2 WEEKS OLD posted 3/17/2009 7:04:12 PM | 5 kudos what's this?     report abuse

tentfire

Daisy's quadruplets are two weeks old today. For those of you that may not have read my last blog, Daisy is a milk goat. And a goat having quads is highly unusual. Often they are premature and some, if not all, do not make it. But all four of Daisy's are still alive and thriving. You may remember from my last blog Daisy Had Quadruplets that she had rejected the first one right after she delivered him. They are not equipped to nurse that many babies. And somehow nature dictates to them which one(s) to reject. It has to do with nature's "Survival of the Fittest" rule. So she had chosen the largest, though weakest one. But he has been on a bottle since and is growing very quickly. He gets so excited when he sees his bottle, but he is getting so big that he is beginning to have difficulty nursing from it. I may have to switch him to a bigger bottle. I think they make them for lambs. And yes, he is spoiled rotten! His name is Santo (I am naming them all after my wonderful MD friends) and since the moment he was born I am the only mama he has known. Just as all baby goats learn their mama's calls, he has clearly learned the sound of my voice. Although he is finally staying outside a large part of the day now, I still keep him in at night since the other goats are showing no signs of protecting him and coyotes abound in my area. He is sleeping through the night without a bottle, but if I have to get up to go to the bathroom I quickly learned not to make a sound! If I so much as clear my throat or mumble the slightest sound, his sharp ears pick it up, he wakes up and frantically begs for a bottle. And let me tell you, there is no peace until he gets it!
Now, not only did Daisy have quads, but she had a big problem to go along with it. As you can see from the photos I posted on my profile, nature attempted to prepare her to feed all of these kids by giving her the largest milk bag I have ever seen, though it still only has two teats. A few days before she kidded she decided to have a "little adventure" before she got saddled down with so many kids. So she went through the barbed wire fence! Her bag caught on one of the barbs and sliced a large gash on the lower part of her bag, extending partway down one of her teats. It had healed some before the births, but not enough so when she kidded and more milk dropped down, the gash ripped further. It hurts her terribly so she absolutely will not let her kids nurse on that side. I have been holding her down and hand expressing enough milk off of that side to ease the pressure off of the wound, along with keeping ointment on it. [The arm that I hold her head with is black and blue, now. She has large horns and uses them to let me know when I hit her most painful spot(s)] Her wound is healing nicely, but has a ways to go. So all three little kids have been taking turns from the same teat. They have now grown enough that there is no longer enough milk for all three, so, you guessed it, she has rejected yet another. This time it is a little girl. She is now also on a bottle and doing fine. And she, too, thinks I am her mommy. All the nanny goats walk around outside with their little babies by their sides.... then there is me walking around trying to feed everything, with my two kids hovering around my legs, nearly tripping me as they bump my knees in a useless attempt to find more milk.
It didn't take this little girl long to get attached to her bottles. I have to keep the bottles well hidden between feedings as just the site of the bottle gets her excited. Oh, how she loves her bottles! I gave her the extra pretty one. When she sees me get it out, she can barely wait for me to get it filled. Once it is filled all the way up to 8 ounces, I pop the nipple on, hold it down to her, and she smacks, guzzles and works that bottle until, in the blink of an eye, it is empty. She has even learned how to let go for a split second, while keeping it between her teeth, to release the vacuum so that it flows faster. It makes an extra slurping sound at the end, to which she gives a little stomp and cries for more. But when the guzzled milk finally all lands in her tummy, she feels content and takes a peaceful nap (peaceful for me and her!). So what did I name this second precious kid that loves her pretty bottle so much? Why, her name is "Mischief". I will have her pic on here in a day or two. She is adorable!

[Please remember, I am writing this series of blogs strictly in fun. I do not mean any disrespect or negativity to anyone. If anyone does feel offended, please politely e-mail me and I will do my best to remedy it.]
Thank you for reading my blog.

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