(no subject)
I don't think I'm cut out to be a livestock farmer. So far we've had 8 kids (baby goats, for those not in the know) born in the last few weeks. We've only had 2 full on survivors, one is in the kitchen right now that we're trying to nurse back to health. One of the two full survivors was a single birth, the other survivor was part of twins. I tried my hardest with her sister who had a gorgeous and unique color pattern, but we lost her. Two were born yesterday, but we lost one that evening, and the other is the one we're working on. One scrawny nanny had triplets, one of which was deformed (so I'm told, I didn't see those), and lost all of them in the night.
Goats are really only designed to have two babies at a time. More than that can be an awful strain on the mothers and rarely are the babies strong enough to handle living. If a nanny has a single birth, the chances of survival are very good.
Sometimes, if a mother is unable to produce enough milk for the twins she has, she'll ignore one to let the other suckle and be strong. If she let both suckle, there may not be enough. And sometimes, in that case, there isn't even enough for the one.
Also, if the smell is off, or if we've handle a new born too much, the mother shun and let it die.
If the nanny is a new mother, she often doesn't know what to do after the birth and the babies can suffocate because she didn't clean the amneonic sacs off their faces. New mothers have also been known to forget the newborns, accidently stomp on them, or just shun the baby anyways because they don't understand.
A mother's milk is best, but sometimes the kids don't stand up soon enough to be able to ingest it, and that also can cause a quick death.
Of course, me being me, I get attatched to the little fuckers and I'm rooting for 'em and trying my best to take care of them, but there's usually too many factors stacked against them. And like I said, a mother's milk is best, but we've often had to take kids inside to warm them up and administer milk ia baby bottle, which isn't optimum, but it can help save their lives.
Then again, there's always weird factors as well. My grandfather bought a still nursing kid that we were bottle feeding and it was fine for a while, but one morning we came outside and found it chilled to death. Sometimes you can get a nanny to adopt a different kid, but none wanted her, so we were bottle feeding her. We left her outside one night hoping the big fluffy dog might be able to keep her warm as he had taken a shine to her, but we didn't really realize his fur insulates him, but keeps the heat from escaping, thus not being able to proide enough warmth.
Anyways, I'e always had a hard time losing things and after losing just a few that I tried to save, I know I'm not cut out for this kind of farming.
Goats are really only designed to have two babies at a time. More than that can be an awful strain on the mothers and rarely are the babies strong enough to handle living. If a nanny has a single birth, the chances of survival are very good.
Sometimes, if a mother is unable to produce enough milk for the twins she has, she'll ignore one to let the other suckle and be strong. If she let both suckle, there may not be enough. And sometimes, in that case, there isn't even enough for the one.
Also, if the smell is off, or if we've handle a new born too much, the mother shun and let it die.
If the nanny is a new mother, she often doesn't know what to do after the birth and the babies can suffocate because she didn't clean the amneonic sacs off their faces. New mothers have also been known to forget the newborns, accidently stomp on them, or just shun the baby anyways because they don't understand.
A mother's milk is best, but sometimes the kids don't stand up soon enough to be able to ingest it, and that also can cause a quick death.
Of course, me being me, I get attatched to the little fuckers and I'm rooting for 'em and trying my best to take care of them, but there's usually too many factors stacked against them. And like I said, a mother's milk is best, but we've often had to take kids inside to warm them up and administer milk ia baby bottle, which isn't optimum, but it can help save their lives.
Then again, there's always weird factors as well. My grandfather bought a still nursing kid that we were bottle feeding and it was fine for a while, but one morning we came outside and found it chilled to death. Sometimes you can get a nanny to adopt a different kid, but none wanted her, so we were bottle feeding her. We left her outside one night hoping the big fluffy dog might be able to keep her warm as he had taken a shine to her, but we didn't really realize his fur insulates him, but keeps the heat from escaping, thus not being able to proide enough warmth.
Anyways, I'e always had a hard time losing things and after losing just a few that I tried to save, I know I'm not cut out for this kind of farming.