Finale and Maleficent!
Due: Wednesday, 20th
Kidding: Tuesday, 19th with Triplets and Quads!!!
You know those days when everything is slow and suspenseful, but in the back of your mind you aren’t really sure that all this build up is going anywhere? That was today. Not only were both Maleficent and Finale looking like they were starting to loosen up, but they were both being generally rude to each other. Maleficent wasn’t looking as serious as she could and she ended up spending the day loose in the main yard. I honestly wasn’t expecting her to kid until tomorrow, or perhaps even Thursday. She looked ready and starting to develop an udder, but she didn’t look that ready. Finale, on the other hand, looked completely ready to pop, was making milk and starting to loosen up significantly on the back end. This being said, she was not fully dropped and continued to drop slowly over the course of the day.
Finale was a stressed, scattered creature today; she paced, pawed, and generally made her way around the pen so many times that I wasn’t paying much attention to her by the time that the afternoon was swinging around. We had been keeping a yearling named Summer in with her to keep her company and to try and keep the peace between Fin and Mal, but when both accounts seemed to result in Summer not quite fitting the bill. Every time Finale would finally lay down, Summer would mosey in and Fin would stand and leave again, back to pacing.
There was one false alarm when Finale seemed to finally be ready to get down to business, but the moment Danny and I were set up, Finale stood and shook herself and proceeded to look at us as we looked at her. It was a very good, ‘Whas up guys?’ impression.
The second time we saw Fin having contractions was the real deal. We had just finished feeding Santra’s twins when the sounds on the baby-monitor became strained, the camera showed the upper half of Finale having strong contractions and I was running out toward the barn. I arrived as the first baby hit the ground. A lovely black moon spotted buckling was flailing around in slime and had unfortunately already taken his first few breaths. I was clearing mouth and nose and trying to clear lungs when Danny arrived. I swung the kid, trying to get some coughing or fight or any reaction, but the buckling as completely limp at first. A little bit of fighting and finally the boy started to cough, Finale was delighted to lick him and I was just handing him off to Danny when I had to stop. I thought I was hearing another doe straining, but Finale was in front of me happily baby talking to her buckling.
When it clicked, I cussed, something that didn’t seem quite colorful enough to describe the feeling, and was up and running out of the kidding shed. My first panic was that I would have to find where ever Maleficent was, but I turned the corner heading to the doe pen and there she was. She was laying down, straining with a kid bubble just barely visible. The bubble popped as I approached and I started to call for a bag or towel or something to catch the kid with. Nose and toes is usually the best position, but this buckling was Huge. I had both feet and could see his nose flaring, but despite my pulling and Maleficent pushing, nothing was happening. I cleaned off the kid’s mouth and nose and continued to pull, finally getting the boy out, but not until after Maleficent had ripped. Blood and slime everywhere. Danny traded kids with me, I went back to working on trying to clear the nubian buckling’s lungs and Danny on drying the la mancha. A few more bags and towels over the fence to Danny and I heard Finale pushing again.
Again I made it to her as the kid hit the ground. No catching this go around. A little moon spotted brown doeling had also snorted slime, but no where near as much as her older brother. She was a much quicker job, but lo and behold, Maleficent was pushing again!
This doe was also huge, also caused a huge amount of ripping on Maleficent and I was starting to think that perhaps she was not completely dilated. I was just starting to pass this doe off when Mal started to push again. This time there was no struggle, a smaller brown doeling came out quickly and with these two handed to Danny to clean off, and I was headed back to check on Finale.
AGAIN, I turned into the kidding shed as the kid popped out. Finale’s third was another splashy girl, black moon spotted and legs everywhere. Finale barely gave me time to clean the mouth and nose before she started to push again. I was yelling for Danny to hand off the doeling, but what came out was placenta. Does generally don’t strain to push out placentas, but Fin continued to push, the moment that Danny had the doeling, I left her to him and started checking for a kid bubble. Sure enough, on top of the placenta was a hoof, a singular back hoof. This kid was breached, on top of the placenta and had one hoof folded back under him. This is not a position that a doe can usually manage unless the kid is very small, however Finale continued to push. I started to push the kid back in and look for a leg, but there was nothing. And nothing, I was in to my elbow before I found a hoof, the hock was caught up in the placenta and couldn’t come back. Thankfully Finale never tried to stand up or move away, Danny handled the doeling and finally the foot came forward. With both hooves now, I was able to pull the black buckling out. There wasn’t any breathing at first, but there was struggle. I have the kid under one arm, trying to clear it’s mouth and nose when the boy started flailing around, mouth open in a silent scream and both Danny and I had to laugh. He couldn’t breath, but this boy wanted to live. He fought me almost the whole time, but finally he was screaming and coughing.
