She Hurts More than I Do

I figured out why I have been so ass dragging tired lately. A few days ago, my throat really started to hurt so I went to the doctor's office yesterday. I have strep throat. I got an antibiotic shot in the butt and a prescription for a 10 day dose. I'm not supposed to train for two days or until I don't have a fever. I think my fever broke last night because I was sweating so bad while sleeping, I had to change my clothes because they were soaked! I'm just frustrated to be sick because it's so nice outside today and I want to be riding my new bike. I can't complain too much, at least I didn't give birth today!

Since the weather was so nice outside today, I decided to sit in the warm pasture with the goats. One of the pregnant Mamas(Fire) decided to have her baby today too, so I ran inside to get a camera. Warning- The following pictures are of birth, so they are graphic.

One of the first clues a goat is going to kid is tail postion. Fire's tail is raised high and her back is arched. Her sister(eating hay) had her kid two months ago, her tail and back are relaxed.

The first signs of labor is the udder swelling with milk(bagging up),

discharge and pawing at the ground to make a nest.

She is getting serious now, she will lay down and push then stand up. She starts to be very uncomfortable and will cry and grind her teeth. Her sister stands by for moral support.

45 min. into labor and she's making great progress. In healthy goat births, the kids are born front feet first. You can see in the right picture the baby goat's little white hoof. It looks like I won't have to help.






This is the hardest part for Fire. They are in the most pain when the head and shoulders come out. Fire actually started to run out of the barn during this last stage of labor. Like she thought she could run away from the pain. This was her first kid so she didn't really understand what was happening to her body.



Here's her baby boy, his name is Milkman!! He's strong and healthy, stood up in 5 min. and was nursing soon after that. Fire's doing great and she's a good Mom. She got two heads of lettuce, two apples and a carrot after that ordeal! Guess I can't be a whiner about strep throat. A day at the farm puts everything into perspective.