Champ Peak Farm

April 6, 2010

As I listen to Mother Nature howl outside today, I have a few little reminders that inspire me to look forward to spring with hope and joy. Five little LaMancha babies, three does, two bucklings and green spears of asparagus that defy the strong winds.

Two baby goats born on 3/29/2010, one of each were born healthy and fine, but mom did not want to feed the boy, so I am bottle feeding both and milking the doe. One brown doe and one sungau buckling,

Three baby goats ( my first triplets ) born on 3/31/2010 when I was not at home. When I arrived, one little sungau doe was up and prancing around. One brown doe was laying weakly, but cleaned off. One TINY sungau buckling was covered in dirt and muck, not cleaned off, cold and barely breathing.

So I picked up the two weaklings and took them in the barn and proceeded to clean and vigorously rub the little tiny thing. His mouth was cold and he was non responsive. I milked the mom so I could have colostrum and took the two to the house to warm up. A couple of hours later I finally got the girl to eat a little, but I was just dribbling milk down the tiny guy's throat, still no response. I was not going to give up, so I just kept coming back and stimulating him and little by little , he started squeaking in protest every time I would pick him up. His eyes were open now and the little girl was sitting up and trying to eat more. By day two, the girl was struggling to stand and eating like a horse. The little guy still very weak but beginning to hold his head up for minutes at a time.

The Little guy is now up and about the house, crying for dinner and he only weighs about 3 pounds! But I think he's going to make it. His sister is back out at the barn with the other bottle babies.