Ginger had one and now we are done

Ginger had a single little furry kid at 3:15AM.  Other than trying to keep Daybreak out of the mix it was an uncomplicated birth.  He is light rust colored and as yet unnamed, but I'm thinking of calling him Oxidize..Oxi for short.

The total stands at 7 kids: 5 bucks and 2 does (subject to further verification)

Pictures to follow.  Hopefully cameo shots so you can see each of them, but no guarantee as they are all active little ones.  So far all appear to be healthy and the Moms are all doing okay.

Chamomile's kids will be Blonde Brownie and Ivory.

Chamomile has twins

Chamomile had her kids at 3AM on Thursday.  Fortunately, my sister was here to be midwife for them.  Mother and babies are doing well.  Both have lots of hair, most of it pretty curly.  They don't have names yet.

Momma Mulberry & Kennecot

Feeding Time

Travis and Lynaya feeding Daybreak as Colleen looks on.

Meet the kids

This is Daybreak.  His Momma has decided she doesn't like him.  He is being fed with a baby bottle.  Undoubtedly he will end up even more spoiled than Star.

This is Fawn.  She has found a container that had molasses in it for her Momma.  It is a terrific toy.  She is Momma's favorite and is gaining weight, very active and very curious.

This is Midnight Star.  He is active but not nearly as adventurous as his sister.  He will have the curly cashmere coat.

Mom keeping an eye on her kids.  Notice Daybreak is missing.

innoculations

I'm becoming more and more of an animal husbandry type each day.  I finally summoned my courage to actually give Cream her shot of penicillin today instead of having the neighbor do it.  It was just as unpleasant for me as it was for Cream, but that was her last one so I won't have to do that to her again.  And she DID get a delicious, nutritious molasses and grain cookie when she was done.

Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well with the other Moms-to-be who will be kidding some time in the next 2 to 5 days guessing from their appearance today.

Pictures of Cream's youngsters will be posted soon.

New Kids

New Arrivals

Cream had triplets tonight.  It wasn't an easy birth.  She started acting like the time was near around noon.  By 4PM her water broke.  By 6PM still no babies.  At 7:30PM I called the vet.  He arrived quickly and said a cesarean section might be necessary.  We managed to get her into the stantion...no easy feat.  He determined the first one was breech with its back flat against her blocking everything.  He managed to turn the kid with much discomfort to Cream.  He pulled it and I was sure it was stillborn but after cleaning it off and rubbing it cried out.
We covered it with rags to keep it warm and went after the next one.  It came out easier as Cream was starting to push.  Also a live one with a healthy set of lungs.  Checking one more time, another one remained.  By this time Cream was having contractions on her own and pushed it out.  The vet checked to be sure there were no more. Three was it.  As we dried the first two off we put them in the hay box next to the stantion where she could see them as well as hear them.

We turned her loose and took one of the kids over to the corner where it would be fully sheltered from the wind.  She watched.  We took the second one to the same area.  Again she watched.  Finally we took the third one and then she came over as well.  The vet gave her a couple of shots while she was cleaning her babies.  She has accepted all 3 of them.  All have nursed at least a little bit.

They all have healthy lungs and loud voices.  Coyotes are out tonight.  Thor is spending his first night outside since he got here.  He was allowed in to see the kids and did fine with them, but Cream was very nervous with him there.  He is secured in the front pasture which should be enough deterrent to any coyote who may think of venturing close.

Pictures will follow in the next few days.

First, he walked on water

Then he sat.

Apparently this was a safer location for Thor to keep track of his goats and chickens than on the ground.  I just hope he doesn't try it when the ice thaws.

Don't remember moving to Alaska

Last night's low was 20 degrees below zero.  Stayed at that temperature for over 6 hours.  Even with the propane heater going all night most of the things in the greenhouse are either frozen and dead or struggling to stay alive.  The items which were covered either with lids or the Remay possibly will survive.

On a positive note, no kids hit the ground.  Cream isn't moving from her corner where she is sheltered on 3 sides and somewhat sheltered on the fourth.  I expect her to pop before the end of the week.  Since she is a first timer and I'm not much of a midwife I'm hoping Mother Nature has prepared her and all goes well.  Ginger may have a few more days to go and it is impossible to tell with Chamomile.  Mulberry, if having kids at all, is far behind the others.