Quads from Finale and Triplets from Maleficent! Both does pulled through amazingly and all the kids are doing well! Over all an eventful afternoon!
Finale was a stressed, scattered creature today; she paced, pawed, and generally made her way around the pen so many times that I wasn’t paying much attention to her by the time that the afternoon was swinging around. We had been keeping a yearling named Summer in with her to keep her company and to try and keep the peace between Fin and Mal, but when both accounts seemed to result in Summer not quite fitting the bill. Every time Finale would finally lay down, Summer would mosey in and Fin would stand and leave again, back to pacing.
There was one false alarm when Finale seemed to finally be ready to get down to business, but the moment Danny and I were set up, Finale stood and shook herself and proceeded to look at us as we looked at her. It was a very good, ‘Whas up guys?’ impression.
The second time we saw Fin having contractions was the real deal. We had just finished feeding Santra’s twins when the sounds on the baby-monitor became strained, the camera showed the upper half of Finale having strong contractions and I was running out toward the barn. I arrived as the first baby hit the ground. A lovely black moon spotted buckling was flailing around in slime and had unfortunately already taken his first few breaths. I was clearing mouth and nose and trying to clear lungs when Danny arrived. I swung the kid, trying to get some coughing or fight or any reaction, but the buckling as completely limp at first. A little bit of fighting and finally the boy started to cough, Finale was delighted to lick him and I was just handing him off to Danny when I had to stop. I thought I was hearing another doe straining, but Finale was in front of me happily baby talking to her buckling.
When it clicked, I cussed, something that didn’t seem quite colorful enough to describe the feeling, and was up and running out of the kidding shed. My first panic was that I would have to find where ever Maleficent was, but I turned the corner heading to the doe pen and there she was. She was laying down, straining with a kid bubble just barely visible. The bubble popped as I approached and I started to call for a bag or towel or something to catch the kid with. Nose and toes is usually the best position, but this buckling was Huge. I had both feet and could see his nose flaring, but despite my pulling and Maleficent pushing, nothing was happening. I cleaned off the kid’s mouth and nose and continued to pull, finally getting the boy out, but not until after Maleficent had ripped. Blood and slime everywhere. Danny traded kids with me, I went back to working on trying to clear the nubian buckling’s lungs and Danny on drying the la mancha. A few more bags and towels over the fence to Danny and I heard Finale pushing again.
Again I made it to her as the kid hit the ground. No catching this go around. A little moon spotted brown doeling had also snorted slime, but no where near as much as her older brother. She was a much quicker job, but lo and behold, Maleficent was pushing again!
This doe was also huge, also caused a huge amount of ripping on Maleficent and I was starting to think that perhaps she was not completely dilated. I was just starting to pass this doe off when Mal started to push again. This time there was no struggle, a smaller brown doeling came out quickly and with these two handed to Danny to clean off, and I was headed back to check on Finale.
AGAIN, I turned into the kidding shed as the kid popped out. Finale’s third was another splashy girl, black moon spotted and legs everywhere. Finale barely gave me time to clean the mouth and nose before she started to push again. I was yelling for Danny to hand off the doeling, but what came out was placenta. Does generally don’t strain to push out placentas, but Fin continued to push, the moment that Danny had the doeling, I left her to him and started checking for a kid bubble. Sure enough, on top of the placenta was a hoof, a singular back hoof. This kid was breached, on top of the placenta and had one hoof folded back under him. This is not a position that a doe can usually manage unless the kid is very small, however Finale continued to push. I started to push the kid back in and look for a leg, but there was nothing. And nothing, I was in to my elbow before I found a hoof, the hock was caught up in the placenta and couldn’t come back. Thankfully Finale never tried to stand up or move away, Danny handled the doeling and finally the foot came forward. With both hooves now, I was able to pull the black buckling out. There wasn’t any breathing at first, but there was struggle. I have the kid under one arm, trying to clear it’s mouth and nose when the boy started flailing around, mouth open in a silent scream and both Danny and I had to laugh. He couldn’t breath, but this boy wanted to live. He fought me almost the whole time, but finally he was screaming and coughing.
Quads from Finale and Triplets from Maleficent! Both does pulled through amazingly and all the kids are doing well! Over all an eventful afternoon!