DUE: April 4th KIDDED: April 5th with Triplets! 1 Doe and 2 Bucks!
Last doe of the season!!! WOOO! Sleeping in!!! Or at least that was the hope when April 4th came. And then went. Sylvia was doing very well, loose, milk coming in, and in general looking very much like she wanted to pop, but not actually kidding. I took the 5th off of school in hopes of being home for a daytime kidding. However, as the sun started to set on the 5th, I still had no babies to show for my day.
It was just before dinner when Mom called that the sounds over the baby moniter were sounding suspiciously labor-ish. We all rushed out in a flurry and sure enough, Sylvia's water had broken. I cleaned up and got some gloves on before doing a quick two finger check inside of Sylvia. There was already a pair of hooves in the birth canal. The pretty little brown girl was pushed out without much drama and Mom got to cleaning her up.
Sylvia was delighted to have something to lick and for the next few minutes she and Mom cleaned off doeling while I tried to clean up slime and waited for another baby.
But nothing?
A another ten minutes we had the molasses water out for Sylvia, had milked her, and were joking about how she still looked like a beached whale.
No babies.
Dad brought us out dinner and Sylvia stood up to wander around a bit. I bumped her and YES, there WAS at least one other baby in there, but Sylvia looked like she might never push again. The baby wasn't engaging in the birth canal. Sylvia tried to dig to China, wander around, doted on her daughter and finally, after some nogotiations and a call to Kathryn Hieneger, Mom gave Sylvia some MFO and I cleaned up my arm for going baby hunting.
Sticking one's arm up a doe is always a weird thing and we prefer to not have to do it if possible. Introducing the nastiness of an arm into a doe is always going to run the risk of infection, no matter how clean one tries to be. However, after 40 minutes of no pushing, I was starting to think that there might be a blockage inside Sylvia that was preventing kids from engaging.
I went in and instantly ran into a kid bubble, but . . . no bodyparts? I felt around until I found something squishy, it was a hock so this kid was breached. I went leg fishing, which more or less means following the hock down to a hoof, cupping that hoof and trying to pull it forward. Once I have one leg forward, Sylvia starting fighting me, trying to push the kid out before it would be possible. I pushed the butt back in and located the other leg, finally, the big brown buck came out easily.
I passed him off and instantly Sylvia was pushing again, the placenta but I had been sure I had felt another kid bubble when I was looking for legs. I cleaned up quickly and went back in, sure enough, there was a kid bubble, nose and toes, but with both front legs folded under the kid. I was only able to get one leg forward before I started helping with the pulling. With the placenta already trying to come out, this kid needed to be out very quickly or we could have a major issue.
The big splash buck was out and had already inhaled a large amount of slime. Mom passed the brown buck to Dad before Mom and I started trying to clear the lungs of the new boy. It took a little bit, but soon he was fighting and screaming, breathing regular and easy.
Over all, it was a tense kidding, but everything turned out okay! The trio is doing well and Sylvia is an adoring mother.
It was just before dinner when Mom called that the sounds over the baby moniter were sounding suspiciously labor-ish. We all rushed out in a flurry and sure enough, Sylvia's water had broken. I cleaned up and got some gloves on before doing a quick two finger check inside of Sylvia. There was already a pair of hooves in the birth canal. The pretty little brown girl was pushed out without much drama and Mom got to cleaning her up.
Sylvia was delighted to have something to lick and for the next few minutes she and Mom cleaned off doeling while I tried to clean up slime and waited for another baby.
But nothing?
A another ten minutes we had the molasses water out for Sylvia, had milked her, and were joking about how she still looked like a beached whale.
No babies.
Dad brought us out dinner and Sylvia stood up to wander around a bit. I bumped her and YES, there WAS at least one other baby in there, but Sylvia looked like she might never push again. The baby wasn't engaging in the birth canal. Sylvia tried to dig to China, wander around, doted on her daughter and finally, after some nogotiations and a call to Kathryn Hieneger, Mom gave Sylvia some MFO and I cleaned up my arm for going baby hunting.
Sticking one's arm up a doe is always a weird thing and we prefer to not have to do it if possible. Introducing the nastiness of an arm into a doe is always going to run the risk of infection, no matter how clean one tries to be. However, after 40 minutes of no pushing, I was starting to think that there might be a blockage inside Sylvia that was preventing kids from engaging.
I went in and instantly ran into a kid bubble, but . . . no bodyparts? I felt around until I found something squishy, it was a hock so this kid was breached. I went leg fishing, which more or less means following the hock down to a hoof, cupping that hoof and trying to pull it forward. Once I have one leg forward, Sylvia starting fighting me, trying to push the kid out before it would be possible. I pushed the butt back in and located the other leg, finally, the big brown buck came out easily.
I passed him off and instantly Sylvia was pushing again, the placenta but I had been sure I had felt another kid bubble when I was looking for legs. I cleaned up quickly and went back in, sure enough, there was a kid bubble, nose and toes, but with both front legs folded under the kid. I was only able to get one leg forward before I started helping with the pulling. With the placenta already trying to come out, this kid needed to be out very quickly or we could have a major issue.
The big splash buck was out and had already inhaled a large amount of slime. Mom passed the brown buck to Dad before Mom and I started trying to clear the lungs of the new boy. It took a little bit, but soon he was fighting and screaming, breathing regular and easy.
Over all, it was a tense kidding, but everything turned out okay! The trio is doing well and Sylvia is an adoring mother.