The Dumn And The Silly

Today we've been working on baby goat wraps for the new little ones when they come - because it's going to be cold! One is pink and the other is purple - I'm really hoping we have twin girls! :) No new signs with Cassidy, she's the same.
I have another really funny story to tell. Last night me and my older sister were outside taking care of Cassidy and it was really quiet. We had just gotten all the other goats in their pen for the night...or so we thought. As we're watching Cass I all of a sudden heard this noise - like a burp or something. My first thought is "There's something behind us". But I tossed that aside thinking that it was probably Cassidy. Still, just to make sure I turned around to look over at the haybale pen and guess who I saw? Gracie. Yes, the lovely, slightly dumn baby of Essie had no idea that the other goats were put away and she was one of the only ones still eating. Another thing that's funny is that we had a scooper with a little grain in it to lead the other goats into their pen, and she took no notice of it. That's why we call her a little dumn. So my sister went and grabbed her to put her away. When she came back we decided to make sure that there weren't any other naughty goats still out in the haybales. My sister walks over there and suddenly something starts moving on top of the hay bales. It was a little scary at first and then we got up the courage to check it out. We lifted the tarp flap and our eyes beheld the sweet, innocent figures of Brownie and Cocoa. They were on top of the hay bales, moving around, also unaware that everybody else was put away. Silly goats. :)

Things Are Clearing Up...

I think I've figured her out. So I guess I could say, Eureka! Anyway, since this morning I was beginning to think that Cassidy might be having some complications. A couple nights ago, as you know, it looked like she was pushing and there was some "sack-like" thing visible. Of course, our first response is..."Go get the birthing kit! They're coming tonight!". But, surprise, she didn't have them (and she still hasn't by the way, I guess that string we saw last night was just more regulare discharge). As you also know, Cassidy is just plain strange when it comes to kidding...she does nothing like our other does do. So, I decided that that sack-like thing we're seeing, is probably the placenta - also known as water bag. That's all it can be, otherwise...she would be having them right now! I've also noticed that when she rears up on the fence with her two front legs, I feel for her ligaments, but I can't. The reason is there is some body there that's just waiting to come out. It feels like the head of one of them to me. So that just means that she will probably have them before the weekend comes and Lord willing it will be a safe birth with healthy little ones born. :) :) :)...

CAN NOT FIGURE HER OUT

I can't figure that goat out...after 2-3 weeks she still has not had any babies! It's beginning to get a little frustrating. All the signs I've seen in her I've seen in our other does that are just about to kid...only she's sooo much slower. Last night it looked as if she was pushing. There was something there that looked like it was trying to come out. Her ligaments felt completely gone, her udder was huge, her stomach looked low...what more is there? But still, as Cassidy would have it...no babies. I didn't think she would have them last night, I figured she would wait until morning. So when I went down to take care of the goats this morning I thought for sure (although there was some doubt after so many false alarms) I'd see the mucous string along with her having contractions...but no. She was fine. I still left her in the birthing pen and am hoping AND PRAYING that she'll kid today...I'm getting very impatient. :) Please Cassidy...have them. :)

Later on:  Great news! Cassidy looked like she had the mucous string tonight....now I say "looked like" because I'm not %100 possitive after all of these false alarms we've had. But hopefully it was and we'll have some babies tonight or early tomorrow morning. :)

Still No Babies - BUT HOPE

Well, as I'm sure you already know, Cassidy still has not had any babies. I think the strings of goo were just regular discharge that comes when a doe is close to kidding. It does happen a few days before the mothers actually kid sometimes...I guess that explains her. Still, I'm not giving up hope...after seeing her tonight I truly think she might kid tomorrow or Christmas day...wouldn't that be awesome? Here are my reasons...tonight she was lying down on the hay with just such a desperate expression on her face (goats do make expressions by the way!). I could see in her eyes that she was pleading for me to pet her or just to be with her. She did not look like she felt good, her ligaments got even softer and she stretched her belly once again. She also licked me a little on the hand...that's a sign (I think they do that to get their tongue ready to clean the babies when the come). I'm really hoping she'll have them soon, what a great Christmas present that would be!

