never seen this happen in 10 years of raising goats!  Not after three days!  I think it was our Father's mercy on us and on these animals!  What an answer to prayer!  Our lives no longer have to be planned around feedings and having a goat in the house!

Here are mama and baby out for a stroll on the first sunny day after the birth!

Mama and baby!

We praise our Father for his protection during our first attempt at field surgery, for his protection of Mocha and the baby.  And most importantly for His protection over our hearts.  It would have been very hard to loose this pair so soon after our last loss!  I am so thankful that Josh was there to do the surgery and that John was there to help.  All things were in place to make sure that we had the best outcome and I know that it didn't "just happen" that way.  I know it was by His design and was completely orchestrated by my loving Father!

I am ever so grateful!

15 comments:

  1. Wow...um this city girl just got "educated" to say the least! Glad they both made it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. there are so many elements to this story that really the whole time i was reading, laughing and at the same time, praising the Lord, wowing, blessing the name of the Lord, it was just ummm just, i don't know, from the swelling of the heart from such a joy with your boys, to the everything. this is one sentence but that is how i felt when i read this. God is so good and all the time!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. So glad they both made it and finally bonded! Praise God!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I am so glad that things worked out. I have to agree it is always better if mama nurses then bottlefeeding. She is sucha cutie. I miss having goats.
    Hugs
    Amy

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh Cheri, it always happens so unexpectedly and so fast. I am so glad that the Lord went before you and helped y'all to do the right thing. She is adorable!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Rebecca van VegtenApril 1, 2009 at 1:23 PM

    I am still drying my eyes. I cannot wait to share this story with my family later today. Our children have long hoped to someday raise goats.

    In the midst of such a lovely story, I cannot help but enjoy your ability to see God's hand in everything.

    Congratulations on such a memorable day.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I am speechless, Cheri.

    Well, almost...

    Praise God for His goodness.

    God bless you for your faithfulness.

    And this just reminds me, once again, that we should all pray for one another. Often. You just never know what your friends are going through at any given time!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow! I am amazed! I have always wanted goats! maybe not as much now, but it is an awesome story! So proud of Josh!

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a beautiful pair. I too can "relate". I'm glad that Mocha is turning out to be a good momma. Hopefully she'll do better with her next delivery and be able to care for the babies right away.

    ReplyDelete
  10. How cute! Glad everything turned out okay... God is good! :o)

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh my goodness. I'm so glad things turned out well.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Wow!!! You all did a great job and should be very proud of yourselves. Thank God everything turned out so well for mama and baby. Your goats are very cute.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I went back and caught posts I'd missed. Great pics, on the whole barn raising/goat birthing series. :)

    I notice your keyboard has been silent for a couple of weeks. I wonder why.... LOL

    God bless!

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts with Thumbnails