On Thursday, Mom headed out to the barn to check on Maxie and Shelli. Their due dates had passed and anticipation was high. Sure enough, there was Shelli in the barn with a fresh baby goat! A tiny little girl, practically the same size as Chicory when he was born. Shelli was as big as a house, so she knew more were coming. After a short wait, a second one, a boy, arrived on the scene. He was much bigger than the little girl but still didn't seem to account for Shelli's absurd proportions. While at work, I was trying to answer a few of Mom's questions with internet searches while she and Dale watched the birthing process. I read her the directions on how to "bounce" a goat to see if there were any more babies in there. Mom confirmed that all she could feel was soft squishy goat guts and no hard knobby baby bodies, so we decided that two just might be it.
About 5 minutes later, my office phone rang again. Another girl and a big one! Wow, last year we only had singles and twins and so far this year both have had triplets. What did we put in the feed?!?!
But after a few hours it was obvious that that first little girl was "off". Mom described it as her legs being bowed and she was weak. More research, more questions and more apprehension. I had a few ideas, but my suggestion was simply to call the vet. Well, the little one was whisked off to the vet before they closed and came home with the diagnosis of "contracted tendons". She was just a wee babe crammed into a tight space with two hogs and wasn't able to stretch her legs. So she just needs some time to get loosened up. Since she really couldn't walk and she wasn't able to nurse without someone holding Shelli, she came into the house.
We've been splinting her legs at night and letting her walk and stretch them during the day. She has improved tremendously in the two days since she arrived. She can stamp and clomp around the house and makes the most absurdly cute noises. The cats aren't so sure she should be allowed in the house and the dog doesn't know why she won't play. But all in all, it's been fun to have a house goat!
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