HAVE YOUR BABIES CASSIDY...PLEASE :)

I can't believe that I'm saying this once again....STILL NO BABIES. Cassidy is one of the hardest does to predict her kidding. However, she's still showing signs. This morning she had a another string of goo - this time it was more yellowish...and yellow goo is a big sign. I think it will happen today, even though I've said that a lot this week. She just didn't look like she felt too good. Please Cassidy...HAVE YOUR BABIES! :)

Getting Really Close :)

Cassidy had a long string of whitish goop this morning...at first I thought it was the mucous plug, but she hasn't kidded yet so I think it was just goo...but that's a HUGE sign. Her udder looks more firm and filled and her bottom is very squishy and long. I put her in the birthing pen and gave her some grain with hay. I really think she's going to kid today - probably tonight. What's also neat is that it snowed about an inch today, so if she has it or them, they'll be born in snow. Can't wait!

Holly Bell And Mr. Hogi Bun

Cassidy is still the same. No babies and really no new signs. I keep thinking that she's going to probably have them next week - maybe even the day of Christmas...wouldn 't that be neat? Then we can name her girl (if she has one) Holly Bell. We picked that name out quite a while back if any of our does ever had a  baby girl around Christmas time. :)

We have a new nick-name for our Hosea now. MR. HOGI BUN. Isn't that cute? Okay, let me explain first. His nick-name I've always called him was Hosi, so Hogi seemed to fit really well. And he's also pretty fat and likes to hog all the grain in the morning, hence Mr. Hogi Bun...because he likes food. Me and my sister love it! He's a cutie and we will all surely miss him when he leaves us in the spring. :(
I love this picture of our summer babies. The way Hosea - excuse me...Mr. Hogi Bun...looks in this photo is almost picture perfect. :)

Hurry Up Cassidy :)

Still watching Cassidy. No babies have come yet...but soon. Within today and the next couple days I think we will have a new addition(s) to our herd of sixteen goats. Her udder is still full - maybe fuller, and her body still looks like it dropped. Last night and this morning I saw her stretching her stomach (that's supposed to get the babies into the right position). I'm getting really tired of waiting, and am VERY eager for this birth to take place...soon!! :) Hurry up Cassidy! :)

Babies Coming Soon ....Today or Tomorrow :)

I just got back from taking care of the goats and I have some news about Cassidy. Her udder I believe is completely full, her stomach has dropped a whole lot, her ligaments are even more noticeably soft, and her whole bottom back there has sunk quite a bit. She had a tiny bit of discharge, not the mucous plug, but I really think that will be coming later on today or tomorrow. What I think is so funny, is that I made a prediction to my sister and said that she would kid on December 15th...wa-lah! I am very close right now as it IS December 15th, and who knows I could be right! :)

I don't think she was feeling all that well either...she's going to kid really soon. I gave our others goats orders to watch out for her, especially her son. Ha, ha, ha. :) I'll post when she kids...yey! :)

More Signs And First Snowfall

It snowed! A day or two ago it finally snowed.  So almost all of our 2009 babies experienced their first snow. Actually really it was a lot of our goats' first snow - it barely snowed last year. The first morning after the snow I went down there, they just looked so confused. Even when I left, they didn't seem to know what to do. "What's this white stuff? It's cold. What are we supposed to eat now?" it was almost as if they were asking. But apparently they figured it out as the snow is still there, and they haven't starved to death - thankfully! :) Cassidy has been showing even more signs lately. A few nights ago I noticed that while she was laying down, her tail would rise, her ears would go up, and it was almost as if she was pushing - like she was having contractions or something. But no babies. And that was a few days ago, and still no babies. She still seems to do it each night, and I'm not sure what it means. Hopefully there's nothing wrong. But you can tell that her body's getting ready for it, because she has been pooping and peeing a lot more as her system is trying to get rid of it all beforehand. Her udder also seems to be more full. I'm hoping that she'll have them really soon, but at the same time I don't know if it would be very safe since it's been FRIGID outside these past couple days. Last nigth it was 7 degrees with a wind-chill of 10 below...no more to be said. But the Lord will allow her to kid in His own time. All we have to do is watch and wait for the big day. :)  Here are some winter pics of our goats in the first snow of the year. :)

WHAT A NIGHT

We had a hilarious night with the goats yesterday. Last night it was frigid and cold, so we decided that we needed to give the goats hay and grain. So we go down there, beginning with grain. That deffinitely took a while let me tell you. First of all, before I go any further, we didn't have much of a plan on how to give all sixteen of our goats grain...but we thought we had one, so we tryed it - not knowing how hilarious the night was going to be. First Comet, he got out and we gave him grain first in the birthing pen since he's mean to the others. While he was eating, we let Cocoa, Hosea, and Brownie out for their grain. As I'm watching the four eat, I all of  a sudden see 4-5 of our other goats running right towards the grain that the babies were trying to eat. This was unexpected of course since they weren't supposed to be out yet. My sister accidentally left the gate open just enough for those silly things to slip right through. So that sort of begins our night. Let me warn you, so much happened last night that I'm not sure if I'll be able to remember it all. But I'll try my best. :)

