Birth of Goats

Well I have to say I am exhausted. This day has been quite overwhelming in the sense of both joy and sorrow. I have a Nubian goat, Faith, that I knew was ready to deliver. She was right on target for her due date. I noticed Saturday evening that she was not quite herself. She was huge and very tired. This was not her first delivery. She has had two sets of twins and one set of triplets in the past. Yet I was worried about her. I checked on her at 11 pm, 12:30 am, 2:30 am, 4:30 am and 8:00 am. No news. She was uncomfortable but not really progressing along. By 10:00 am Sunday she was draining mucous and she had started her contractions. I was home alone so I called my friend Karyn and Catherine to come over in case I needed an extra hand or two. Thankfully I did this. Catherine lived for a time in Norway and delivered sheep. This was my first real goat delivery as my Dwarf Nigerian Christina Moon managed to have her twins before I got down to the barn. Was I nervous? Heck yes!
The first kid was born without a glitch. The second boy had a leg bent that we had to get straightened out. We waited awhile to see if there were anymore. Faith seemed fine and began to eat a bit. We thought she was finished. We waited some more. After 20 minutes we realized that she was trying to deliver another kid. She wasn't able to get him out. Catherine put her hands in and the kid was breach. By now Faith was on her side and we were concerned for her. The kid was pulled out but was stillborn. It was heart wrenching. And then there was another kids coming forth! And in the right position. She plopped out and was beautiful! Poor Faith. She had a hard time. She sniffed her unmoving kid and realized that he wasn't going to respond. She turned her head began to focus attention on her three beautiful babies.

A photo of the first born male.

We wondered if we could have prevented the stillborn. Should we have been more invasive sooner? Was there something else we could have done?
Truthfully I can ask myself all these questions but it was not meant to be. Living on a farm, breeding and raising animals has its miracle moments and it sorrowful moments. We must accept these times for what they are and savor life's precious gifts.