Sweet Caroline

Caroline was the first baby from my Polka Sallie Annie.  And she was mine more than Annie’s.  Seriously, it was like this girl was coming home to Eden Hills when she was born.

Caroline with Annie

She owned the farm and went to pasture from the time she was way too young.

Caroline and me

She was a wild woman from the start, and when she pulled a stifle muscle it about killed her to have to stay up in the barnyard until she healed.

Sweet Caroline

She grew into a beautiful, sweet doe who became one of my milking girls.  Granted, she was a horrible milker because of the high percentage of Boer in her, but she was always ready to be milked.

Caroline

She struggled with kids though.  The copper always seemed to be an issue with her.  She was struggling with the copper, but her eyes were getting more color, and that seemed to be improving.

Chunky and Caroline

I tried to retire her young, but she busted in with the buck and had a baby last year.

Caroline and Ducky

That was really hard on her, and she’s never regained her weight and health.  I just couldn’t support her anymore, and she has consistently declined in health for the last month.  She has been grinding her teeth (a sign of pain), and her rumen had shut down.  I couldn’t get it going no matter how many probiotics I gave her.

Sweet Caroline Goodberry (30 May 2017 – 16 Mar 2023)

It was all just too much. It was time to say good-bye to my Sweet Caroline Goodberry.

A Waiting Wednesday

After our cold start to Tuesday, the temperatures warmed up.

All that snow melted

By afternoon it was really windy and about sixty degrees.  And this was the only decent day over all of spring break to give birth.

I took the sweater off Melba.

And so I waited.

LilyAnn and Penelope (in the background)

And by the end of the day, zero goats had gone into labor.

Purl (and she is not stuck)

But I did manage to trim a couple of sets of hooves.

Perdita

Caroline got more probiotics.  She is not doing well at all.

Caroline

I did some housecleaning.

I picked up all the cardboard Salem has shredded.

I did some more knitting.  And of course, I wrote this blog post.

I didn’t have pink in the right weight, so the next one is camouflage.

And the sun set.

SOOC sunset

And I waited and hoped that someone would go into labor before the rain and cold came on Thursday.

In Time Out

While getting those first moms moved was easy and everyone had been getting along, that changed.

Antigone lounging before I brought the soon-to-be moms over.

Antigone and Perdita really act like sisters who can’t get along.

Antigone and Perdita

I could not get Antigone to quit picking on Perdita.

Honestly, I shouldn’t be too surprised because she hasn’t been with the herd for four months–she’s been pampered with Xerxes in the buck room.

She was fighting so much and so hard that she was panting and coughing.  I thought she was going to have a heart attack or send herself into labor a month early.  I decided to put her in the garage for a little bit.  I had just put Tux back in there because I needed to put a dose of Revolution on him for the ear mites.

Tux

Antigone was so hopped up on whatever that she tossed her head at him and threatened him and stomped at him.  I finally shut her in the buck room for a time out.

Later, I brought her back out to try and get her back to getting along.  She did do better, but then she was right back after Perdita.

She ended up with scraped up horn pads

I finally shut her in the Love Shack.  And I added Caroline.  They seem to be doing well together, and Caroline is trying to eat all the food so Antigone can’t get it.

Antogine and Caroline

It might work out well for both of them.