Since the others escaped we went ahead and let them have their grain. My sister was able to get Cassidy out so we moved her in the birthing pen with Arthur as we took Comet out. So they eat. Now understand, we have  A LOT of other goats in the goat house pen that are all bleating and "yelling" at us to give them food too...it just wasn't fair for the others to get grain and not them. We decided to begin giving them grain...all I will say is that it was hilarious! My sister was able to get some of the pygmies into the other pen, so they're wouldn't be too many goats on top of her when she went inside the pens to give them grain. So we have the bowls ready, and we're walking over there...and wa-lah! The pygmies are out and it's back to basics. Those smart rascals figured out how to open the gate and get through. Once again - pygmies are too smart for humans sometimes. So we just let it go, and my sister bravely went in for the kill so to speak. Trust me - I don't really know how we were able to feed them all. The moment you walk in with grain, they are literally on top of you and bucking each other to get out of the way. It can be chaos. But with quite a few trips back for more grain, and few times going back in the pen being trampled upon...our "babies" were satisfied as they all quietly ate their food as we both breathed a sigh of relief.

Hay time. So we begin grabbing hay from our hay bales. I'm able to give Cassidy and Arthur some and then we both start getting some for the goat house. A lot of our goats are all eating at the hay bales now. Charlotte, Annaliese, Gennavieve, Hosea, Velvet, and who knows which others - but there were a lot! More goats escaped the from the pen during the times we were going in and out of it. I'm telling you, one minute we'd think we had it all together, and the next the goats get out! So we'd get them back in, and then they'd come out again. It was hectic. So eventually it ended up being about eight goats out eating hay, two in the birthing pen, and about six in the goat house pen. . Eventually the hay is finished and it's time to get all eight goats back into the pen - this was a task. We began with the babies since they were the easiest. :) Then we get to the harder ones - I call this the "pulling and trudging" method. We're pulling their horns as they resist and we're trudging on the ground.  One time, my sister was carrying Genavieve - she's heavy. She could barely make it to the pen. Genavieve was looking my way as if to say, "I'm heavy?".  After a LONG two hours of being out there, we finally were able to grab all the goats and get them back in their rightful places.  WHAT A NIGHT!!

Signs of kidding for Cassidy : last night Cassidy looked like she was going to kid. When she was laying down, her tail would go up as if she was having a contraction and her ears would be raised as well. She yawned, and she looked like she had pooped a lot - that's a sign. So that's why we moved her to the birthing pen. I went down this morning - no baby. But it will be soon. :)

VERY Pregnant Cassidy :)

 Recently I took some exclusive pics of Cassidy and her stomach...I'm enamoured on how well they turned out! She is going to kid very soon...I can just feel it. All she's got to do is "drop" as that hasn't occured quite yet. When I mean "drop", I mean that her stomach has to drop - that's a sign that her time is nearing. Her udder needs to fill up a little bit more as well...but most does "fill up" the day of the kidding. Last night I felt her ligaments, and they were almost completely gone. She's so soft back there. Her tailbone has begun to rise and the stuff around it has started sinking. Those are good signs. :)

Yesterday morning when me and my older sister went down, we gave her some corn - she's a slow eater, so we were out there for a while - I told my sister "I should have brought a book". :) But as she was eating I felt her side where the babies are, and you could feel them moving around! And you could literally "see" them moving around as well! I had my sister feel, and she was so excited - she hadn't really ever felt it like that before. I'm not sure how Cassidy does it - they were bouncing in there! It's like they were dancing! We've decided on names for the girl - if she has one. So far it's going to be Candice. Isn't that sweet? And if she has twin girls, their names will probably be Candice and Cindy. If she has a boy...well...let's just say we haven't fully figured that one out yet. We have name ideas like Roger, Tony, Dominique, Patrick, George, and so on. But, like usual, we probably won't name them any of these names...we always come up with something else after their born. :)

Here are a few great pictures of Cassidy as she's carrying her baby(s). :) :) :)...