Disbudding and Hoof Trimming

You can see Ginseng's horn bud burn above his eye.

We took the whole family out to the field for the first time since the bucklings were born. Ginger was nervous the whole time, and Ginseng and Sycamore had a great time.

On Friday evening, both bucklings were disbudded by my animal sitter, Andrea Meyers, of Suzie-Qs pet sitting service. She takes care of all of the animals when we go out of town. In addition to disbudding the little guys, she trimmed Ginger's hooves for me. Gingers hooves have gotten seriously overgrown, and after freshening, she began to walk with a limp.

She's always be very difficult to trim and I've never been able to do a thorough job on her hooves. Well, while she was pregnant, it seemed that her hooves grew at lightening speed, and by the end of her gestation, looked like ones out of a book that demonstrates really, really badly overgrown hooves. I couldn't wait for her to freshen so that I could finally trim them - not supposed to do it during pregnancy for fear of stressing out the doe to the point of aborting. But right after she gave birth, she had a very hard time even standing on the front legs and would sometimes kneel on her front legs and be standing on her hind legs. That's when I knew that she was really in trouble.

Thank goodness for Andrea who came in and took one look at Ginger's feet and insisted on trimming them immediately! Her husband, who helps with disbudding, straddled Ginger in the front, and Andrea straddled Ginger in the rear, and Ginger fought! John came in to help both of them, and Andrea started clipping away! Luckily no hoof rot. It took three adults to trim her dang feet, so I don't feel so awful for not being able to do it by myself all this time. Next time, John and I will know how to hold her to get the job done. I won't let them get that bad ever again!

Today, I can really see improvement in Ginger's walk, she's moving around much better. She even trotted! One leg is still standing badly, but I'm hoping that now that she's no longer carrying all that extra baby weight, and her hooves are trimmed, that she can recover.

Andrea is really great - she will be caring for our goats and cats when we go out of town, including milking Ginger! I love that I have someone that is able to help out like this! Not many folks, especially ones with goats, have someone to look after their farm animals when they want to get away from the farm.

adjusting to life outside the kidding pen

Sycamore and Ginseng Nibbles Holdee (you can kinda see his wonky front leg) really like it outside the kidding pen. Despite their small size, they seem to be fearless around the other larger goats. Tulip and Juniper especially seem really spooked by the little guys. T&J want to do the goat butting game (no actual contact) with the babies - who are not put off by this at all.

A family moment in the fresh air.

Ginger's Babies Have Arrived!

Sunday morning Ginger was acting weird. I was wondering if perhaps she was going into labor. After a few moments, she began acting normal again, so I dismissed it, but decided that I should check back with her every so often during the day just to be sure. I never made it back to check on her until their dinner time, and when I walked into the barn, she was standing there with her water bag hanging out of her. I yelled to her "Hold On Ginger! I'll be right back!!" I dropped my bucket and ran back to the house to get the fellas and some.... towels? What do I need? I don't remember!

By the time I returned to Ginger's side her bag had dropped and she was standing and nervously bleating at me as if she was completely bewildered about what the heck was happening to her body. I led her to her birthing pen as the other goats watched with great curiosity.

Over the next two hours Ginger worked very hard to work her first baby out of the birth canal. John and I both had our hand at helping her get the babies out. We were really getting nervous at how long it was taking... our books said that it should be over in minutes rather than hours - and it had been over two hours. Finally with great relief to all, the first kid arrived. A few minutes later, the second one came out very easily and quickly, in just one push.

Ginger was a great mom from the moment the bucklings arrived, licking them clean and encouraging them to nurse.

One of the bucklings has a problem with one of his front legs. The knee joint doesn't seem to be able to lock, so he can't put any weight on it. That doesn't seem to slow him down much - he still gets around and does his best to keep up with his rambunctious and energetic brother. Asa called him Jumper - but has since changed his name to Ginseng Nibbles Holdee. I've named him Ginseng, and Asa figured that he needed a middle and last name: He loves to nibble at fingers that are put in his face and loves to be held, hence the name. The other fella with the wonky leg has been named Sycamore by Jake.

These are very cute, yet temporary additions to our barn. They already have a new home to go to once they have been castrated and dehorned. A friend of John's from B&D who has a farm will take them to use as scrub goats and pretty ornaments for his property. We will enjoy them very much while they are with us.