A Kidding Season To Remember

If you were to ask me what my favorite time is on the farm, I would likely say goat kidding season. I would quickly add the clause- "once the kids are on the ground and everyone is healthy". If you were to ask me what is the most stressful time on the farm, I would say goat kidding season... because you never know what will happen. Kidding season this year was the perfect example of that feeling.

As their due dates approached we started watching our mama goats very closely for any signs of labor, and with 3 goats due within a week, we were full of anticipation. On the morning of March 9th during chores we noticed Rory was showing signs of labor, so we promptly moved her into the birthing stall and gathered all our kidding supplies. By the evening she had progressed to active labor and delivered twin bucks! As always, we ensured that they nursed well and were able to stand. It was a bit cool that evening and the boys were shivering so we brought them down to the house to dry them off and then brought them back to mama Rory for the night.

The boys were doing great, hopping around the farm and having fun with mama Rory. But something changed... and it had us worried. March 11th, while in the barn preparing for Paris's imminent labor, I noticed that one of the boys was acting a little off. He was by himself in the stall, so I picked him up and just cuddled with him while Paris delivered twins, a buck and a doe! She did so great, per usual! After getting her kids taken care of and ensuring they nursed well and showed no signs of any health issues, we directed our attention back to Rory's kids.

Rory let both of them nurse that evening and they seemed content to stay in the barn overnight. However the next day I noticed that he was wobbly and just not as active as his brother. Jordan and I talked and decided to bring him inside the house to keep a close eye on him. I would bring him out every few hours to nurse on Rory, but Rory was not happy with this arrangement. She did everything to get away from not just him, but now her other little buck. She wanted nothing to do with either of them.

We suspected they had Floppy Kid Syndrome, which essentially means they are unable to digest the milk so it sits in their belly and becomes toxic. Clinically that is exactly how they presented, so we called our vet to get treatment options. The poor boys were getting weaker by the hour and could barely hold their heads up. The vet however seemed to think that the boys were fighting a viral infection... so they gave the boys a few shots and instructed us to bottle feed them. But they got worse... way worse! Neither of them could stand, neither had the ability to take a bottle, and I really thought we were going to be burying those two boys under the magnolias.

March 13th- Thankfully Jordan and I listened to our gut and we decided to treat them as if they had Floppy Kid Syndrome. At this point, what did we have to lose. Jordan found a treatment protocol online and we followed that instead. Which meant not giving them milk, but instead feeding them a water/baking soda/electrolyte mix for about 36 hours. This concoction was to help breakup the toxic milk in their belly and push it out. Since the boys had zero strength to take a bottle, we had to tube feed them every 3 hours. On top of that we had to give them enemas a few times a day to help push out the toxic blockage that occurred from all the stagnant milk in their gut. It was a very stressful and exhausting few days.

Once the 36 hours was up we slowly introduced milk. We had to measure out a mixture of water, electrolyte mix, and milk replacer. We opted to use milk replacer instead of mamas milk just to ensure they could tolerate that. To our surprise and great relief, the boys showed signs of life. They still weren't strong enough to suckle, but we needed to encourage oral intake so we transited to syringe feeding. One day of syringe feeding and the boys were getting stronger. They successfully took their first bottle on the evening of March 16th! I was literally crying... these boys are going to make it! Every few days we increased the amount of milk and we watched those boys grow stronger every day.

Oh and Kissy went into labor on the evening of March 13th and delivered two big bucks! So if you're keeping track, we had 5 bucks and 1 doe this year. Not the odds we wanted but nevertheless it's what we got. Anyway, back to our bottle babies. Since we had to keep a close eye on them and feed them every 3-4 hours the boys lived in our house. That is a whole adventure in itself. From jumping on & off every piece of furniture, changing their diapers every 10 minutes (goats pee too much), being woken up in the middle of the night because they got the zoomies and knocked over the gate to their enclosure, to the sweet moments watching them play with the pups, running to us when they heard us warming up their bottles, and snuggling up on the couch with us- it was a truly special adventure,

We would take the boys outside for "playdates" with the herd but they slept inside since their last bottle was at 11pm. Eventually we were able to transition them to every 6 hour feedings and then every 8 hour feedings which is a much easier feeding schedule. After about two weeks, it was time to put them with the herd full-time. I'm not going to lie, it was a relief having them back in the barn but I also missed the sweet little moments of them cuddling on the couch with me.

This whole experience taught us A LOT! We felt the sense that God was using this to prepare us for the newborn stages, that we hopefully will one day experience. We learned that trusting your gut, even when it goes against the advice given... can be life-changing or in this case, life-saving! We learned that we are capable of handling really hard and exhausting moments with love, care, and unity. Those boys, Big Man & Little Man, taught us so much and although I don't ever want to walk that road again, if we do... we know that we can handle it.

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