Our First Kidding Season: Hard Lessons, Losses, and Finally Success

This is our first kidding season on our own with our herd of goats.  We had a few successful births in November/December.  Then weather got cold and things took a turn.  In about a month's time we lost about 12 kids.  Some were due to new moms who didn't know what to do.  We lived too far away to keep a constant eye on them.  By the time we made it to them, it was too late.  Others died because it got too cold during the night and they just couldn't get warm enough.  We did our best.  We had a propane heater (only used while attented), we put hay all around the shelter for extra warmth, made sure goats had plenty to eat...everything we could think of.

Then, we finally had it.  We were tired of loosing our kids, even some we brought home to care for.  I called on a friend who has been caring for goats for 8 years.  She was my lifeline.  We had a set of triplets born on a Friday.  It was going to be a cold night and there was also a chance momma (who had kidded before) would only be able to care for 2 of them.  We tried moving them into a barn, but it traumatized mom so much she wouldn't relax enough to care for her kids.  So, we brought the kids home.  We made sure they had momma's first milk and had replacement on hand.  It was suggested to take them back just before dawn the next day to see if momma would accept them back.  She would have, I think, had she been more relaxed and in her element.  The barn was a ways away from the pasture she was in and it also had a couple of dogs in the stall next to hers.  

So, home with the triplets we went.  One of them seemed a bit sickly, so we kept her separated and kept a close eye on her.  Sat night I was up every hour and a half or so to check on them and do the feeding.  The couch was my bed.  Every 45 min-an hour I'd catch a little nap.  Thankfully they all made it through the night.  

By this time we had given them a dose of silenium, and clipped and cleaned the cord of one of the bucks.  On Sunday, we had a set of twins we brought home.  Mom just didn't seem to be taking care of them and it was going to be another cold night.

By Monday we decided to take them to a vet.  We wanted to ensure we were doing all we could and also needed the learning experience.  So we loaded up the triplets and off we went.  Thankfully we were told we could have all 5 together, no need to segregate.  Our little doe who was sickly got an antibiotic shot and she was good to go.

Now, here we are the following Saturday.  We now have another 12 (I think) kids out on the pasture with the other goats. And our 5 bottle babies are in our back yard and thriving.