Lulou went into labor Sunday night. Just like clockwork. It was day 146 of her pregnancy, which was the day she delivered last year. Jan and I took turns sitting with her all night, but unlike last year, her labor just never seemed to progress. She was clearly having contractions, but there were no signs of any babies.
We became concerned about her as the morning wore on, and used an oral syringe to squirt calcium dissolved in molasses into her mouth. Eventually we gave her a quart of Mothra’s good milk, which she devoured.
By noon it was clear we needed help. Jan called the vet, who said they couldn’t help us! But, they gave us the name of a vet a little farther away. Jan called that vet, got an appointment, and we began to figure out how on earth we were going to get Lulou into the van.
We called a couple of neighbors, who were not home. We tried the goat ramp - Lulou just stepped right off. Finally, I saw one of the teenagers who live next door, and I ran down the road waving my arms in the air. I asked the teen if she’d help us get our 150 pound goat into the van. She said, “Sure. Let me get my brother, too.”
Between the teenagers, Jan, and me, we were able to hoist Lulou into the back of the van, and we took off. Jan was driving, and I was in the back with Lulou, who decided to crawl into my lap and shove her head into my armpit. Did I mention she weighed (at that point) 150 pounds?
We were feeling pretty bleak during the car ride - it didn’t seem as if the babies could possibly survive. Frankly, we were just hoping the vet could save Lulou.
Our vet appointment was at 1:30, and we made it on time. He was a livestock vet, and he led us into an enormous room - it was like a cross between a garage and a barn. I sat on the floor in front of Lulou with my arms around her neck and her head on my shoulder, and I heard the vet say to the vet tech, “Get the chains.”
That can’t be good.
But, two minutes later, there was an enormous black lump lying on the floor behind Lulou. I heard Jan say, “Is it alive?” The lump picked up its head, and she was a beautiful, enormous girl! She weighed 6.6 pounds! Good grief! I think, last year, most of our babies weighed between three and five pounds.
It turns out the chains are what's known as a "baby puller". You can attach them to the baby's hooves, and get a good enough grip to help pull the baby out.
The vet announced that there was a second baby. In a few more moments she was born, and she was small and feisty. I got both of the babies and held them up to Lulou, who began cleaning them right away. The vet commented on what a great mom she was - enthusiastically licking her babies. Sometimes, after a really rough delivery, the mamas will reject the babies. But not our Lulou. The moment the first baby was in front of her, she forgot all about everything in the world except for her wonderful kid.
Jan asked the vet to tell us what medicine we should give Lulou when we got home, paid his fee, and we were back in the van! It seemed as if we had only been at the vet’s a few short moments.
Of course, the back of the van was now a place of joy and rapture, with me cuddling the babies, and Lulou continuing to clean them.
We got home, settled everyone back in the kidding parlor, and started doing all the rest of the things that needed to be done. The first thing was making sure the babies knew how to eat. Here they are, looking for milk in all the wrong places. I think Lulou looks shocked.
We dipped their umbilical cords in iodine and gave Lulou a big big antibiotic injection. And then it was time to feed the chickens, the dogs, the goats, and then secure the chickens for the night. Finally Lulou and her babies settled into the straw on my front porch for the night, and we all fell into bed.
The next day, the babies got to run in the sun for the first time in their lives. As of last night, they’re exclusively outdoor goats.
I rebuilt their climbing toy on Wednesday, and by Thursday, at three days old, they were already playing King of the Mountain on it. (In the photo below, the baby is seeing the climbing toy for the first time).
It was a terrifying delivery. But, everyone is doing great. Lulou is a wonderful mother, the kids are gamboling amongst the other goats, and all is right with the world. My cousin and I have a few days to rest. Maria and Lezlie are due this coming Wednesday and Friday.
Meanwhile, Lulou likes to take her kids into the far shelter and keep all the other goats out. Jan and I went in there a couple evenings ago to bring them in for the night. It’s really easy to get Lulou to come back to the house. We each pick up a baby, and she follows us without complaint. Anyway, we looked in the corner of the shelter, and this is what we saw:
I knew that the chicken we call Poofy Face had been hanging out in the milkers pen. She likes the milkers, they like her. What I didn’t realize was that she was amassing an enormous stash of eggs, one egg per day. This was a huge nest! There were fifteen eggs there. We took them in and did the fresh egg test: put them in a bowl of water. If they sink they’re fresh. The less fresh they are, the more one end of the egg rises up from the bottom. When they’re completely floating, they’re definitely ready to be thrown out. We kept six of the eggs - the rest were marginal. We’re getting eighteen eggs every day now - we needed an extra fifteen like we needed a hole in our heads.
In soap world, I added Cedar Soap to my website last week, and I’m adding Nostalgia
Bath Bars to my website this week. These are the ones that use the reverse-engineered fragrance from the old Herbal Essence shampoo. Take a look at the photo Zach took last weekend:
Check the new bars out on my website: https://www.serenasoaps.com/