Well what an afternoon we had! doganjo came over to see the kids, and when we were out in the shed looking at them, we noticed that Lonicera the British Toggenburg had started discharging so she had started to kid. We left her for 1/2 an hour whilst we had a cup of tea/coffee, but when we went back she still hadn't done anything. So, we prepared to go in, Annie stayed on to watch the birth (or so she thought).
My mum is a qualified vet and has kidded many, many goats over the years. So she cleaned herself up and got started. Lonicera hadn't dilated fully, and also her pelvis hadn't really slackened as much as it should have done. Also, the kid that was trying to come out was very big. So after about 1/2 an hour, mum still hadn't managed to get very far, and we had to concede defeat and call the vet. Who unfortunately was over at South Queensferry. We did have another try- both mum and myself, but neither of us had any more success. At this point Annie needed to head off, to get back to sort out dogs, ducks and chickens. We in the meantime had to wait on the vet, who was nearly an hour before he arrived.
He went to work, and took him about 20 minutes before he managed to get the kid into a decent position and then, finally out.
However, the kid wasn't breathing, so a bit of work had to be done to resuscitate it- including swinging it round (Alex wondered what the hell was happening) however it all worked and it was a girl!
It is one of the biggest kids I have seen for a long time. The baby has had a drink of milk, and is recovering from her traumatic birth. Mum is also recovering, I am just off out to get some more milk from her for the kid.
Beth