I haven't checked on the chickens yet as it was just too darn cold when I was outside but I'm reasonably certain they all survived since all the turkeys are okay and they were out in the open.

Record low temperature

The record low for January 10 in this part of Kansas was -17 in 1963.  That record was tied here at Prairie House last night.  The little propane heater in the greenhouse worked as hard as it could but it still got cold enough to wipe out a couple of flats of lettuce.  I have Remay covering the plants on the other side of the greenhouse and they seemed to come through it okay.

Also okay so far are the goats.  No kids on the ground yet.  If we can make it through at least one more night of bitter cold it will be warm enough for them to have a much more successful kidding.  Cream is a Nubian goat and they frequently have triplets or quads.  It would be nice if she only had twins but from her girth I suspect that is not the case.

All the other creatures also survived the bitter cold.  Except for the turkeys, all are in sheltered areas.  Six of the 7 turkeys still insisted on sleeping on the cold metal frames we used to put the wire on so the hawks and owls can't get the chickens.  The 7th turkey?  He was in the big chicken house because Thor removed many of his feathers.  Third fowl incident with the dog; not sure how many more he will be allowed.  No fatalities, just minus lots of feathers and traumatized.  Thor has great respect for the cats (who have sharp claws which he has discovered).  I wish one of the birds would totally flog him.  That would have more of an impression on him than this Alpha dog coming down on him.

Winter Weather

Three of our does are near full term on their pregnancies.  I keep thinking any day now, especially for Cream who is getting so wide around the middle that gates are becoming a challenge.

Saturday was the Annual Meet-Greet-Eat for the High Plains Food Coop.  Since Prairie House is one of the major producers and I am the treasurer, it was somewhat of a given that I attend.  Plus, in spite of all the stress involved, it is nice to be able to put a face with the names of the customers who regularly order from us and generally it is pretty fun with good food all around.  The weatherman promised nice weather for Saturday and the possibility of snow late Sunday evening so travelling there and back was not going to be a problem.

The new neighbors have had plenty of experience with birthing calves and I did not worry knowing they were more than capable of handling anything if the kids started arriving while I was gone.  They also have the vets' phone number readily available in a crisis.

Sunday morning I looked out the hotel window only to see about 3 inches of snow covering my car, the parking lot and yes, alas, the roadway.  So much for late Sunday night.  The drive home on I-70 out of the Denver area was horrendous.  They plowed it, but did not sand it...what idiots!  So the entire highway was glare ice.  Numerous accidents on both sides of the interstate, the worst one being two semi trailers who mated and closed the westbound lanes.  Eastbound, at least all the idiots were kind enough to slide OFF the road and take their new "partners" with them.  The group of folks coming back to Saint Francis all opted to try the US 36 route instead of the interstate.  It was a good choice.  Although not plowed, it was snow packed and traction was much better.  In addition there were considerably fewer IDIOTS on the road.
All made it home safely with no remodeling done on their vehicles.

I checked on all my creatures when I got in and all was well.  No kids yet which has now become a concern. The next few days are predicted to be some of the lowest temperatures Kansas has seen in 15 years.  If those girls can hold the kids in until at least Wednesday the little ones will have a much better chance at survival.

BRRRRRRR

The temperatures here at Prairie House haven't been above freezing since December 27.  We have had night time lows in the negative numbers.


All of the creatures are doing okay.  However, like me, I think they would be much happier with a warm breeze and maybe even a palm tree swaying.


When Evelyne was her in the middle of the month she brought a cardboard box from a new dishwasher a friend had purchased.  She put it in the barn under a shelf.  The creatures all ignored it.  During the coldest of the cold weather, most of them built nests in the deep straw bedding to keep warm.  Not Ginger, however.  She figured out that if she got into the cardboard box it was nice and toasty.  When I put my hand in to pet her, I could feel the warmth through my gloves.  No wonder she is the Queen.  One smart girl, that one is.