Thursday, January 29, 2009

Does Ready To Kid



Ouchie...the shoulders, knees and ankles hurt from walking and slipping in the snow/ice/snow mixture. I do not live on a mountain, by any means, but the only flat piece of land I have is right at the house. The tiniest flat yard surrounds my house, that is it. I am ready for spring!


I checked the boer girls tonight. Some are growing closer towards the big kidding event. I am seeing milk beginning to come in. I didn't see the taught udders that come with imminent labor, but they are growing closer.


This is a picture from a prior kidding season. Annie always has some handsome kids.


I was lost for things to write about today, but I just remembered a phone call that I received this morning. I knew I had to share bits and pieces with you.


My friend has her milk house filled with bottle kids, all 37 of them, rescued from freezing in the recent cold snap. At one point all of the kids were in the house! This is the part of our conversation that began to make me giggle. I began spurting, to be honest. As my laughter began, I said to her, "It is not funny." She replied, "No, it is not, but the story is." She and her husband had so may Rubbermaid tubs of kids in the house they began to divide them between rooms. For those of you that have never had bottle kids in the house. Let me tell you, they can be noisy. My maximum number has been 19. I cannot imagine 37! And there are always a couple of screamers. Kids that scream can sound similar to newborn human babies. She said that she and her husband where so tired they slept on the floor several times, for several nights, they were simply exhausted. They are my age. :)


So, they made their feeding rounds from room to room. Bedroom kids fed this hour, living room kids fed next hour, laundry room kids next. At one point she said there was one kid that just would not be quiet, including right after he had been fed. So she put him away, in a nice cozy warm room for a while. She just had to had silence. Her husband came into the house, headed straight to the bathroom, and then all she could hear was, "Helen!!!! Why is there a kid in the bathroom????" Ha ha ha...not funny, right???


The things we do!

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

You be careful out in that stuff Mary, hope all goes well with the kidding season!

Bethany said...

The price for winter kids. :-) The story is funny...but I certainly would not have thought it at the time if it was me! :)
Enjoyed the post.

Peggy said...

Oh my goodness! I would have a nervous breakdown if I had to bottle feed 37 kids!! But you are right its a funny story. )as long as its not me) LOL

Mary Humphrey said...

They did end up making feeding buckets for the kids. It sounds like it is still quite the job. Helen said the nubians tend to not want to use the bucket. So, she watches and bottle feeds the ones that are not eating well.

KathyB. said...

Oh my, I remember how noisy baby goats can be, even when they are happy! Especially the Nubians. I agree with the other commenters, funny because it isn't me!

Mary Humphrey said...

I plugged the monitors in this morning. I did a ligament check on the girls that appear to be getting milk in. A couple were loosening up, one seemed gone. It could happen today or tonight.

immersion said...

How funny! I am assuming they are too small to jump out of the rubbermaid containers??? My old boyfriend had goats as pets and they got into everything! One chased me relentlessly, dare I say, while he was in his rut. Yikes!

Mary Humphrey said...

A healthy newborn will jump out very quickly. The funniest sight is a kid at about day 2 when they try to hop, but all 4 hooves stay firmly planted on the ground. They sort of lurch, and make hilarious noises as they do so. Funny story about your boyfriend's goats!

Boozy Tooth said...

Oh the horror! But I also find it oddly appealing. A houseful of baby goats? What could be more fun.

Mary Humphrey said...

When we had 19 kids in the house, we fed 3 times a day for the first week. I'll tell you, it was amazing how the kids lined up. The same kids each time. Some would run off and play until it was their time. They are smart critters.

It would be heaven for a short period of time, Alix. But I cannot imagine how tiring it would get, and quickly. But funny at the same time.

Life is short, we do what we can to enjoy it. If we don't...our boat never leaves the dock.

Can 'ya tell how tired I am tonight? LOL!