We had 4 more kids born yesterday for a total of 11 (7 bucklings and 4 doelings). There are photos of them at http://www.schoonoverfarm.com/Kids.html So kidding season is already over after only 2 days!

They were all doing well until this morning when I found this kid Gertrude hunched up. She was cold and hungry. Her mother Patches just does not have enough milk for triplets. So I brought her into the house, tried to bottle feed her milk from Dot, tube fed her, and then warmed her in the dryer (preheated but not on while she’s in it!). I have found that this is the best way to warm a baby goat or sheep. I tried dunking in warm water, wrapping in warm towel and putting in front of the wood stove, but none of them warmed quickly and completely enough. With the dryer you put some towels in, run it on high for a while, stop the dryer and put the baby in. I always move the dial to off and keep the door opened a little to prevent it accidentally being turned on. Now Gertrude is doing fine- she’s in a box with a towel in the heated bathroom and taking bottles of milk well.

In addition today I sheared one of the baby rabbits that hasn’t been picked up yet who was looking a little matted and brushed out the other remaining bunny. I cleaned out the area in the barn where the hay had been stored so I can put the pregnant ewes in their next week and started feeding them some grain. This involved picking up all the pallets and string in there.

Finally when Tom got off work we caught the 3 llamas and trimmed their toes. They do not like having their feet messed with so this was challenging. Fancy was the worst and had to be tied in the corner of a gate and her feet lassoed to have them trimmed. Many of their toes were quite long so it certainly was necessary, but I don’t think the llamas necessarily agreed.

2007-02-22 01:00:37 GMT