Hi all
Went to feed the Goats this a.m. and it was obvious that Clary was not herself. A quick inspection revealed a discharge and the large "lump" of kid on her right side had moved. It's her first kid and after much straining to no avail I decided to investigate. Found a head, but no feet, so pushed all back in and managed to pull the feet forward one at a time. The next push propelled the kid out till it's nose was showing and I managed to get a grip of the front feet. Pulled slightly to help her when she pushed and was horrified to see that the horn pads of one of the front feet had come off! A little more pushing confirmed that the kid was dead and with a great struggle finally got it out. It's abdomen seemed to be full of liquid and this had made it's belly bigger than it's shoulders, hence the struggle to birth it. Rang the vet who said that it had probably been dead some days and to keep an eye on her.
Left her to lick it as it seemed unfair to take it off her straight away. Went for a cup of tea and.... you guessed it, came back to find she had given birth to another small, but perfect billy kid.
Took the dead kid away and she focussed all her attention on the new arrival. He's now up on his feet with his belly full of milk!
Not a total loss after all!
Dave
Topic: Early Kidding. (Read 3281 times)
