Kidding and Kidding and Kidding

Today was the busiest kidding day yet of this kidding season.  And, the COLDEST !!  It was a balmy 1* outside when I went out at 6am to check on the does.  The windchill was -9*.  I was really glad to find that none of the does had kidded over the night.  I took precautions of closing all the barn doors and bringing all of the pregnant does inside the barn over night. Every heat lamp was on and it wasn't really too bad in the barn.

Since everything was calm out in the barn and kidding pens, I came back inside for a shower, some breakfast, and to read some of my favorite blogs.  I went back out around 9am to water and feed. 

It's been a real challenge keeping water for each of the does in the kidding pens.  And, keeping the ice chopped on the top of the bigger water tanks.  I've been doing a lot of bucket watering the past few days.

 The Barn Cats, Simba and Sheba, helping me fill water buckets.

Holly's beard has ice coating it after she got a drink.  That's cold!

I was only half way through bringing water to each of the does in the kidding pens and noticed Tiffany pawing.  She also had a gel stream hanging from her back end.  Looks like breakfast for the does is going to be a little late!

Tiffany is a 2 year old first freshener.  She is Lilah's daughter from 2 years ago.  She is Nubian/LaMancha cross.

 Tiffany getting ready to have kids

 Within a few pushes she had the first birth sack pushing out

 Here is her first born little buckling

 This is her second born little buckling

 And, here is her third born little bucking!

 All 3 of her little boys getting warm on clean dry bedding under the heat lamp

 It didn't take long for Tiffany to curl up beside her babies under the heat lamp to stay warm.

Here they are about an hour later when they've finished drying off.  Maggie watched everything closely and even tried to lick the babies through the fence.  If she'd hurry up and have her babies, she could lick her own babies!

Tiffany and her kids

Tiffany's boys all nice and dry at mid day

All 3 of Tiffany's babies were in perfect normal birthing presentation. She didn't need any help kidding at all.  I'm really proud of how she delivered her first set of kids.  She also stood quietly when I milked her a little to be sure her milk was flowing.  I'm really happy with her.  I wish at least one of her babies had been a doeling.  I wanted to keep one of her kids this year.  Nate is the sire of her kids.

After finishing the feeding and watering, everyone looked nice and calm with no signs of labor.  I went inside the house to warm up and catch up on some computer work and phone calls.  As soon as I got off the phone, Mom called up the stairs to tell me she heard a baby crying out in the barn.  As bad as I hated to put  my big coveralls back on and go back out to the barn, I knew if there were kids being born, I should be there to make sure they were okay.... especially with this frigid weather.

I checked the kidding pens and didn't see any new babies or any does in labor.  But, it the big LaMancha pen, Opal had just given birth to 2 kids.  She had one licked clean and Chloie was helping her clean the second one!  I grabbed towels and wrapped around the kids.  I took them and Opal over to the empty area between the kidding pens beside where Tiffany had given birth just a little bit earlier.

She delivered a third baby only minutes after moving her to a kidding area.  She had 2 doelings and 1 buckling.  Opal is Nubian/LaMancha cross and Nate is the sire of her kids.

Opal and her kids

I looked around in the big LaMancha pen to see if there were any more does in early labor.  I saw Oreo standing with her head against the wall.  Withdrawing from the herd is one of the signs of early labor.  I didn't have any place to put Oreo.  Evey kidding pen is full and I even have a pregnant doe roaming the halls of the barn since it is too cold outside for her.  I took a wire panel and blocked off part of the main barn hall for Oreo and hung a heat lamp for her.  It was just in time because she started pushing as soon as I had her settled in.

Oreo delivered 2 doelings perfectly.

 Oreo and her 2 little girls

When Oroe delivered her kids, I noticed something suspicious about the color and ears of the second one born.  It looks Latte has struck again!  (If you missed the explanation of this rather suspicious siring, I posted my suspicions here on the post for Holly's Kidding yesterday)

Oreo's babies - One sired by Latte and One sired by Nate!

I really hope this is not going to be an overall trend with the kidding from the LaMancha pen!

 Oreo and her babies

All was quiet in the barn for the rest of the day ..... until it was time to do the evening feeding chores again.  That's the time Maggie decided it was time for her to have her own babies.  I was filling hay feeders when I saw the long stream of gel hanging from her back side.  Here we go again ... not only was breakfast late for the does due to Tiffany kidding this morning, now dinner was going to be late too.

 Maggie getting ready to deliver

I had to help her by pulling her HUGE buckling while she pushed.  He looks like he's already a month old! 

 Maggie and her just born baby boy

 She's taking good care of him and licking him dry

He was ready to nurse only a couple of minutes after being born.

Yes, he really is that big!

I think Maggie's baby is the biggest kid I've ever seen born.  She only had the one, but I think that is enough ... given how big he is.

Big boy!

It was a busy kidding day out in the barn today.  The weather is supposed to start warming up tomorrow and I'm going to bring the first group of kids born this past weekend into the kid nursery in the basement tomorrow.  It should be warm enough to put their mommas back out in the big pens.  We'll start milking and bottle feeding tomorrow.  I'm sure there'll be more kidding tomorrow too.

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