Miranda is one of two does we kept from last year, along with her littermate Matilda. They were the only does out of the 7 kids. Matilda was rejected from the first day by her mother Savannah, so she never knew she was a goat. We HAD to keep Matilda since we were her family but she did also bond with her sister Miranda, so we HAD to keep her too! When they went off to get bred (the buck we have here, Val, is their father) Miranda was the only one to come into heat so Matilda came back unbred...supposedly.
This morning as Mom went out to milk, she saw Miranda was in labor. She quickly delivered a little girl! Miranda hadn't been very big so Mom was sure that was it (you'd think after all the surprises we've had, we would not be sure of anything anymore!). But another pair of hooves appeared. It looked like the baby was upside down - the bottom of the hooves were up. But Dale quickly realized that the next body part to come out was a butt and not a nose! Miranda was a champ and delivered the breach birth with no assistance. But things weren't right.
The little buck had severely contracted tendons - like Lilly but in all four legs and far worse. There was no way he could stand and the same cramped space he was in had also caused deformities of his head. His breathing was labored, his eyes were rolled in the back of his head, his tongue was lolling. Fortunately, Dale is made of sterner stuff than us wussy vegetarians and he did the only humane thing possible for the struggling buck. It was sad, but yet another part of farming life.
Miranda and the little girl, Dahlia, are doing just fine. Matilda never left Miranda's side during the birthing process and I'm sure she'll be a good auntie!
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