Every time I pull back the big metal door to the girls barn it is like Christmas morning when I was a little girl. You get those butterflies in your stomach and your heart beats faster wondering what is in store for you as you look inside that big cold metal box. As I walk from the house I am always thrilled with the stars in the sky and the low warm glow from the barn lights that help me get from point A to point B with falling flat on my face - O.K. sometimes I do but we wont talk about my lack of Grace... As I stand in front of the big metal doors and summon up the strength needed to pull back on the leaver that most of the time is frozen in place I also say a small prayer that all will be O.K. with my sweet one's in the barn and if there is a problem that I have the ability to make a difference.
It amazes me how quickly things change in life - maybe that is why I seem to fight is so much on other levels. Even with the sun up there was no heat to assist in opening up the barn. I whaled on the leaver several times before I could make my way inside. Getting thru the door it takes a few seconds to get my eyes to focus from the blinding white of the snow. As I stand there I quickly check where everyone is and what they are doing... It is not a easy task because all that noise of trying to get in gets them milling around in circles. The heat lamps throw off a glow in the barn but not really bright enough for me to see in every corner and under ever gate. I flick on the switch to the over head lights and wait for the girls to slow down. Meanwhile my ever needy Great Pry Chief had only jumped up on me a dozen times to make sure that he is noticed and loved. I love him dearly but when you are as tired as I am and this HUGE dog jumps up and put his whole weight into your chest it does not really help in the process of quiting the barn. As I for the millionth time tell him NO and push him down I know this will not stop him from doing it for a millionth and one time.
As I finally get the residents of the barn to stand still I quickly see what has changed since the last time I was there - a lot can change in two hours. Just then I notice Chief was excited to see Kate - real name is "Lazy Kate". Kate is a very quite girl and does not have friends in the barn. She is a daughter of Ebony and so that makes her second in line and feared by most. Normally she sits outside her mother's pen but this time she had put herself into the pen that she had delivered her son Kazoo in two years ago. The way you would know this is important is because last time she was expecting she spent the whole time jumping out of the pen, me dragging her back in and around, around we went until the moment Kazoo was half way out. So for her to place herself in the exact pen was a BIG DEAL!
I quickly went to work. I closed the pen, tied it shut, got her water and found my chair. Sure enough without a sound she sat herself down and started pushing. Within a matter of minutes the little one was out and she went to work on cleaning it up. Kate is quite but if you go anywhere near her baby she makes this growling sound - strange but true. So I sat quietly and watched. I had forgotten that Kate is a neat freak. Really, I have never seen an animal get a baby so clean. I could sure use her with some of the other Mother's. Kate is like the "Martha Stewart" of the goat world... I wonder if there is OCD in the goat world???
I then decided that this was the only baby coming for her and so I could start my care of the others. I finished checking all the animals on the farm and came back about 45 minutes later and Kate was still cleaning this little one. What an incredible color and tons of swirly curls. The baby made not a sound and was enjoying every lick that Kate provided. It was not 2 hours after it's birth and finally Kate felt it was ready to nurse. The other remarkable thing about Kate is her fleece - she has tons and that is not a great thing when a little one is looking for food. Kate has an answer to that - she lifts up one of her rear legs and reveals her soft pink teats and huge milk bags. The little one latched on immediately and went to town nursing. This went on from side to side until the little one was sporting a very round tummy. Then they both curled up for a nap.
I took this as my clue to run to the house of feed the twins inside. Congrat's Lazy Kate!!!
It was later that afternoon that I was able to pick up the baby and see that Kate delivered a sweet little girl and with the most incredible fiber I have seen - I am so excited, I knew that Rasputin (the dad) was going to be throwing exceptional colors... For all the fiber freaks out there I am not sure if I will be able to part with that baby fleece when it comes time to shear - it is that amazing....
3 comments:
Where are the photos???!! I really want to see Lazy Kate's wee one!
So exciting! I am glad everyone is doing ok and the kids keep coming.
Brenda - Kate is keeping in front of the wee one as if the camera was going to take her soul. I spent way too much time in the cold last night trying to get a picture but all I got was straw covered mothers legs and not clear images of a cute cinnamon blur.
I promise I am working on it.
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