The Rest of the Story

If you follow my farm on Facebook, you get pretty up-to-the-minute updates when we’re kidding.  So I shared Sunday afternoon that Aphrodite had kidded.

Here’s the rest of the story.  I noticed just before 11:00 that Aphrodite was in labor.  I ran in for a quick bite to eat and got back out there at 11:30.  She was pushing. After a minute or so, the bag broke, but when she had the next contraction, there were no feet.  I went in and found a nose.  This isn’t my first time, so I pushed the baby back and got the feet.  But then I couldn’t find the head.  It was completely twisted back.  I called the emergency vet service and found that I was going to have to call ISU Field Services.  I called them, and they started on their way.  Then I waited.

It is a horrible agonizing wait when you know your girl is in pain and the baby is likely not going to survive long and there’s absolutely nothing you can do.  It really is one of the few ob things I can’t do on my own.  Finally, the vet arrived, and they went in and immediately got her big buck out.  But he was not alive.  I cannot tell you how grateful I am that she had another kid in there and that her little girl was alive and strong.

As the vet and I talked, I do believe the reason the kid was head first is because he was already gone.  It’s been a horrible year for copper–four years of drought will do that.  Hay quality is bad; I have the kids with broken legs; the moms who are losing hair.  I swear it’s crazy trying to treat the goats for copper and never really knowing where they are and how much they need.  So the vet took the liver from Aphrodite’s baby, and it is being tested.

Harmonia

If I had to lose him, hopefully, at least some good can come from it.  I should have the copper results from the liver panel before long.  It’s not 100%, but it should give me a better idea of where the rest of the herd is at with their copper levels.