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Liddy gives birth

This morning all the work done yesterday was undone. Liddy looked worse than ever. I had to cut and untie the strings that were there, a task made difficult from the swelling. The strings were buried from swollen tissue and with me alone with a pair of scissors and a squirmy goat, I was afraid of the worst.
But we got through it. I washed her again, and applied bactine spray liberally (it numbs her a bit, I hope! and contains anitseptic) and try to put her back together.
Although I have lots of yarn and twine, I have nothing like the wide string we used to hold her together before. Ribbon it is! I will spare you from the pictures.
Every 90 minutes or so, I apply a poultice of sugar water. This should alleviate the swelling by drawing out the water. It seems to be working.

Around 4pm I go to the barn to give her another poultice but have a surprise waiting for me. Her placenta is beginning to emerge. I panic! It’s 5 degrees, I have no idea what will transpire and Gary’s not due home for an hour.


I call the vet and we decide to wait and see. An hour later the amniotic sac appears, but things are moving way too slow. At the same time, I don plastic gloves and feel to see if her cervix is dilated. It’s not. This means there is no way the kids will emerge. A hoof plays peekaboo with my fingers, sometimes there sometimes not.
We decide a c-section is necessary and I take her to the vet. Two hours later, the kids are out and Liddy is being stitched up. The kids were dead inside her, 2 buck kids. But Liddy is ok.
She rides home curled up like a cat in my passenger seat. The temperature is below zero so she will sleep in the bathroom in the basement.

Posted in Goats.

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