Had a busy day today, woken up at 6am by my mum who had done the early check on the goats. Lantana, pure BT was kidding, and mum stated she thought she needed assistance.
Mum and Alex went out to have a look (I fed Brienne, kid born on Sunday). No joy as her cervix had hardly dilated at all. Called out the vet, who asked on the phone if she should bring the equipment for a Caesarian. Mum said no, and Alex and I said yes! Mum is very against ceasarian's after having one done a long time ago, when all the kids and the mother were lost. Never had one done since.
Vet arrived, checked her, tried to dilate her by hand, no luck. So it's either the ceasarian or put her down. This is mum's last pure BT, she kidded 2 years ago and had a female kid, which died at 10 days old, so we really didnt want to have to have her pts. Plus, she is mum's baby- i've never seen a BT as devoted to a person as Lantana is to my mum.
[size=78%]We went for the ceasarian on the basis we might at least get the kids safely through, though she is kidding 5 days early, so it is risky for them too.[/size]
Operation went ok, though she did have to give Lantana a sedative. First out a big boy, lively at first, but very quickly became evident he struggled to breathe. I was having to rub his chest constantly to keep him breathing.
Boy number 2 was even bigger, and a bit stronger, once I rubbed him down he only needed a little extra rubs in between to keep him going. Last out was a little girl, who was very weak, and like the first boy struggled to breathe. I had to devote my attention to her, and by the time she was well enough to go down to the house, boy 1 was so weak that he wasn't going to make it. Mum and Alex were having to help stitch Lantana back together, so I took the girl and boy 2 (boy 1 has by now died), down to the house, I still had to keep rubbing her chest for over half an hour in the house until I felt her breathing was steady enough to actually put her down for a minute!
Gave them both some of Arwen's milk (who kidded on Sunday). Once Lantana came round from the sedative managed to get some colostrum from her, but she doesn't have a lot of milk. She looks very rough still, shivering despite wearing two coats. She's had antibiotics and oxytocin as well as calcium.
At the moment , it doesn't seem too bad having done the op, but the girl kid is not out of the woods fully, and nor is Lantana.
Have to see how it goes.
Beth
